THIS IS FINDON VILLAGE — www.findonvillage.com created by Valerie Martin, contains scenes from her home village of Findon, West Sussex, U.K. 

1890 AND ALL THAT

Copyright Valerie Martin 2004

Originally published in Along The Furlong in January 2004

If you take any particular year and investigate life in Findon, there is always something surprising or amusing. Let's take 1890 when the village had a population of around 770 and was still a rural backwater.

Who lived in the village in those days? The Marchioness of Bath resided at Muntham Court. The Vicarage in the High Street (now the Findon Manor Hotel) was the home of the Reverend William Dennis Allen. Lieutenant Colonel William George Margesson owned Findon Place, the Manor of Findon. A German lady, Emma Shroeter, was the superintendent of the convalescent home — now the Village House in The Square. The butcher in The Square was George Rice and Albert Short Senior ran Findon Farm in the Horsham Road.

I have discovered that the year 1890 did not start well. The weather was exceedingly miserable and the condition of the Findon lanes was bad; they were covered in mud. To top everything there was an unfortunate epidemic of influenza. The school, which catered for 144 pupils at the time, (although the average attendance was only 115), was closed because of the rampant illness — reputedly to have come from China. All of the teachers fell ill and had taken to their beds and most of the children were suffering too. It was said that the school was kept open and warm for sheltering those pupils who struggled in each day.

On the 12th January, the Second Sunday after Epiphany, it was suddenly a glorious spring-like day and Confirmation was due to be held at St. John the Baptist Church. This was a special occasion and the Venerable Bishop of Chichester (now in his 88th year), in spite of the epidemic of influenza in the neighbourhood, devoted the whole day to the parish.

In the morning he preached, and in the afternoon "laid hands" on fifty-six candidates for Confirmation and the church was filled with attentive congregations. Many villagers were confirmed — in some cases, mothers with their children. The ages ranged from thirteen to sixty-three years and some of the parishioners literally crawled from their beds after being so ill.

Although many of the villagers (especially the greater part of the choir), were absent through illness, the services were eagerly attended. There was blue sky throughout the day and the church and countryside was said to look extremely picturesque for the time of year. Afterwards the Bishop was the guest of the Marchioness of Bath at Muntham Court, to whose generosity and fine taste the Church owed so much of its grace and beauty in those days.

The fine weather did not last and during the inclement weather that followed, a torrent of rain flooded some of the primitive village cesspools. By Sunday, 19th January, a river of raw sewage ran down our familiar High Street. The vile stench pervaded over the village and even the wind could not blow it away.    It lingered on and everyone imagined it was in their nostrils and it was still around after it had finally dispersed.

It was during January that the churchyard was described as —

"getting very full."

Villagers were reminded that relations or friends of those who died should always ask the vicar before going ahead and just assuming to hold a burial at the church.

In February, the news of a suicide buzzed around the village. George Caplin, fifty-seven year old employee of George Hampton, was found dead in a tank at the rear of the cattle shed where he was employed as a groom. It was very distressing for Hampton, he was a great Findon sheep farmer who lived at North End Farmhouse for close on half a century and his Southdown flocks of sheep were renowned far and wide. It was said that the departed had been a trusted servant of his for twenty-five years and was always a well-conducted and respected villager.

The Coroner returned a verdict on George Caplin's death of "suicide while temporarily insane". He had recently lost his wife, Sarah, and had been in and out of the infirmary for two months with a severe illness. It seemed he was very depressed and deemed not responsible for his actions. He was buried on Monday, 17th February and the service was read, as was the custom —

"who lay violent hands on themselves".

I have found that as late as 1909 the vicar of Findon is reputed to have said he would refuse to conduct the burial services of anyone who committed suicide unless ordered to do so by the Bishop of Chichester.  

By March, the aforementioned agile influenza microbe that had attacked the village, still raged on and spared no one.

