Carleton Rode Church where Joseph and Margaret were married in 1759
Carleton Rode Church where Joseph and Margaret were married in 1759
Besides George we know of the following other children of Joseph and Margaret: Ann who was baptised on 14 September 1760, Joseph who was baptised on 4 March 1764, Mary who was baptised on 26 October 1766 and John who was baptised on 14 September 1769. All the children were christened in Old Buckenham Parish Church.
On 1st and 2nd August 1803 a list was compiled in New Buckenham of individuals "between the age of 15 and upwards", a list to help compile names of those who may have been interested in signing up to fight Napoleon Bonaparte. Two CHILVERS are recorded: John, aged 32, a labourer who is stated to be married with 2 children, and a George, aged 67, a widower. John is quite possibly the uncle of the Samuel we are interested in, but it is unclear who George is.
Further delving indicates that George (the younger father of "our" Samuel) married Elizabeth MICKLEBURGH on 30 June 1800 in Old Buckenham. They had a number of children. Besides the Samuel we are interested in there are Elizabeth (baptised 3 May 1801), George (baptised 21 October 1804), David (27 September 1812) and Christopher (13 June 1819). There are two recorded deaths of Elizabeths, one of a 27-year-old on 31 August 1828 which is presumably Samuel's older sister, and a 55-year-old on 23 September 1831, presumably George's wife and Samuel's mother. Christopher died in 1839.
The only unallocated record entry is of the death of a 15-year-old girl named Frances on 10 May 1829. Who she is we are not sure, but a birth date of about 1814 would of course make her quite likely to be a daughter of George and Elizabeth.
We are lucky that for Old Buckenham census records for 1811 and 1821 still exist. The 1811 census shows a George CHILVERS and his family - a total of 5 males and 4 females. George is described as a husbandman. The 1821 census again shows George Chilvers, husbandman, with his family consisting in all of 4 males and 3 females.
The 1841 census for Old Buckenham shows a 60-year-old George CHILVERS resident as a lodger with a 60 year old Ag Lab, Edward HUMPHREY and his wife Elizabeth, recorded as being 70 years old. It must be remembered however that entries in the 1841 census were rounded to 5 years. In the same census return there is an entry for a 17 year old servant, Eliza CHILVERS, in the household of publican George HOLL and his wife Mary Anne and their children.
On 16 August 1829 in Old Buckenham Samuel married a young lady with the delightful name of Thyrza QUANTRILL. Thyrza's name is sometimes written as Thirza, Thurza or Thursy, but was in fact a not uncommon name in 19th century England. It is a good, old-fashioned Biblical name, from the Hebrew meaning "sweet-natured" or "cypress tree" (I'm not sure that I'd want to be called "cypress tree"), and appears in Numbers 26:33 "And Zelo'phehad the son of Hepher had no sons, but daughters: and the names of the daughters of Zelo'phehad were Mahlah, and Noah, Hoglah, Milcah, and Tirzah." These daughters of Zelophehad were in fact the first women's libbers, because when the old chap passed away (Numbers 27) they made a case to Moses, who checked it out with the Lord who fortunately agreed, that they should take their father's inheritance.
Thyrza (ours - not the Biblical one) was born on 11 December 1808 and was one of the eleven children of Joseph and Ann QUANTRILL: Elizabeth (born 1802), Rebecca (born 1804, died 1805), another Rebecca (born 1805 and later married to George WORBY), Lucy (1807), Thyrza (1808), Ann (1810), Mary (1813), William (1815), David (1817), Joseph (1818) and Emily (1822). Thyrza's father, Joseph, was born in 1776 and died on 17 August 1826. He was one of six known children of William QUANTRILL (1745-1792) and Rosamond (née LILLISTONE), who died in 1804. Joseph's siblings were William (1772), John (1774), Rosamond (1775), Jonas (1779) and Rebecca (1784). One of the Rosamund QUANTRILLs acted as witness to Samuel and Thyrza's wedding, along with Robert BLACKBURN, another name that crops up later.
We don't really know much about Samuel and Thyrza's early life together, except that when their first child, Albert, was born in November 1829 Samuel's occupation was recorded as labourer. It of course doesn't take a genius to work out that there were three months between the marriage and birth of Albert.
Three years later Samuel was recorded as a carter, and a year later as a carrier (same thing?).
