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This was the second of LucyAnn’s talks based on books she had written about her Curling Ancestors. She has uncovered at least 350 years of Curlings in Kent and the first talk was about those who lived in Thanet. This branch had lived in Shuart Farm, St Nicholas at Wade for 3 generations.
Thomas Curling born 1756 is the main figure in this tale. He had a brother John who was farming at Greystone Farm, Ash near Sandwich, unfortunately John died young so Thomas took on this farm as well. Shuart farm was partly marshland so this made it difficult to grow much wheat. In the Napoleonic war era there had been demand for wheat which pushed the prices up combined with poor harvests.
In 1816 a letter was sent to farmers asking their opinion of the state of British Agriculture
The reply from Thomas Oakley Curling listed the following points:
• Bankruptcy was looming for even the bigger farmers
• Every Acre of Land was cropped meaning Graziers couldn’t rear as many animals
• Stackyards were empty.
• Increasing the price of the products wouldn’t help as there was so little available.
His solutions were:
• To prohibit all corn imports.
• Apply a high tax on imported materials and seeds
• Change the Poor Law making support of the Poor a national issue rather than a parish one.
• Building factories in areas of poverty so that the poor could find work
Thomas cited letters from Farmers considering emigration. In 1821 he sold Shuart Farm and most of the equipment and he, Jane and 7 of their children lived with family members while going through the paperwork of moving. In April 1822 his wife Jane gave birth to their 9th child and in August 1822 they all (apart from oldest son Thomas who was an apprentice in Margate so unable to leave) set sail on the Regalia bound for Van Diemens land, They arrived in Hobart five and a half months later. On arrival there was conflict between the Settlers and the indigenous people. It took a while for Thomas to get his grant of land sorted out and for a while they all lived in a one room hut but eventually life improved for them and they farmed at Rockthorpe.
LucyAnn illustrated her talk with many pictures and recommended the following books
The History and Antiquities of the Church and Parish of St Laurence in Thanet; Charles Cotton, free on Google books
The Isle of Thanet Farming Community; RKI Quested, 2003 self published
The Agricultural State of the Kingdom, 1816 Board of Agriculture republished 1976
Life and death in the Age of Sail: The passage to Australia; Robin Haines 2003
Even for those of us without Curling ancestors this talk showed us what life was like for so many emigrants.
You can Contact LucyAnn by email
Report by Sheila Harris