My journey back through the Blacker line continued with our 2017 trip down memory lane, when we visited the family home, Dobella Farm, a mile southeast of Rawcliffe village, crossing over the M62 and all but reaching a dead end, only a few hundred yards from the railway line. You can read about that trip in the Travels section.
An apt and poignant description of its location, for its here that one of the Blacker servants, Miss Cooper, met her end when she was killed crossing the very same railway line in 1885 – this seems to be a common occurrence in our family history! More of the detail later, because we must start at the beginning.
Dobella Farm was home to 2 generations of our family, John Blacker (1793-1875) and his wife Hannah Lawrence, and their son John Blacker (1815-1900) and his wife Sarah Dealtry.
We’ll start with the parents and work our way forward in time.
John Blacker (1793-1875) & Hannah Lawrence (1786-1836)
John Blacker, or Blackker as he was baptised on 24 February 1793, was the son of a Cordwainer (shoemaker), also called John Blackker.
Hannah Lawrence was the daughter of a pauper, William Lawrence, also from Rawcliffe. I was a little taken aback to have my ancestor so blatantly categorised as a pauper, but perhaps not entirely surprised.
On further research, it seems that almost 10% of the population at that time could be described as paupers. Those who would not apply for poor relief or move into the workhouse, would beg on the street, attempt a life of crime or seek refuge with anyone willing to take them in.
This is definitely a rung or two below the very many labourers amongst our ancestors, who would often be looking for the next job, often paid daily or weekly rather than on any kind of salary, and with little tenure or security to their job. But at least they had hope, and a future. Perhaps I’ll do some further research into William and our other ancestral paupers at some stage, but for now, we’ll carry on with Hannah, who certainly seems to move up in the world when she marries John on 24 November 1813.
You might have already noticed that Hannah was 9 years older than John, the couple being married at the ages of 20 and 29. I can imagine there being some discussion about the age difference, but this couple were pretty thick skinned when it came to their relationship and the gossip that may have surrounded them. They must have been, for when they got married, they already had a 2-year-old, who must have been born when John was just 18 and the couple were ‘out of wedlock’.
Again, not surprisingly, both were illiterate, as you can see by the marriage register being signed by each with a cross rather than a signature.
The parish register entry for their first child, Sarah, was the only one that on the 2 page spread, where both parents were named. Normally, as we can see from John & Sarah’s own baptism entries, only the father is named. And next to the entry is an ‘illegitimate’ inscription.
Looking back at the dates, John would have only been 17 at the time of conception so perhaps that explains things. Good news for all of us that they stuck together, as their next child, their first as a married couple, was my great great grandfather, John Blacker, who we discuss separately.
They went on to have 9 children in total, and all appear to have made it through infancy, albeit their eldest seems to have died at age 17, which is a pretty good result for the period. The tally included twins, Benjamin and Joseph, who both made it into their 80s. Perhaps this is where our good genes come from!
I’ve spent a good deal of time analysing the records for the family, particularly the baptism records of all the children.
The big change for the family seems to have come around 1823, between the births of George & Jane, when John makes the transition from labourer to farmer. Labourers were generally employed by farmers, paid by the day, and occasionally but rarely given lodging. It wasn’t the bottom rung of the agriculture ladder, but it was the most common one. So it seems likely that around 1823, John & Hannah took on a farm holding of their own. It would be most likely a tenancy, paying an annual sum to the local landowner, rather than buying the land, but as yet, I’ve not found out the detail, but I hope to.
The subsequent children were all recorded as having been from Rawcliffe, and in the 1841 census, the family can be found at Dobella Farm in Rawcliffe, the scene of our trip down memory lane, and so perhaps this is the farm the family took on in 1823.
Benjamin, 20 and George, 18, have both left home by this time. Sarah (the eldest) has died, the first tragedy befalling the family. But all the other children are there, along with a couple of servants.
