At the start her talk Helen Allinson described the hierarchy in the village from farm labourer at the bottom of the pyramid to tradesman, yeoman land owners and the Squire at the top of the tree. Helen said the images she was showing were from Hollingbourne and the surrounding hamlets and villages, about which she has written several books.
The plus of village life in past times was that everyone knew each other as they lived, worked and played together. Whilst this might seem to have its downside it was actually a good support network in times of trouble. Unlike today when, with the introduction of the car, people may only know the faces of neighbours as they zoom by on their way to work or shop. In past eras village shops stocked a variety of things and it would only be on rare occasions (maybe once or twice a year) that people would leave their village for any reason.
Nearly every village would hold a Horticultural Show with various categories and sections and although the gentry entered it was most unlikely, they had actually grown anything themselves. Many villages had a regular ‘Tug of War Team’, not just a scratch team made up on the day. Helen remarked that it was serious stuff between the wars, and showed a photo of the Borden team with their silver cups and mascots. Many villages arranged outings and a photo from the 1920s showed the inhabitants of Oad Street near Borden. Everyone was dressed in their Sunday best as they left for the annual outing to Sheerness in carts!
Cricket, can trace it origins back to the 18th century in Kent, and was very popular with some villages even having two Cricket teams. Conversely, football made a much later appearance in village life.
Celebrations amongst the labouring classes were held on most feast days, when girls in service were allowed home for at least a half day. The meal would often comprise of a poached rabbit. Christmas celebrations, decorating homes with foliage and Mummers can be traced to much earlier times with many celebrations centred around village pubs. Hollingbourne, being a large village, still has three pubs. In the Journal of Louisa Thomas, of Hollingbourne (edited by Helen) Louisa affirms that Mummers plays continued in the village from the reign of Henry VIII into the 19th century. Made up mostly of working men the Mummers would dress up (often not wonderful costumes) and call on houses, especially those where they were likely to receive a gift. In the big houses they were often invited to perform in the servant’s hall and would receive cheese, beer and coins. The latter they could put towards their own family Christmas. In later centuries Men and Boys of the villages formed Brass Bands. A pastime we mostly associate with northern counties. Nonetheless, Helen had an image of the Hollingbourne and Leeds Band with their donated instruments and uniforms.
Many villages had Friendly Societies and Funeral Clubs meeting in their local pubs. The rules of the club still survive for Borden where the Society met at The Maypole pub. The rules indicate that there were 4 keys to the treasury chest which was only to be opened in front of the Committee. The rules also indicated that you could be expelled if your behaviour was not acceptable for example for, drunkenness, fighting, swearing etc. On feast days (such as the saint’s day to which the local church was dedicated) the pub landlady would often host a party, the highlight of the year, at which everyone had a wonderful time. There would be Roast beef, fruit pies, with afternoon tea for the women and children and events such as a show cricket match, with dancing and a fair going on until dark.
Funeral Societies were particularly active as people dreaded a pauper’s funeral almost more than being put in the Workhouse. Although, a subject of another talk Helen touched on the plight of those villagers who ended up in the Workhouse. The Hollingbourne Union, which served 22 surrounding parishes, was a more attractive building than many, but it was still a very harsh place to be stuck in. In bad weather years there was little or no pay for farm workers. Hence, they were often forced to take their family in to the Workhouse maybe 6 or 7 times in a year. Some farmers were very harsh to their workers who died in post. It was not unusual for the dependant family to be chucked out of the tied cottage the same day of the death with the workhouse often the only place for them to go to.
Farm labourers were also made up from the farmer’s family and Helen showed the photo of the Apps family harvesting cherries. Every man, woman and child, almost from the cradle to the grave, helped with the harvest. It was mainly the women, even those quite elderly, who went up the long ladders. The produce was then sent up to Covent Garden by rail.
The next image was of Hollingbourne’s Blacksmith William Hadlow. Helen told us that often Blacksmith’s would read to labourer’s being one jump up the literacy ladder when there was little or no education often only the village Sunday school.
In village shops Bakers used flour ground in the local windmill. Although, few Mills remained after industrialisation. Properties such as Sage Butchers and Grocers in Bredgar, once 3 small houses with few facilities, and the Wheelwrights House, in the same village, are now selling for over a million.
Helen then moved on to talk about the lives of those at the top of the tree. How upper-class woman filled their days with education, balls and parties, producing children and having command of the female servants. Whilst her husband had charge of the men. Much detail of this station in life was gleaned from Louisa Thomas’ Journal. Helen mentioned the plight of two of Louisa's single female servants who found themselves with child. Louisa kept them for a week after the birth before giving them clothes and sending them off to the Workhouse. Sounds harsh but she was better than some employers of the period.
In past eras the family at the Vicarage often ranked amongst the more affluent classes. Most Vicars were younger sons from upper-class families. If not cut out to join the Military the next option was the church. Few upper-class Vicars took their parishes duties seriously preferring to hire a Curate for the day to day chores, such as sick visiting, teaching religion in the village school etc. That freed them up to continue their hobbies such as butterfly collecting, foreign travel and writing books.
The first World War saw military recruitment, all over the country, leaving women and girls to work the farms. As mechanism continued to developed on farms fewer workers were needed. Helen said that villagers were often prejudiced against Hoppers who were not liked amongst the locals being considered the lowest of the low.
Although, up to 1968 cows were still herded through the streets of Hollingbourne on their way to be milked, changes to rural life were established and there is very little evidence left today of the Victorian village life Helen described in her talk.
Helen’s talk, being packed full of interesting information, gave us a window onto how our ancestors once worked and played. I’m sure Helen’s books on the subject will be most enlightening and well worth reading.
Report by Tricia Baxter