1807 Info 1a for James Crompton
The life of James Crompton
James CROMPTON, the third child of Thomas Richardson and Martha was, until recently an
enigmatic person. Census returns suggest that the majority of Thomas Richardson and
Martha?s children were "farmers" or married to farmers and not "
agricultural labourers". James, however, had a chequered career with a variety of
occupations in a variety of locations in the East Riding.
Family hearsay gives his birth date as 12 January 1807, three days before his recorded
christening in Bridlington Priory Church:
James Crompton born 1807
Source: Bridlington Priory Baptism 1782-1812 EYFHS
1807 Jan 15 James Crompton son
of Thomas Richardson Crompton and Martha, his wife late Hyde
His marriage to Frances HARPER
Before the 1841 census James married Frances (Fanny) HARPER. It is possible that Fanny,
christened 25 September 1815, was the daughter of Thomas and Ann HARPER of Carnaby Parish.
The IGI lists Carnaby as Fanny's place. However, the village of Auburn was in the
ecclesiastic district of Carnaby.
Source: IGI v.4 Batch: C105911 Source: Type: FC female christening
Frances Harper Thomas/Ann FC 25sept1815 Carnaby
On 19 June 1794 an Ann DORSEY, of Great Driffield, was christened. That Ann DORSEY was Frances
HARPER's mother is tentative connection, but the Dorsey surname would account for the middle
name of Sarah Dorsey CROMPTON, James' seventh child.
Family records suggest that Fanny was born in Auburn, one of the villages of Holderness lost to
North Sea erosion. The 1851 census gives her place of birth as Auburn House.
"More interestingly my Aunt relates how her grandfather John Harper CROMPTON said that
his family had lost a farm by erosion in a village called Auburn. This is mentioned on the OS map
with two other villages near Bridlington, and are known as the lost villages of Holderness. This
seems to have happened in the mid 18th / early 19th century, as related by old Directories. This
seems to be backed up by the fact that John Harper, my great-grandfather, who built up a building
company in Hyde [Cheshire], named two streets he built as Auburn Street, one in Hyde, one in
nearby Bredbury." Source: Ian Boote
1807info1a, sheet 2
James' early married life
Married life started at Metham, near Howden, where Thomas Edmund was born in 1839. The 1841
census records the family living at Bullons Hill, North Newbald, (Bullen's Hill Farm OS 1:50
000 Landranger 106, GR SE940 375) on a rolling arable hillside, where he is listed below his
brother William, a tenant or farm owner, who housed his brother James and sister-in-law, perhaps
as labourer and house keeper. But note the presences of a foremen and servant.
Around the back of the modern grain store is a red bricked building which is believed to be the
original "one up-one down" house with barn and a twelve horse stable attached. The
copper, that once heated the families water, is still inside the down to stairs room. The upper
floor has been converted into a hay loft. Here William, the second child of James and Fanny, was
born.
1841 Census - June 14 1841
Source:FHL Film PRO Ref HO107
Piece 1219 Folio 9 Page 13
Dwell: Bullons Hill
Place: North Newbald, York,
Name Age Occupation
William Crompton 31 Farmer
James Crompton 32
Fanny 25
Thomas 2
William 2mth
Charles Jackson 25 Foreman
Elizth Smelt 18 Serv
1807info1a, sheet 3
Frequent moves and varied occupations
From 1844 to 1847 the family lived at Plantation Farm, Acomb, York from where James Botterill
CROMPTON and Martha Ann CROMPTON were christened at Saint Stephen?s Church.
Right: Map locating Acomb, York
The red circle marks St Stephen's Church
The orange lozenge marks Plantation Drive
The yellow area is a modern industrial site bounding the railway. This would
have been the location of the nursery.
Above: St Stephen's from the graveyard.
Right: St. Stephen's lynch gate leading to the church.
1807info1a, sheet 4
Right: Evidence of the site of Martha Ann's birth. Plantation Grove, on
the A59 at Acomb and backing on to Acomb Ings and the railway sidings, is now covered by
housing and a print works.
Scarborough
The 1851 census shows that James was then an innkeeper of 96 Merchants Row, Scarborough,
where Mary Frances was born the previous year and then, in 1852, to John Street, Bridlington,
where John Harper was born. Sarah Dorsey was born in Scarborough in 1854.
