Another Portland Tale: A view of agriculture, quarrying and militia life in Georgian England

By Sid Payne

The most southerly point in Dorset, the Isle of Portland, juts out into the sea. In the 18th century, it was connected to the mainland only by the eighteen-mile stretch of the Chesil Bank west to Abbotsbury or an unsteady rope ferry across the Smallmouth Passage to Wyke Regis. It was here that John Winter was born in the June of 1731. The story follows his life and times on the island and his work in farming and quarrying and, when the country called, his service in the newly formed militia. It is a story of war, smuggling and shipwreck. A story of ordinary parish life, domestic chores, cookery and medicine in a land of strange customs and traditions. With a basis in fact drawn from local records, account books, indentures, warrants and parish records, it brings long-lost Portlanders back to life, in a time when very few of them would have ever ventured far from the island. A snapshot in time, 1731 to 1790. Harsh and turbulent but always interesting.

• Language: English
• Publisher: Austin Macauley Publishers
• Release date: Apr 30, 2021
• ISBN: 9781528975186

Sid Payne

Born in Enfield, North London, in 1956, Sid grew up there and in Edmonton before moving to Hertfordshire. Having started work in London in 1973 at the stock exchange and subsequently with HM Customs and Excise, Sid moved back to work in Hertfordshire in 1978. After thirty years with the fire brigade, Sid started to work as a diving instructor moving to Mallorca, living there for five years and then to Egypt for a year. Now back in the UK and living in Dorset, Sid is involved with maritime archaeology and local history.

Book preview

Another Portland Tale

A view of agriculture,

quarrying and militia life in

Georgian England

Sid Payne

Austin Macauley Publishers

Another Portland Tale

About the Author

Dedication

Copyright Information ©

Acknowledgement

Author’s Note

Wakem, Portland, Dorset;June 30th in the Year of Ower Lord 1790

Maps

Illustrations

Bibliography And Other Sources

Glossary

About the Author

Born in Enfield, North London, in 1956, Sid grew up there and in Edmonton before moving to Hertfordshire. Having started work in London in 1973 at the stock exchange and subsequently with HM Customs and Excise, Sid moved back to work in Hertfordshire in 1978. After thirty years with the fire brigade, Sid started to work as a diving instructor moving to Mallorca, living there for five years and then to Egypt for a year. Now back in the UK and living in Dorset, Sid is involved with maritime archaeology and local history.

Dedication

For Gary, Steph and Arthur.

Matthew, Jade, Isabelle and Elizabeth.

A man with worthy sons is never poor.

Copyright Information ©

Sid Payne (2021)

The right of Sid Payne to be identified as author of this work has been asserted by the author in accordance with section 77 and 78 of the Copyright, Designs and Patents Act 1988.

All rights reserved. No part of this publication may be reproduced, stored in a retrieval system, or transmitted in any form or by any means, electronic, mechanical, photocopying, recording, or otherwise, without the prior permission of the publishers.

Any person who commits any unauthorised act in relation to this publication may be liable to criminal prosecution and civil claims for damages.

This is a work of fiction. Names, characters, businesses, places, events, locales, and incidents are either the products of the author’s imagination or used in a fictitious manner. Any resemblance to actual persons, living or dead, or actual events is purely coincidental.

A CIP catalogue record for this title is available from the British Library.

ISBN 9781528975162 (Paperback)

ISBN 9781528975186 (ePub e-book)

www.austinmacauley.com

First Published (2021)

Austin Macauley Publishers Ltd

25 Canada Square

Canary Wharf

London

E14 5LQ

Acknowledgement

I would like to thank Lisa Gravett, the former manager of Portland Museum, for her encouragement, knowledge and assistance with the preparation of this book and also for allowing access to the museum collections. Eminent local historians, Maureen Attwooll and Stuart Morris, and Mark Godden of Albion Stone for their observations and guidance. Keith Searson for his help in compiling the Winter family tree. Shirley Mitchell and team at the Portland Local & Family History Centre. The Dorset History Centre for their help and access to their collections. Also, the following for allowing me to use their material: Roger Guttridge; The British Geological Survey, (Environmental Science Centre); Mark Godden; Pocket Farm; Historic UK; Gill Hackman, (Folly Books); Janet Seaward; Cy Harrison, Three Decks and Military History Monthly.

Author’s Note

This is the second book about the Winter family living in eighteenth century England on the Isle of Portland in Dorset.

The first book "A Portland Tale – A View of Parish Life in Georgian England" covered the life and times of Abraham Winter the parish sexton at St Andrew’s church. He lived on the Island from 1705 until 1771.

This time his son John continues the narrative telling of his life as a quarryman and militiaman on the Island. It runs from his birth in 1731 up to the year 1790, two years before his death in 1792. Nothing is known about John other than what can be found in the parish registers and the militia lists from 1758 which tells us he lived in Wakeham and was a quarryman. His signature appears in the churchwardens’ accounts in the year 1753. As before with Abraham, I imagine John as a prolific drawer and he illustrates his story.

It is a fictional story, however all the people mentioned are real and all the events took place based on factual accounts from a number of different sources.

