Past Inhabitants
So who were the people that lived in The Old Rectory in the past centuries? At this stage we must rely mainly on the UK census records other than the one survey undertaken in 1716.
In 1870, a gentleman called Mark Antony Lower published Volume I of his 'Compendious History of Sussex: Topographical, Archæological & Anecdotical'. He records that in the '3rd and 4th of Philip and Mary' [presumably 1557 or thereabouts], Viscount Montague sold to one Robert Sheppard the 'glebe of the parsonage or prebend of Pesemershe'. He then goes on to say that the land was still in the Sheppard family in 1719 but was in the possession of the Mascall family by 1743. The survey of 1716 discussed in the history section therefore takes on greater significance as it may well have been a pre-purchase survey of the lands around Peasmarsh Place.
That survey map shows that the house and land around what is now The Old Rectory was either owned or leased by one Jos(ia? or eph?) Ward. In 1705 there was an election held for the 'Knights of the Sussex Shire'. Only three persons in Peasmarsh voted [perhaps the only ones eligible?] : an Isaac Ward, a Joseph Ward and a Thomas Gripple. It therefore seems likely that it was Joseph Ward on the survey and it is quite possible that, as a voter, he was a land owner rather than a tenant. We are told that he seems to have moved to Firle, near Lewes, at some point. It is there that he died in 1728.
The first UK census was in 1801 but it was essentially just a head count, as were the following three at ten year intervals. It was only in 1841 that names, ages, occupations and limited origin information were recorded. The data is protected for 100 years so the last census data available at the time of writing [2016] is the 1911 information. Early census data is not easy to interpret, not least because what is now known as School Lane changed name several times during the 19th century.
The images below are Crown Copyright obtained by subscription from Ancestry.
1841
It is impossible to know who lived in what is now The Old Rectory when the 1841 census was taken as everybody is listed by sub-district. The relevant record is Rye district 12 which is described as 'All of that part of the Parish of Peasmarsh lying on the south side of the Turnpike Road from Rye through Peasmarsh to Beckley'. Most people are just listed as being in Peasmarsh with a good scattering of Main Street [the Cock Inn is separately listed] or from other local spots such as Mountpleasant which was at the top end of what is now School Lane.
The only possibility would be to find the later occupants in this census. One of the families that occupied Glebe house in 1851 was the Smead family. In this 1841 census they are to be found in Peasmarsh, said to be on 'Main Street' at entry number 57 on page 12. [The indexing on Ancestry is as Smeed, not Smead but it is clearly the same family.] The entry is just along the road from the Cock Inn [entry number 53 on page 11] so is unlikely to have been Glebe House on the lane.
The other family that occupied Glebe House in 1851 was that of Walter George but only the youngest children were born in Peasmarsh [in 1848 and 1850] so it is unlikely that the family was even in Peasmarsh in 1841.