1851 Census Sun/Mon 30/31st March 1851
Source: FHL Film PRO Ref HO107
Piece: 2368; Folio: ; Page: 17
Dwelling: 96 Merchants Row
Place: Township of Scarborough, York, England
Name Rel Mar Age Sex Occupation Birthplace
James Crompton Head M 44 M Inn keeper Yorks, Bridlington
Fanny Crompton Wife M 35 F Yorks, Auburn House
Thomas Crompton Son 11 M Scholar Yorks, Metham
William Crompton Son 9 M Scholar Yorks, Newbald
James B Crompton Son 6 M Scholar Yorks, Acomb
Martha F Crompton Dau 4 F Yorks, Acomb
Mary A Crompton Dau 9m F Yorks, Scarborough
Transcription error - Martha F for Martha A, Mary A for Mary F.
Right: All that remains of Merchants Row, Scarborough in 2010.
These houses have a low number.
In 1851 Merchants Row would have extended down the hill in what is now Eastborough.
The narrow cobbled road, which ends in a right angled bend, was probably straightened for
the age of the car. It is unknown whether the building at the lower end of the road were
rebuilt at the same time. These are many floored buildings with run down shops and pubs
on the ground floor. The platform, which is parking area to the right of the photograph,
over looks the sea.
Left: Modern Eastborough, Scarborough in 2010 showing typical examples of
property where James may have had his inn
Bridlington
Three years later, in 1854 when registering Sarah, his youngest child, James was a shepherd
living in St John's Street, Bridlington. This is now the central part of the A1038, before it
enters Quay Road. By the 1861 census three children had left home and Fanny had died.
1807info1a, sheet 6
James the horse doctor at Hutton Cranswick
1861 Census Sun/Mon. 7/8th April 1861
Source: FHL Film PRO Ref 9
Piece: 3607; Folio: 7; Page: 7; Sched: 42
Dwelling: Low Green
Place: Hutton Cranswick, York, England
Name Rel Mar Age Sex Occupation Birthplace
James Crompton Head Wid 50 M Groom Yorks, Bridlington
Martha Crompton Dau 14 F Scholar Yorks, Acomb
Mary Crompton Dau 11 F Scholar Yorks, Scarborough
John Crompton Son 8 M Scholar Yorks, Scarborough
Sarah Crompton Dau 7 F Scholar Yorks, Scarborough
By 1861, until after the death of Martha, James was a groom in
Low Green, Hutton Cranswick(right), which confirm the family story that he was known as a 'horse
doctor'. Low Green Farm is to the north of the cottages.
The row of two-up-and-two-down cottages now stands by the level crossing. The left hand
cottage has outbuildings, which could once have been a stable for the 'horse
doctor'. This row of cottages, marked with a blue circle (below right)
are the only possible 'tied cottages' to Low Green Farm. Also marked in blue is
the position of the grave of his daughter Martha Ann SISSONS.
One wonder's whether Scarborough was the beginning of a downward path, which had
twice been supported by legacies.
Above right: Cottages at Low Green, Hutton Cranswick
Right: A map of Hutton Cranswick with the cottages marked with a blue circle
In his will, dated 19 February 1822, Thomas of Bridlington "direct Trustees to
raise ?300 on land at Nafferton & to pay interest arising there from to my grandson
James and Wm CROMPTON' and the "premises at Bridlington & Nafferton Upon
Trust" should his brother Thomas and Thomas' sons die. Whilst his elder brother
received "substantial" sums James' "start-in-life" was not as
great, as can be seen in his home at Bullen's Hill Farm.
Frances appears to have been willed, by her father, property in Buford but, because she
died before her mother (sometime before the 1861 census), the property reverted to her
mother. On the death of Mrs HARPER this property passed to the children of Fanny and a
part interest therein, in respect of two who had died, to her husband James CROMPTON.
This was the property at Buford, under the will of his father-in-law Harper, which was
later sold by auction at Driffield in 1881.
1807info1a, sheet 7
Widowhood and retirement
Two possible photographs of Fanny HARPER. On the left one that may have been taken
during their life in Scarborough.
The photograph on the right may be too old for Fanny who died aged about 40 years.
Source: The photographs of Maggie BOOTE, who was Fanny HARPER's grand
daughter.
James' children had left home when he was widowed in 1858. For 1871 he has migrated some
distance to Ganstead, north-east of Hull. There he took a more lowly position as a shepherd
lodging with the farm foreman.
1871 Census Sun/Mon. 2/3rd April 1871
Source: FHL Film PRO Ref RG10
Piece: 4801; Folio: 11; Page: 16; Sched: 16
Dwelling:
Place: Ganstead, York, England [Parish of Swine]
Name Rel Mar Sex Age Occupation Birthplace
John Turner Head Mar M 44 Farm labourer and foreman Yorks, Cottingham,
Ellen Turner Wife Mar F 42 Wife Yorks, Preston
Ann Turner Dau F 12 Daughter Yorks, Burstwick
John Turner Son M 8 Son Yorks, Burstwick
Kate Ellen Turner Dau F 5 Daughter Yorks, Burstwick
George Turner Son M 3 Son Yorks, Burstwick
James Crompton Shepherd Wid M 64 Shepherd Yorks, Bridlington
1807info1a, sheet 8
Above: A map locating Ganstead
It is interesting to note the close proximity between Ganstead and Preston and of Swine
and Skirlaugh, where other members of the family were born.
