Behind the Poor Law records are real people whose lives were shaped by hardship, resilience and community support. This collection follows the experiences of villagers from Armitage and Handsacre while explaining the systems of parish relief, settlement, apprenticeship, charity and the workhouse that governed everyday life for more than two centuries.
Tag: Conway
Thomas Bond Part 2 – maltster, brickmaker, potter and bankrupt
Imprisonment for debt might have ended Thomas Bond’s ambitions, but instead it marked the beginning of a determined attempt to rebuild his fortunes. Returning to Armitage, he revived his malting and brickmaking businesses while expanding into pottery manufacture. Despite energy and enterprise, financial pressures continued to mount, culminating in bankruptcy. This second part of Bond’s story reveals both the risks of early nineteenth-century business and the uncertain beginnings of Armitage’s pottery industry.
The founding of Armitage potbank
For decades the origins of Armitage Pottery appeared well understood. Yet newly available documents, forgotten newspaper reports and surviving estate records reveal a more complicated picture. By piecing together the evidence, this article explores who established the pottery, how it developed and why its earliest history has been misunderstood.
School attendance
Compulsory education transformed childhood, but not without resistance. Using newspaper reports, census records and education legislation, this article explores how families in Armitage and Handsacre adapted to the new school attendance laws of the late nineteenth century. Through the stories of parents repeatedly summoned before the magistrates, it reveals the tensions between poverty, work, religion and the growing expectation that every child should receive an education.
The Coronation Carnival of 1937
How did Armitage and Handsacre celebrate the Coronation of George VI in 1937? Drawing on committee records, newspaper reports and surviving invoices, this article recreates a remarkable day of carnival processions, fancy dress, races, teas, torchlight parades and a giant bonfire. It also reveals the extraordinary planning behind the celebrations and offers a vivid glimpse of community life in the parish before the Second World War.
Guilty or Not Guilty? You Be the Jury
Would you have convicted them? Three real court cases from Armitage and Handsacre challenge readers to weigh the evidence before discovering the verdicts. From an alleged theft of washing, to a dispute over a hedgerow and an assault involving wandering cows, the cases reveal how everyday disagreements reached the magistrates and juries of nineteenth-century Staffordshire, while offering a fascinating glimpse into village life and the workings of local justice.
Your dog ate my tripe!
A claim for five shillings after a dog stole a pan of tripe sounds almost unbelievable today, yet it really happened in Armitage. Beginning with this humorous court case, the article explores the changing place of tripe in British diets, the lives of local tripe sellers Sarah Sefton and Kate Conway, and how an everyday food now regarded with distaste once helped sustain working families across the parish.
New transcriptions added
Transcriptions of the Parish Registers for St. John the Baptist church for the years 1900 to 1930 are now on the website under the Records tab.
Drunk and …
The introduction of beerhouses in 1830 led to more disorder and drunkenness and this is just a selection of the troubles our ancestors got into because of drink.
Marriage Bonds
Family history often begins with a few names and dates, but sometimes it uncovers unexpected treasures. While tracing her Conway ancestors from Armitage, Sheila Cochrane discovered an eighteenth-century marriage bond carrying a remarkable £500 penalty. What at first seemed a mystery became the starting point for a fascinating journey through old records, family connections and the lives of her Staffordshire ancestors.