For those who on review of the census haven’t spotted our second tragedy, the wife’s name is neither Hannah nor Anne, but Ellin. This, sadly, was not a spelling mistake or a shortened name, but a new wife! Hannah died, aged 52, in 1836 and was buried on Christmas day in Rawcliffe. I’ve hunted several times for a gravestone but I’ve not found one. With the youngest child only 7 years old at the time, and the eldest 20, and a farm to run, it’ll have been a very tough time for John and the children. Fortunately, John would have been quite the catch, with a farm of his own, and it didn’t take him long to find a new wife, this time, 5 years his younger rather than 10 his elder. Ellen Thompson, daughter of farmers Charles & Mary, was still a spinster at 40, and a servant. Its possible she was John’s house servant, but unlikely as they were married in Carlton, the next village past Snaith, 5 miles to the west of Rawcliffe.
A year later in 1842, the electoral roll register shows John occupying Dobella Farm, not as owner, but as a tenant, at a rent of £50 per year, equivalent to about £7000 at time of writing in 2022.
Come the 1851 census, John & Ellen, together with 25-year-old Bessie and a couple of servants, are living at the farm in Rawcliffe Bridge, with 105 acres and employing 2 labourers, who will be the 2 young men living with them.
I believe that by this point, it’s very likely that John has bought the farm, because it stays in the family for many years to come. The census description for where they are doesn’t always say Dobella farm and is often spelt differently anyway. But having explored the old ordnance survey maps at length, I can see why the census might describe it as either Rawcliffe or Rawcliffe Bridge, and although there is no Railway Road in Rawcliffe today, the farm does stand at the corner of Dobella Lane and an unnamed road which crosses the railway.
By 1861, John has 140 acres, 2 live-in labourers and “5 boys”. They also have a house servant, and by this point the couple are getting on a bit, and at 67, no doubt John needs a bit of help.
This is the last census that has John & Ellen living at the farm, no surprise given their ages. The farm reappears later, when we find John junior living there in 1881 & 1891, but in 1871 there was a gap. I’ve turned the pages of the 1871 census, but I can’t find mention of Dobella farm, and I’ve checked the census for each of the children, and again, no mention. It’s a mystery yet to be solved. What I do know, is that John and Ellen’s last census is in 1871, for what turned out to be quite a short retirement in Snaith village, on School Road.
Ellen died in 1873 and John in 1875. They’d only just moved, to live with their son Benjamin, who had taken on 12 acres on York Road in Healaugh, near to Tadcaster. Benjamin’s younger sister Jane also moved with them – she’d lived with Benjamin since his wife Rhoda died in 1855 giving birth to his second child, whist they lived in Sheffield.
It was a modest estate by comparison to many, having perhaps already passed on the ownership of the farm prior to his death, if indeed it was owned rather than rented.
And the mystery of the 1871 census? Perhaps the farm was left unoccupied at the time of the census, as John junior wrapped up his own farm and moved up to Dobbeller farm.
John Blacker (1815-1900) & Sarah Dealtry (1819-1890)
This John Blacker, my 2x great grandfather was born in 1815, the eldest son of John and Hannah, and the oldest living child after the death of his elder sister Sarah at age 17.
Sarah Dealtry, John’s future wife, was also born in 1815, daughter of Robert Dealtry and Mary Ann Pinder, butchers from Rawcliffe. The Dealtrys are a long-standing family from the Snaith area, and I often spot their graves in the area. The Pinders were a more mobile family, moving to the area from Leeds and the surroundings. I’ve traced both families back several generations and have quite a few DNA matches with other lines of their families which confirm my findings.
Both John and Sarah were born over 200 years ago. Prior to the 18th century, there were very few schools in England, and those that existed were run by the church for church people, providing a religious education. Schooling for everyone only became compulsory in 1880, and only to the age of 10. That increased to age 11 in 1893 and age 13 in 1899.
So it’s unlikely that either John nor Sarah received formal schooling. It’s likely that John would work out in the fields alongside his father and his labourers, learning many of the farming jobs that would come in useful later in life. Sarah may have helped in the butcher shop, or more than likely will have helped her mother around the home, fixing, mending, and cooking.