The 1881 census, shows James has apparently retired and was living with his youngest son, John
Harper, in Town Street, Holme upon Spalding Moor, where he is recorded as a 'former
shepherd'.
Above: James approaching old age
Above: James in old age
John Harper's youngest child Maggie, who married William BOOTE, recalls visiting her
mother's family, the KNEESHAWS of Market Weighton, when Grandfather James was never mentioned,
even through she was up to five years of age when he was alive.
1807info1a, sheet 9
1881 Census
Source: FHL Film 1342144 PRO Ref GR11
Piece: 4735; Folio: 35; Page: 18; Sched:
Dwelling: Town Street
Place: Holme on Spalding Moor, York, England
Name Rel Mar Age Sex Occupation Birthplace
John H Crompton Head M 28 M Builder employing 4 men Yorks, Bridlington
...
James Crompton Father Wid 74 M Former shepherd Yorks, Bridlington
The 1891 census shows that James was living with his eldest son Thomas Edmund, in Preston east
of Hull. Thomas lived in the same row as his sister Mary Frances.
1891 Census
Source: FHL Film PRO Ref GR12
Piece: 3921; Folio: 32; Page: 9; Sched:
Dwelling: Carrick's Row
Place: Preston, York, England
Name Rel Mar Age Occupation Birthplace
Thomas E Crompton Head Wid 51 Ag. Lab Yorks, Melton
Albert Crompton Son 14 Yorks, Preston
James Crompton Father Wid 87 Yorks, Bridlington
Transcription error: For Melton read Metham
Finally
For many years James remained enigmatic to his death. Family hearsay recorded the date and
location of his death as "1899, aged 94 at Driffield and buried there". However the
year of death and age at death never tallied and East Yorkshire Monumental Inscriptions show no
record of his death.
The final stage of James' life was not known
until the inquest report, in the Hull Daily Mail, of his son Thomas Edmund was found.
This infers that Thomas Edmund took his life because of the shame of his father dying in
the Sculcoates Union (Hull Workhouse).
It is uncertain whether James entered the Union, sometime after the 1891 census, because
of ill-heath or the poverty of Thomas Edmund's family life. Considering the rest of
his hard life, poverty seems to be the likely cause. However John Harper's family, in
Hyde, wondered if James might have had Alzheimer's or another chronic condition and
had been impossible to manage by anyone nearby. There was, in the Union, a Matron and
nurses.
Above: The former Sculcoates Union as Kingston General
Hospital c.1950
Despite the introduction of visiting Outdoor Relieving Officers in 1871,
James was committed to the Union, perhaps by John Lowithian Jackson MB CM, the Hedon
District representative to the Union. Source: Bulmer's 1894 Directory of Hull)
1807info1a, sheet 10
The death certificate, registered under the name of James Crumpton, confirms the family
suspicion that death was cause by an age related mental debility.
Registration District Sculcoates
1896 DEATH in Sub-District of West Sclcoates in the County of Kingston upon
Hull
No.
When and where died
Name and surname
Sex
Age
Occupation
Cause of Death
Informant
When registered
Signature of registrar
7
Twentieth March 1896 Sculcoates Union Workhouse M.D.
James
Crumpton
Male
94 years
Farm Servant of Preston Holderness
Senile Decay Certified by H Robinson MB
W.H. Rylatt Master Sculcoates Union Workhouse Hull
Thirtieth March 1896
A.E.Officer Registrar
It is likely that James would have been humiliated by standing in a dock in front of the Board
of Governors sitting elevated on their stage. Having been classified as an 'Aged or
infirm man over 55 years' he would have been moved to the Admission Block, which often
appeared to look like stable bays. Here he would have been fumigated with carbolic and given his
surge suit, perhaps marked with a prominent 'P'.
Despite this humiliation the Union often provide a living environment better than home. It was
warm, dry and punctuated with order and cleanliness.
Breakfast: 7oz of bread, 1pt of milk and strong black tea;
Dinner: 4oz of meat, 16oz of vegetables, 5oz of yeast and strong
black tea;
Supper: 6oz of bread and 1oz of cheese and strong black tea.
On Thursday 20 March 1896 Thomas Edmund and his sister, Mary TATE, made
their final visit to James in the Union where they were told that his death was imminent.