The new racing stables at The Vale were completed at the beginning of 1890 and the first trainer to be installed was 38-year-old William Henry Burbridge who lived at Kingswood Villa.  The Vale had formerly been Limbers Farm and there are reputed to still be traces of the old farm buildings on the site.  In March 1890 it was reported that a worker named Harry from William Burbridge’s stables was —

"thrown on to his head and is none the better for it".

During March the trestles in the church on which coffins were placed were described as —

"long been disreputable"

They were deemed no longer safe to use. The churchwardens could not afford to purchase new ones and it was threatened that coffins would have to be placed on the floor if a benevolent friend did not donate new trestles.

An agricultural accident occurred in the village in March.  Thomas Lawson was a labourer and had been born in Warham in Norfolk.  He moved to Findon and married a village girl and lived at Lower Farm which I think may have been part of the Cissbury Estate.

His wife, Margaret, gave him four sons, William, George, Edwin and Harry;  and two daughters Annie and Olive. Thomas Lawson was run over by a plough on the Wyatt family’s Cissbury Farm and broke his leg in two places. His condition turned out to be very serious and the 56-year-old later died on Thursday, 8th May.  He had served on the Cissbury Estate for thirty-five long years.

Perhaps good manners were lapsing in 1890. The vicar requested that villagers did not let their offspring attend the funerals of strangers. (It is wondered if the children were going to the church to keep warm on chilly days, or purely for amusement.) Congregations were also reminded that if they did attend a funeral, to please take part in the actual service, including the psalms and prayers — and to remember to rise as a coffin was carried into the church.

This vicar was not the last to criticise the Findon congregation.  

Continuing through the year, the summer of 1890 in Findon was cricketless. There was a good reason — no one it seemed had bothered to arrange any matches.

There was cloudy weather for haymaking in 1890 — therefore some of the villagers' hay did not do very well. In July, the vicar made the following comment in the parish magazine.

He then went on to make a thinly veiled observation directed at his congregation...

Later, a list of "funeral furniture" was required for the church. This comprised of —

The vicar reported that the harmonium was on its —

"last wheeze".

Meanwhile, the school reported —

"desks on their last legs".

The Parish magazine reported —

Then another Findon tragedy occurred. Eleven-year-old Arthur Caplen of North End, son of John Caplen an agricultural worker, died following a farming accident. This seemed to be happening all too frequently in those days. This particular death involved the farm horses during harvesting.

A gardening tip appeared in the parish magazine —

Arthur Hampton, who played cricket for the Findon Cricket Club, (with such well-known village names as Albert Short Junior and Ernest Winton), was enjoying the fireworks on 5th November. He was watching the display "from a balcony" in the village. Unfortunately for him, during the progress of the revelries that Wednesday a Roman candle went out of control and hit him in the eye. Alas, the result being that he lost the sight in that eye.

John Colbourne was born in 1849 at Finchdean, Hampshire.  By 1870, he had settled in our own county and in 1871 he married the daughter of a farmer, Mary Jane Lintott (born 1848).   Their marriage took place  in the district of Cuckfield in the December Quarter of 1871. 

Around the time of his wedding, John established a business in nearby Lancing as a baker and grocer.  On a cold Wednesday evening, 19th November, 1890, he was driving home through a deserted Findon at about 5 p.m.  It seems he had business links in Findon.   He was thrown from his cart on this particular winter night and lay unnoticed on the cold dark road for some hours.

Eventually, when he was discovered, it was too late — the unfortunate shopkeeper. The Coroner’s verdict on this occasion was "accidental death".    John left his widow and nine surviving sons (there were 13 children originally, 11 of whom were boys).   Mary Colbourne, took over the running of her late husband's business in South Lancing.  As they reached adulthood, Mary Colbourne's sons assisted her in the grocery business.  Colbourne's Stores were situated in South Street at the junction with Penhill Road.

The vicar wrote —

It is amusing to note that during November the Southdown Guild held an exhibition of the contributions of combined stitching from Findon. The report on this was followed by the comment —

"Why do men never do anything useful for one another?"

Nothing changes over the years it seems.

Continue if you would like to read about Beating More Bounds in 1896.

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