His name appears in the 1839 "Pigot's Directory of Norfolk" on page 505 under "Norwich - carriers", where his entry shows "To BUCKENHAM (OLD) - Chilvers, from the Two Neck Swan, every Sat." and in Robson's Commercial Directory which gives even more detail: "To Old Buckenham - Chilvers, through Hethersett, Attleborough, and Wymondham, from the Two Necked Swan, St.Stephens, Sat. at 2."
By the 1841 census he is described as a Farmer. Just to clarify for anyone else following the plot, he is shown as being 30, but for the 1841 census adult ages were rounded to five years. Thus Thurzy (as she was described then) is listed as being 25. The family at the time is noted as Albert (11), Frances(9), Harriet(7), George(5), Daniel(3), Mary Ann(1) and a not very clear entry (possibly "no" as in "no name") for a female recorded as 2 days. This is however most probably Elijah - a boy. William QUANTRELL, Thyrza's brother, is also in the household, shown as a 25-year-old Ag Lab.
In 1843 on Elijah's death certificate on 1 January Samuel is described as a farmer, but on Eliza's birth certificate on 17 January, only two weeks later, he is still recorded as a carrier. By 1845 he is clearly described as a farmer, a description he carries with him to his death certificate.
The tithe apportionments for Old Buckenham show the following entry:
| Landowner | Occupier | Plot | Name and description | State of cultivation | Statute measure | Amount of rent |
| Petley John | Chilvers Samuel | 869 | Upper Piece | ar | 2a 2r 12p | £1 2s 6d |
| 870 | Home do. | " | 1a 3r 12p | 15s 6d | ||
| 874 | House & Yard | pa | 1r 16p | 2s 6d | ||
| 913 | Allotment | " | 2r 0p | 3s 6d | ||
| 914 | do. | ar | 1a 0r 24p | 8s 6d | ||
| 915 | do. | " | 1a 0r 13p | 7s 6d | ||
| TOTAL | 7a 1r 37p | £3 |
The land was in Fen Street, Old Buckenham. The 1841 census describes the "address" as Horse Cross, Old Buckenham. The 1851 census shows that William PETLEY was Veterinary Surgeon in Old Buckenham, and was born in Mildenhall in Suffolk. The 1841 census then shows a John PETLEY living in Mildenhall and noted as Veterinary Surgeon. It is, I think, therefore safe to assume that Samuel rented his land from the vet.
Fen Road - Fen Farm can be seen as the white thatched building in the centre
He is recorded in "Francis White's History, Gazetteer and Directory of Norfolk 1854", in both the 1858 and 1869 Post Office Directories and in "Craven's Commercial Directory of Norfolk 1856" in Old Buckenham as a farmer.
Samuel's status in the community appeared to grow, as Parish accounts show Samuel renting on Church lands and "part of Fen". From 1854 to 1863 his annual rent payment to the Church was £27/0/0d, made up £19/0/0d to rent on Church lands and £8/0/0d to rent on part of fen. From 1864 to 1869 it was £19/2/6d. It is interesting to note that in the accounts for 1860 to 1862 Samuel promptly (in fact early) pays up £13/0/0d in advance in March or April, but then pays the rest of the rent (due in October) late. He was by far the highest payer, and the fen account shows Samuel as Fen Reeve for which he was paid £2/0/0d per annum.
Fen Street now
The size of the holding can be seen to vary through the various records: 1851 census - 40 acres, 1861 census - 29 acres, 1871 census - 8 acres; while the 1873 Return of Norfolk Landowners shows Samuel CHILVERS holding 7 acres 1 rood and 27 poles at an estimated rental of £15/10/0d. In 1881 however when the farm was run by David it measured 27 acres.
Samuel and Thyrza had at least twelve children that we know of.
Thyrza died on Wednesday 15 February 1865 as result of "Diseased Uterus". The death was notified by Maria RODWELL, who was present at the death in Old Buckenham.
There then follows one of the great mysteries of this family. There is a sudden flurry of marriages: David and Providence both marry within the year, but perhaps this is not surprising; undoubtedly Thyrza's illness had been somewhat prolonged, and a wedding celebration may have seemed inappropriate (or maybe Thyrza just didn't approve of the chosen spouses). What is oddest of all however is that "old" Samuel himself remarried on 9 October 1865, barely 9 months after Thyrza's death. His new wife was a widow Ann PORTER, whose father was Thomas MUNNINGS (sp?), noted as being a farmer. The fact that Samuel married so quickly is perhaps a little surprising, but not overwhelmingly puzzling. What is however, is the fact that Ann PORTER cannot be found before or after anywhere. She appears from nowhere, and disappears just as quickly. By the 1871 census Samuel is shown living at the farm in Fenn Street (sic) with his youngest son, Samuel, and the young housekeeper Elizabeth BEALES, soon to become Samuel Jnr's wife. Samuel is shown as being a widower.
