Differing Responses to an Industrialising Economy - eTheses ...

Larger villages served as entrepots for nearby farms and hamlets, but shops and
carriers spread to smaller settlements too. In Period D probate and marriage licence data
show much growth for the retailing and service sector. Many such tradesmen were of the
type to leave probate and marry by licence, but the baptism data and the 1841 census put
this sector into a more realistic perspective. 191
With access to the new canal-wharves coal-dealers now appear, delivering to
customers in surrounding villages. The transport boom caused a growing demand for
deliveries and storage. Although Joseph Johnson of Spernall was a warehouseman,
Spernall was an unlikely place for a warehouse. He probably worked in nearby Studley,
perhaps in a needle-warehouse. 192
Professionals, gentry, domestic servants and others
Throughout the study period each parish had its Anglican clergyman or ‘clerk’,
either resident or absent. Before 1800 (and perhaps later) many clergymen enjoyed
considerable farming assets, but others were considered to be poorly paid. 193
Among the
clergymen mentioned in the 1841 census we find a ‘home-missionary’ in Aston Cantlow.
The careers of Church of England clergy are quite apparent in the diocesan records,
whereas non-Anglican clergy are harder to unearth. However, buildings were used as
meeting-houses for dissenters, such as Richard Windle’s house in Inkberrow in 1720. 194
Dissenting preachers probably pursued different occupations during the week. In 1685 a
Dormston resident caused the authorities much concern, because he or she was preaching
191 Tables 6.2, 6.4 and Table 6.6 (baptisms) has a figure of 3.4%, while Table 6.8 (1841 census) has 3% for
adult males and 2.3 % for adult females in this sector.
192 WaRO, 1841 census Spernall. In 1851 neighbouring Oldberrow had a milkman.
193 Rogers, The State of the Poor (by Sir Frederic Morton Eden), p. 350, includes the following complaint
from Rev. William Heath of Inkberrow: ‘The income of clergymen is in general very inadequate to enable
them to live with hospitality or even with decency.’
194 Bradbrook, History of the Parish of Inkberrow, p. 33.
231