I have also taken the opportunity to look at other aspects of Georgian life, medicine, cooking, festivals, shipwrecks and battles from the many wars taking place throughout the eighteenth century, all interwoven into the John Winter story.

A militiaman would serve for three years, but I have John serving for a lot longer to maintain the continuity of the story. Also, in 1762 the maximum age for service was lowered from fifty to forty-five.

In 1752, the Calendar Act took us from the Julian to the Gregorian calendar. Its introduction was not straightforward. It meant that the year 1751 was a short year, lasting just 282 days from 25th March (New Year in the Julian calendar) to 31st December. The year 1752 then began on 1 January. For some time afterwards both calendar styles would have been in use.

All the supposition is identified by the superscript number 1 and the factual information by other superscript numbers. These sources are listed at the back along with a glossary of some of the more uncommon words, initially in italic type in the text.

Abbreviations for the ampersand, ‘and’ (&), et cetera (&c.), the thorn, ‘the’ (ye) and the double Ff (ƒƒ) are in use in the 18th century and these symbols are sometimes used here.

The Winter family tree covering births, marriages and deaths is also at the back.

John Winter             Sid Payne

Portland 1790          Weymouth 2018

Figure 1: The tools of my trades.

1. DORSET

2. ISLE OF PORTLAND

Wakem, Portland, Dorset;

June 30th in the Year

of Ower Lord 1790

My name is John Winter and I have chosen to write of my life as my father did this twenty years past.

It is my birthday; I am fifty-nine today.

I was baptised on the 30th of June, 1731 on the Isle of Portland in ye County of Dorsetshire.

Baptised by the Reverend Daniel Harris at St Andrew’s Church, my father was Abraham Winter and my mother was Ann, sometime before hand of the Painter family. I was the first born, followed by sister Ann, baptised on 8th July, 1733 who later died. Brother Henry was baptised on the 11th January in the year 1735 followed by Ann on 5th March, 1737, Mary 4th October, 1741 and Ruth on 27th September, 1745. ¹, ², ³

My Grandparents were Abraham and Elizabeth.

My uncle Thomas and aunt Mary had five children Abraham 1727, Mary 1732 who died, Mary 1736, Rebecca 1740 and Thomas 1743.

Uncle William had two sons, William 1725 and Richard 1727.

Aunt Elizabeth and her son Sansom had died the year before I was born.

There were also Aunts Mary and Sarah. ²

I did some schooling but was unbookish. Now and again I went to the Maister’s school that was at Straits in the village of Easton. It was the island’s first school and had opened in 1720. It was partly funded by a tax gathered from passing vessels by ye Lighthowse to help pay for the light. The rate collected was set at ¼d per ton on English Ships and even more on those from other countrys.

The School-Howse was built on land given by Simon Pearce and its upkeep was the responsibility of the local Members of the Parliament.

It was a small building with room perhaps for up to eighty Pupils.

Ower Schoolmaster was Mr Skinner and he taught us to read and to write. Spelling was difficult and so we often wrote the words as we heard them.

Figure 2: Mr Skinner.

We had a book to help us with the Arithmetick, it was written by Edward Cocker and was called ‘Cocker’s Arithmetick: Being a Plain and ƒƒamiliar Method Suitable to the Meanest Capacity for the ƒƒull Understanding of That Incomparable Art, As It Is Now Taught by the Ablest School-Masters in City and Country’ and was published by John Hawkins in the last century.

We also had Bible classes.

Ower day started at ten in the morning with the ringing of the school bell and we stayed until twelve o’clock. We then went home and returned to the School at one. After a lesson we sometimes went to St Andrew’s Church, after which we said Bible verses until five o’clock when we were dismissed.

I had a book to write in, and my Grandfather gave me a writing quill when I started at ye School.

Mr Skinner would often hand out punishments to us if were naughty. I was hit with his cane many times on the hand or leg. I think we were a misbehaved class. ¹, ⁸, ⁹, ¹⁰, ¹¹, ⁵⁴

In the summer months we would make some money out of a small bird. In March, tradishionly on the first foggy day, there arrives on the Island a vast number of Snalters, indeed in July the whole place would be full of them. We boys made great numbers of Snalter traps, setting them up all over the place. We knew that if it was dull and clowdy the snalters would seek shelter under rocks and stones or another hole so our traps mimicked their place of hiding. We built conical roosts of stones with two or fower entrances for the birds to enter only to be ensnared in a horse-hair noose. On sunny, clear days the traps would not yield many birds but on overcast showery days the traps would be full and we would catch hundreds of them.

Figure 3: One of My Snalter Traps.

On the Island they sold for a few pence a dozen but in Waymouth they would sometimes sell for a penny each!

They were considered to be a delicious delicasy when cooked and eaten. I remember sometime that my mother had a book called ‘The Art of Cookery made Plain and Easy’. It said of Goodwetts, marle, knots, ruffs, gulls, dotterells, and wheat-ears: If they be old, their legs will be rough; if young, smooth; if fat, a fat rump; if new, limber-footed; if stale,