1851
The 1851 census is easy to understand because the building is noted by name and it is next to the 'Church School' [which was built in 1842]. Two families are living in 'Glebe House' on what is known as Tan Yard Lane at that time. One is that of William Smead [50] and his wife Letitia [43]. They have two daughters [19 and 4] and a son [8] living at home plus a George Foster [71] said to be the father so presumably Letitia was née Foster. William's occupation is noted as farm labourer and his father in law's as labourer although whether he still worked at the age of 71 is uncertain :
The second family is that of Walter George [38] and his wife Ann M [34]. They have three sons [11, 6 and 1] and a daughter [3]. Walter's occupation is noted as gardener :
1861
The 1861 census is less easy to understand as there is no mention of 'Glebe House'. However, there are the same two families living adjacent to each other on Tan Yard Lane and they are next to the entry for the schoolmaster and his family so it is reasonably certain that they still live in the same building. William Smead [now 60] lives there with his son [18] and daughter [14]. Presumably Letitia and her father passed away and the elder daughter is probably married with children of her own. William's occupation is still agricultural labourer, as is his son's, while his daughter is a scholar :
Walter George [now 48] and Anna M [no longer just Ann M, 44] still live there but with only the two younger children, the daughter [13] and the youngest son [11]. Walter's occupation is still noted as gardener and Anna is now a laundress. Only their son is noted as a scholar :
1871
The 1871 census is worse than the 1861 one because the lane is now Retford Lane, the wood shown to the west of the 'vicarage land' on the 1840 map being Retford Wood, and there is still no reference to 'Glebe House'. However, what is left of the George family is still adjacent to the schoolmaster's family : Walter [57] and Anna M [54] are there alone. Walter's occupation is still noted as gardener :
The real question, however, is whether the next entry is also living in the house? This family is that of Thomas Easton (?) [39] and his wife Mary Jane [37]. They have two sons [11 and 9] and two daughters [5 and just 2 months]. Thomas' occupation is noted as agricultural labourer [as is that of the 'elder' - he is 11 years old - son] but also as Parish Clerk. The 9 year old and the 5 year old are both noted as scholars :
1881
The deduction continues with the 1881 census. It looks as if the enumerator walked up the lane this time as the sequence is inverted. It is still Retford Lane and there are two entries next to that of the schoolmaster's. Thomas Easton [now 49] and his wife, now just Jane [48], are listed first with what was the 2 month old baby daughter in the previous census [10] and two new sons [7 and 3]. The oldest three children are no longer at home, for whatever reasons. Thomas' occupation is now noted as Parish Clerk and agricultural labourer in that order and the two older children are both noted as scholars :
The second listing is still the George family and it is still just Walter [66] and Anna M [63]. Walter's occupation is still noted as gardener but Anna M's is just noted as washerwoman and not the more refined [to modern ears perhaps] 'laundress' of 1861 :
1891
The 1891 census is more helpful. The lane is still Retford Lane but the name 'Glebe House' appears again next to the school - we seem to be back to walking down the lane - and is listed twice as #1 and then #2 Glebe House. #1 is occupied by Tom Boots [39] and wife Lydia (?) [38] and their nine (!) children. They have five sons [ranging from 17 to 10] and four daughters [ranging from 7 down to an unreadable number of months]. Tom's occupation is noted as agricultural labourer and those of three sons as general labourers. The younger two sons and the oldest daughter are noted as scholars. The image below spans two pages in the census :
#2 Glebe House is occupied alone by Martha Merrick [74], a widow :
1901
By the time of the 1901 census, the Boots family seems to occupy all of 'Glebe House' on what is still called Retford Lane except that higher up it is called School Hill. Tom [49] and Lydia [48] now have two sons [21 and 20] plus four daughters [from 13 down to 6 so they added two more daughters since 1891] living at home. Tom's occupation is still noted as agricultural labourer, as is that of the younger son, and that of the older son is noted as a bricklayer's labourer :
1911
When the 1911 census was taken the lane was called School Lane throughout but finding the house is again more difficult as many of the entries are just 'Main Street, Peasmarsh' or 'School Lane, Peasmarsh' without a house name or number so deduction is required once more. The entries progress up the hill again, #43 being the Horse and Cart, #44 being 'School Lane', #45 being Shamrock House [still there today, just up from the Horse and Cart], #46 and #47 both being just 'School Lane' then #48 being School House. The north side of School Lane is in a different part of the census so it is therefore probable that #46 and #47 are Glebe House. The first is the family of Albert Butler [50] and his wife Mary Ann [53] who live with two of their sons [14 and 10]. Albert's occupation is noted as carpenter trading on his own account, that of the elder son as 'ironer' and that of the younger son as 'school', the description of scholar having been crossed out :
The second is the family of John Merricks [78] and his wife Mary [85] who only had one child in all 53 years of married life [at the time of the census]. John's occupation is noted as a retired agricultural labourer. Are they related to the widow Martha Merrick who lived in Glebe House at the time of the 1891 census?
