My partner’s Great Great Grandfather, John Butler, proved to be a very interesting character to research!
He was born in Edgcott in Buckinghamshire in 1839, the son of Joseph Butler (b.1811) and Jane Butler nee Thorpe (b.1801). Jane was 10 years older than Joseph and a widow with 4 children. Both John’s parents were Edgcott born and bred. I found that researching the history of Ian’s family in villages in middle England, very few people moved more than 5-10 miles from their birth places. His ancestors were clearly very poor. They worked mostly on farms as agricultural labourers, and they had many periods out of work.
Their lack of mobility starkly contrasts with my own ancestors in the industrialised North West, who would move from town to city for work in the factories. Ian’s ancestor almost exclusively worked on the land or were hawkers of produce from village to village, ultimately maybe having their own shop. My ancestors worked in the mills, and steel works, and in print works.
I compared the average age on death of our 2 X Great Grandparents, being those ancestors who largely were born and died in Victorian England. The average age on death of his agricultural labourer ancestors was 68, whilst my ancestors toiling away in factories was 60 years.
Interesting Fact: Although Victorians who attained adulthood could expect to live into old age, average life expectancy at birth was low: in 1850 it was 40 for men and 42 for women. By 1900 it was 45 for men and 50 for women. The very low life expectancy rather skewed by the fact that in the 1850s a quarter of children died before the age of 5.
Back to John Butler… By the 1861 census he was living with his widowed mother and brother in Edgcott and he was an agricultural labourer – of course! In 1871 he was lodging, aged 31, with his new wife Ann about a mile down the road. Now he was a shoemaker – which becomes a little ironic because of the reason for my anecdote.
It is always interesting to ponder what has happened to the people being investigated in the 10 years between each census. If I am lucky trawling through Newspaper clippings, I may find something. With John Butler I often struck gold.
Here is a newspaper article, very sarcastically headlined, from the Buckinghamshire Advertiser of 16 April 1864:-
For some reason, the thought that my law abiding, retired police officer partner’s Great Great Grandad had been in court, for being so appalled at his mother’s drunken state, that he had beaten her with his wooden leg, really made me laugh. Not that I advocate mother beating – but the wooden leg bit was too funny. Again, a bit mean of me as it meant John had lost his leg by the age of 25. Of course we don’t know why this happened, but I have often come across very bad agricultural accidents mentioned in the Victorian Newspapers.
Very frustratingly it didn’t give the name of the mother. Whilst Edgcott was small, there were a few Butlers so I felt I could not definitively say this was our John Butler. Somehow I had to prove that our John Butler had a wooden leg.
Months of occasional searching followed. John and Ann with 3 out of 5 surviving children end up living in Buckingham and John is hawking shoes door to door. Once I find him in the newspaper fined for unlicensed hawking. I also find him mentioned in other newspaper articles for other reasons – he is a man who likes to keep busy and is not averse to standing up for himself. More of that on another blog….
Eventually I had my Eureka moment. I came across a very long report of a court case in the Buckingham Express of 23 August 1884. It is a very interesting case and I will eventually blog about it as it provides a remarkable insight into the religious sensibilities of the day. However, suffice to say John Butler is just one of a number of good citizens of Buckingham who were being sued by a blacksmith for none payment of a debt. The debt was incurred as a result of him making a “van” for them for a “gypsy” – the Buckingham Express word not mine!
All the defendants blamed a man called James Cleaver, who was a co defendant but who had not bothered to come to court. I was completely satisfied that the John Butler in this case was our John Butler. He was questioned in Court about various matters, and at one point says he recently came across Cleaver in Tingewick near Buckingham and the following transpired:-
I cannot describe how delighted I was when I discovered that, not only has our John Butler got a wooden leg, but it is still his weapon of choice!! I am not alone, note how the Judge in court is laughing along with the multitude. Who needs afternoon TV when a good laugh is to be found sat in the public gallery in Buckingham County Court!
Mystery of the identity of “A Nice Couple” solved! By the way, I am assuming John and his mother Jane did not stay on each other’s Christmas card lists after he had left home. In 1881, Jane dies alone in the Buckingham Workhouse aged 80.
2 responses to ““A Nice Couple””
John Butler sounds like someone who might have been found at the end of the bar in the vault at the Sumners. Perhaps having his Sunday lunch brought to him by his poor old mum. No wonder she took to the demon drink herself. Sad that she died alone in the workhouse but heavens, what an age she achieved. Maybe the booze wasn’t so bad for her after all….
I know, she lived to a remarkable age! Rural Victorian lifespan appears to be little different to todays average life span. Presumably because, although though we have better medical interventions, the food we eat is considerably unhealthier. In my reply to your FB post you will see my agreement with you that John Butler would indeed have fit in very nicely in the Vault of The Sumners Pub -“Yes and he would pontificate loudly to all who would listen. And as he was in court for drunk and disorderly once, and also in front of the school board on more than one occasion for not sending his kids to school, he would have fit in very ncely with the men in the vault putting the world to rights!!”