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England (Counties as in 1851-1901) => England => Hampshire & Isle of Wight => Topic started by: Penninah on Tuesday 21 July 09 12:43 BST (UK)
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Ok so I have collected quite a few Gardener's on my 'Heath' family's side!
I am trying to figure out why there are so many of them, My only conclusion is that there was a large estate nearby. Can anyone help?
I have 2 Edward's, 2 Benjamin's, 2 John's a Joseph a William, George, Henry and a Thomas so far that are all Gardeners on the 51 census. A lot of their Neighbours appear to be Gardeners too.
They live in these areas-
Highfield (Christchurch)
Botley Turnpike (St James)
Romsey Road, Shirley (St James)
Church Rd, (All Saints)
Millbrook
Many thanks ;)
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Hi penninah
Have you looked at the description of the enumeration district? It quite specifically mentions "James ....ebles garden" twice, but I can't make out the name at the moment.
Also the map shows a large area of what could be orchard or market gardens. Perahps to supply the shops in Southampton itself? Just a thought.
Nell
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Hmmmm thats interesting thanks, I shall try looking at the enumeration info.
On the 61 Henry Heath says he is a 'Nursery Gardener'. :)
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I've had a look at the enumeration info and it looks like it says James Webb's garden - in that the enumerator is using this man's garden as a boundry for that particular area he doing, I don't think it is what I am after! I still think there must be a big house around, I've found some more gardeners this afternoon!
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The area around Hedge End and Botley was well know for its market gardens and particulary for the production of strawberries. Botley Grange and Botley Hill were the large Houses of the area.
Highfield would have been near to South Stoneham House, now part of Southampton University..
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Thanks for that, I did see South Stoneham house and wonder... Not sure I'll ever know for sure!
;)
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I can see now that it could be Webb.
Whoever James Webb/Weble was, he (and his property) must have been quite well known for the enumerator to have used the boundary of his property (a garden, not a house & garden or a messuage or anything else, but a garden) as the limit of the enumeration district. I'd go with it being a market garden.
Some suggestions for you:
William James Webb - market gardener of Moor Green, died about 1869, slightly wrong area for Highfield, but......
James Weble - butcher and farmer, employing several others, in South Stoneham
Highfield is where most of the campus for Southampton University is now - in fact I was there yesterday. No sign anymore of strawberry fields :(
South Stoneham House is 18th century and had its grounds laid out by Capability Brown. It was formerly the manor house and its grounds run down to the river.
Don't know if it will assist, but there is a wonderful tithe map (dated 1845) of West End here:
http://www.westendlhs.hampshire.org.uk/westend/index.html
Nell
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Thanks Nell!
Shame about the strawberry fields, and the hideous high rise behind south stoneham house! ;D
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Any help?
http://www.gregg-school-trust.co.uk/garden/Background.asp
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Thanks for that, it may well be!
I think the only way of being sure would be a trip to the Records office in Winchester to see what records for staff at the local big houses survives!
;D
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My father was from West End and one of his ancestor's son's was a market gardener there in mid- late 19th century.
The area around there was much more rural than it is today and there were lots of fields for market gardeners.
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What was your father's name? I went to school in West End and lived close by in the village, (now town!) of Hedge End.
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My maiden name was BUCKLE and dad's mother's surname was WILTSHIRE her sister's family ran the newsagents their surname was STUBBS.
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Would you have any connection with the R. Buckle who was the landlord of a Public House in Botley, Hants?
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I don't know of any connection.
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I'm coming into this thread very late for which I apologise but there were a number of large houses in South Stoneham, particularly around the Portswood area. I carried out a study on the origins of the name of a local pub in the Highfield area and it caused me to discover a number of moderate to large sized houses - most of which are now gone.
The area included Highfield House, Portwood Lodge and Portswood House, Westwood House as well as South Stoneham itself. The subject of my study was a Lieutenant-Colonel William Charles Drummond who was resident at Myrtle House, sometimes called Myrtle Cottage, which is a deceptive name for the grounds include all the land lying bounded by Bowden Lane, Brickfield Road, Portswood Road and a line west of Somerset Road. The 'cottage' was on the grounds of what is now Portswood Primary School. It is unlikely that Colonel Drumond or his neighbours in the burgeoning villas at the top of Highfield would have done their own gardening.
The ideas about market gardeners are perfectly valid and are likely to be the solution to your quest, but it remains that there will have been a reasonable number of gardeners for reasonable sized houses in the area.
regards
John
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Thank you very much for your message! I need to take another look into this, perhaps a visit to the ro would help in time. I am curious as to where he worked.
Regards,
Penninah
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When I was at school in Eastleigh back in the 1960's we used to run cross-country races around the South Stoneham area and much of the course was through market gardens between South Stoneham Lane and the Eastleigh Airport.
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It sounds like a possibility. There seems to be a lot of call for gardeners in that area full stop!