Despite their day-to-day chores and workload, they do appear to have received some form of an education, probably from home schooling. At least, the basic reading, writing and arithmetic. When the two met and later married in 1843, both were able to sign their own names in the marriage register, and with a pretty good signature. Its surprising how many of our ancestors were not able to do this and signed with a cross or similar mark.
Neither were spring chickens when they married – John was 27 and Sarah 23. Nice to see John’s sister Jane as one of the witnesses, I’m not sure who the second witness is. At the time of the marriage, John was living with his father John and stepmother Ellen, at Dobella Farm.
After their marriage, John & Sarah went on to have at least 5 children together, starting with George in 1844. George went on to marry Ann and have at two children, Clara and Henry. Perhaps it’s this Clara that was the inspiration for Clara, my grandmother’s sister, who would have been Clara and Henry’s young cousins.
After George there is a 7-year gap in the birth and baptism records, which is why I said that John and Sarah had ‘at least’ 5 children. By which I mean, they had 5 children who survived long enough to be baptised.
The 1840s in East Riding of Yorkshire rural communities had an unusually high infant mortality rate, well above other parts of the country. It has been proposed that this may relate to high demands on prospective mothers, working on the farms carrying out hard manual labour whilst pregnant.
Whatever the reason, it’s quite probable that the couple lost at least 3 children in this period of time. So, no doubt there was much relief when their child, born in 1851, did survive the first crucial days and weeks. Perhaps that’s why they named him after his father, John. Sadly, John died around the time of his 21st birthday, in circumstances unknown.
At the time John was born, John & Sarah were living in Thorne Moorends, having most likely moved there shortly after their marriage. In the 1851 census, 8 years after the marriage, John is running a 150-acre farm, a sizeable endeavour. I’ve not been able to find whether he was a tenant farmer there or owned the farm.
10 years later, 1861, the family has grown and so has the farm, to 170 acres. There are 2 young servants, a general servant in the house and a carter for the farm.
The 3rd child was Mary Hannah, who my grandmother Nanna would have known as Aunty Mary. Aunty Mary never married but spent her 70 years of life living initially with her parents, and then with her younger brother Robert.
Robert, or Master Robert as he was sometimes known, was born in Thorne in 1855 and baptised on 2 May in Thorne. More on him later.
The youngest child is our own great grandfather Joseph, or Sir Joe as he was later nicknamed. I talk about his life separately.
By 1871, only the 3 youngest children were still living at home, George & John having left home. John, of course, though we don’t know it at this point, will only live another 2 years. The farm has also grown to 230 acres and there’s an extra servant. Good to see that Joe is described as a scholar, even at 13, before the time when education to that age was mandated. The farm could be a different one to in earlier years, but it’s quite possibly the same one growing over time. At this point it’s called Newfield House farm, and I’ve identified it on the 1890 ordnance survey map (see the gallery).
In an online article about about 1930s Moorend farms, no longer online, Newfield farm was mentioned – a new housing estate was built on it in the 1960s, and the author said it was also called Greaves farm, but also mentioned a Blacker farm behind the cinema. Both farms are no longer there, so perhaps she confused the two. Or perhaps they were both in the family until later on.
By 1881, the family has moved to Dobella farm, up in Rawcliffe. At this point, George is back with the family, now 37 years old. He had moved away, married Ann and had a couple of kids, but when we see him later in life, he’s living next to the farm on Dobella Lane and married to Mary. So it’s likely he left his wife, which back in the 19th century doesn’t seem to happen often.
You’ll remember that John’s father and stepmother worked the farm for many years and were recorded there in 1841, 51 & 61 censuses. So it seems likely that when father John and stepmother Ellen retired to Snaith, John & Sarah upped sticks and moved to their farm. Whether it changed ownership, I don’t know. One day I hope to understand the land transaction process for these farms moving between generations, for at this point in my research I can find nothing in the public domain that records the transfers of land as farms expand, contract, have new houses added, or split between the next generation.