The Governors' letter, informing the family of his death, was delivered on Friday 22
March, which suggests that James died on either Thursday 20 March 1896 or Friday 21 March
1896 depending on how the letter was delivered. It would have asked if the family wished,
organize the funeral themselves. If this did not happen, the Guardians arranged a burial
which usually took place in a local cemetery or burial ground, if there was no burial
ground associated with the Union's chapel. The plan, shown below, though identifying
school buildings, does not identify a chapel.
The burial would be in the cheapest possible coffin and in an unmarked grave, into which
several coffins might be placed on the same occasion. Unclaimed bodies could also be
disposed of by donating them for use in medical research and training.
James has no known grave.
Right: A typical death notice issued by the Board of Governors
1807info1a, sheet 11
Thomas committed suicide two days later and it is this double tragedy that probably accounts
for the families reluctance to 'remember' actual details. The report on the inquest can
be seen in 1807info2a.
GRO Marriages for Frances/Fanny HARPER and CROMPTON have been checked from 1837 to 1856, but
not found, though they did marry before the legal requirements to register.
Sculcoates Union Workhouse
Sculcoates Poor Law Union was formed in 1837 to take
over the Poor Law responsibilities of 18 civil parishes, including Preston and Hedon. It
was built to the designs of Henry F Lockwood at the junction of Fountains Road and
Beverley Road and was given the address of 106 Beverley Road.
'Not many passengers along the Beverley Road would imagine that the beautiful and
immense structure which is in the course of erection, on ground just beyond the town, is
intended for the reception of paupers. Its front aspect would not disgrace the residence
of a nobleman. In the centre of the building are the rooms appropriated to the governor,
matron, and their staff of around 60 people.
Above: Sculcoates Union map of 1893
On each side are day rooms for male and female paupers of every class. Behind the central
building is the dining room, capable of seating 300, and adjoining this are the kitchens and other
offices for the the proper carrying out of culinary operations. The sleeping rooms are above the
day room and to each class of pauper is appropriated a spacious and airy court.
'Near to the main building are school rooms, wash houses, tailor's shops, s
hoemakers' shops and all the buildings necessary for an establishment of this great extent.
The infirmary is at the extremity of the ground. ... The 'paupers' rooms are spacious,
light and airy; they command a prospect which would be envied by many of our wealthy inhabitants
residing in our town.'
Source: Hull Advertiser 1844
Workhouse broth was usually the water used for boiling the dinner meat, perhaps with a few
onions or turnips added. Tea ? often without milk ? was often provided for the aged and infirm at
breakfast, together with a small amount of butter. Supper was usually similar to breakfast.
The mid-day dinner was the meal that varied most, although on several days a week this could
just be bread and cheese. Other dinner fare included:
pudding ? either rice-pudding or steamed suet pudding. These would be served plain. In
later years, suet-pudding might be served with gravy, or sultanas added to make plum pudding
particularly when served to children or the infirm.
meat and potatoes ? the potatoes might be grown in the workhouses own garden; the meat was
usually cheap cuts of beef or mutton, with occasional pork or bacon. Meat was usually boiled,
although by the 1880s, some workhouses served roast meat. There was some scope for local
variation. From 1883, all workhouses could if they wished serve a fish dinner once a week.
soup ? this would usually be broth, with a few vegetables added and thickened with barley,
rice or oatmeal.
1807info1a, sheet 12
Often the basic diet was more filling than that 'at
home'. In the Union no one starved, though they may have died of malnutrition induced
by their previous life.
The aged or infirm had a slightly different diet, usually with more meat-based meals, and
with inclusion of milk or tea. Special or medical cases might require extra or alternative
food.
The main constituent of the workhouse diet was bread. At breakfast it was supplemented by
gruel or porridge ? both made from water and oatmeal (or occasionally a mixture of flour
and oatmeal).
Above: A typical 'standard' diet
Designed in a Tudor style it provided accommodation for 500 paupers. Late 19th century
extensions increased this capacity to 800. The workhouse was taken over by the City Council in
1930 to become The Beverley Road Institution and later, in 1948, Kingston General Hospital.
Although the front was demolished in the 1970s many of the original 1844 building remained,
though much altered. In 2002 the whole site was demolished, to be replaced by Endeavour High
School.
Metham (pronounced Met-am) comprises of the farms of Low Metham Grange, High Metham and Metham
Hall. All are situated four miles ESE of Howden. From B1230 turn south, signpost Yokefleet.
Plantation Farm, Acomb, York (OS 105 GR SE 575527) remains with Plantation Drive and Plantation
Grove, being on the A59 Boroughbridge Road just inside the York Ring Road. The land is now
housing, a print works, railway sidings and open land backing down to the River Ouse at Acomb
Ings.
This page was created by Richard Crompton
and maintained by Chris Glass