Maybe Samuel was just unlucky and Ann died. Except that there is no record of the death of an Ann CHILVERS anywhere near.
The 1841 census shows a Thomas MUNNINGS, a 35 year old hostler, living with his wife Mary, and their children Robert(11), John(5), Ann(3) and Mary(1) in Litcham in Norfolk. There is only one Ann MUNNINGS to be found in the 1851 census, the daughter of a Thomas MUNNINGS, a farmer of Mitford, although Ann was born in Litcham (BMD reference appears to be March 1838 Vol 13 Page 211). The thing is that Ann is shown in the 1851 census as a housekeeper, but only 13 years old, tying in with the Ann recorded in the 1841 census. If she is the Ann who married Samuel in 1865 then she would have been 27 to his 57. For her then to have died would have appeared unfortunate in the extreme, particularly having already seen off the unfortunate Mr PORTER. Far more likely is that Ann was housekeeper who Samuel married for an obvious reason, but was herself perhaps more interested in a landowning farmer for his perceived wealth. The easiest way out of the mess, when all involved realised that things wouldn't work out was for all to "forget" that the wedding took place, she moved on elsewhere, and Samuel reverted to being a widower. Speculation, certainly, but at least an explanation for a rather strange interlude in an otherwise classical Victorian farmer's story.
We have another little snippet of information about Samuel in 1865 - his political leanings! The Reform Act of 1837 extended the vote to owners of land in copyhold worth �10 , holders of long-term leases (more than sixty years) on land worth �10, holders of medium-term leases (between twenty and sixty years) on land worth �50, and tenants-at-will paying an annual rent of �50. The Act also allowed multiple polling-places, and limited polls being open to 2 days. For the 1865 General Election on 22 July Samuel was in the West Norfolk constituency which returned two members to Westminster. The Poll-book (voting was not secret in 1865) shows that the recently-widowed Samuel CHILVERS cast his votes in Thetford in favour of Brampton GURDON and Sir Willoughby JONES, so opposing William BAGGE and Thomas DE GREY. This is possibly the earliest example of our family backing the wrong horse - the Conservatives BAGGE and DE GREY were elected, although the Liberals, renamed from the title Whigs, under Lord Palmerston won the election with an increased majority. Palmerston's victory was short-lived however as he died in October 1865 and was succeeded by Lord Russell. Only a few years later the Liberals, Samuel's chosen party, had William Ewart GLADSTONE as leader and Prime Minister - a name that was encompassed years later in Carleton Rode as Wesley CHILVERS' middle names.
One little added interest is that just below Samuel in the Poll book are Henry and Jeremiah James COLMAN, of the mustard family. Jeremiah James himself became MP a few years later for the Liberals, his mother being Mary BURLINGHAM from Old Buckenham.
The 1877 "Harrod's Count Directory of Norfolk" shows entries for both Samuel and David Chilvers as farmers in Old Buckenham and by 1881 Samuel has given up running the farm himself, and was lodging with his son David and his wife Alice. What is a delightful cameo to this fact, is that Alice's father, also called Samuel, an 80-year-old ex-farmer too was also lodging with the couple. The mental image is of the two old codgers swapping yarns, and telling the unfortunate David and Alice how they should be running the farm, bringing up their children, and generally interfering in a way only elderly parents can.
What happened next is clear in outcome, unclear in the story leading up to it. Samuel's daughter Louisa had, since at least 1881, been working as a servant in the house of a Superannuated Civil Servant, Charles ANDERSON, in 9 Percival Terrace, Brighton.
How he came to be there we don't know, visiting or lodging, but on 13 September 1883 Samuel fell down the stairs in the house in Brighton to his death. An inquest was held on 15 September and the death was recorded as being due to "syncope produced by shock from concussion caused by his accidentally falling down stairs."
The only hint we have of the cause is in the double tragedy this turned out to be: just three weeks later Louisa herself died due to carbon monoxide poisoning in the bathroom. Had the leaky gas geyser caused Samuel to feel drowsy and fall to his death, or was this an unfortunate coincidence? We probably will never know.
Page last updated 17 March 2007