You might have noticed the turnaround in servants – in 1881 there was Emma and 10 years later Maggie. There was a young lady called Miss Cooper in between. Unfortunately, at around 10am on Wednesday 10 June 1885, poor Miss Cooper was crossing the railway adjacent to Dobella farm, only yards from where we stood on our Trip Down Memory Lane, when she was struck by a train and killed instantly. She’d only gone to collect some potatoes, no doubt to make the Wednesday meal. I do wonder how it was she didn’t hear it coming, or had she been stuck in some way. A very sad time no doubt for the Blacker’s, and dreadful for the Cooper family, sending their young daughter off into service, and never getting her home again.
John and Sarah were getting on in years by this point, and sadly Sarah died in 1890, aged 72. She was buried in Rawcliffe cemetery and shares a headstone with John. John, Mary & Robert live on in the farm, along with 3 servants.
John lived out his life at Dobella farm, and died at home there on 5 April 1900, aged 84, 13 years to the day after his son Joe married our great grandmother Ada, and 80 years to the day before his great great granddaughter Mandy married Eric. Cause of death was notes as several years of chronic bronchitis followed by cardiac failure. Robert was present at the death. John was buried in Rawcliffe cemetery, like Sarah, and they share a headstone there, right in front of the church’s front door.
Robert continued to live at the farm with his sister Mary. Robert is one of our family figures who we’ve all heard of but never managed to fit into the picture, but here he is, at last, Robert, often mistakenly confused with Uncle Bobbie, Nanna’s brother, who was a very different character. Like his elder sister Mary, Robert never married and never had any children. Well at least he never married! For Robert was known as a big drinker and an even bigger womaniser.
He would live the proverbial life of Riley, often taking trips to Paris for a little fun and adult amusement. I read an interesting article in The Examiner from 1901 about travel from London to Paris between 1840 and 1900 – rail, boat and transfers would generally take 24 hours and cost about £2 in old money. And that’s before you’ve got to London from Rawcliffe. I imagined that might equate to a large sum in today’s money, but when I looked it up, it’s only about £250. Not much different to getting the train or plane there today, but back then, the very thought of a Yorkshire farmer heading off to the Moulin Rouge or such place would be considered very unusual and got Master Robert a bit of a reputation as a farming playboy.
We’re told that for much of his adult life he would finance his lifestyle by ‘cadging’ a loan from his brother, “Sir” Joe, and more than once from his niece, my grandmother Lilian Blacker. Despite his gall, Robert was a likeable fellow and my grandmother had a soft spot for him. As a child, she would visit Uncle Robert at Dobella farm with her sisters Clara and Elsie. Lilian would be less than 10 at the time and Elsie even younger. Robert would be in his early 50s at that time. Uncle Robert would take them out for a ride in his horse & cart, intending to head off to town. But no sooner had they got up the road, than the horse would turn into the first pub it came across, and of course Uncle Robert was unable to stop it. So then he had to pop in for a quick pint while the girls waited in the cart. Eventually he’d stagger out and they’d head back to Dobella farm, Robert singing raucously, the girls giggling in the back. When he got back to the farm and came in the house, his housekeeper, a very nice lady, would scold him saying “I’ll be telling master Joseph about this nonsense and the girls won’t be allowed to come any more”. She never did, and they’d continue to visit! It’s a lovely story which puts a bit of colour to the census of 1911 when I see the housekeeper is a 55 year old widow from Derbyshire, Jane Brogden. I imagine her ancestors would like to hear about the Yorkshire Playboy she once worked for!
But with no descendants, what happened to Robert’s estate when he died? Robert died in 1935, and Mary before that in 1924, both buried in Rawcliffe, though I’ve not located either grave. I’ve also been unable to find probate documents. In the 1939 census, the farm is not owned by a Blacker, though interesting the adjacent farm at the top of Dobella Lane, New Farm, is owned by R&P Blacker. Perhaps Robert’s beneficiaries were nephews or nieces, since he outlived all his siblings – perhaps the benefits of a wildlife and plenty of alcohol! Or perhaps he sold the farm and spent the proceeds in Paris on the mother of all benders! For now, it remains a mystery.