(Illustration: the luscious blackberries of Pluckley village as found and tasted by me, a descendant of the Maxted family to whom Pluckley was once home)
Pluckley village, in Kent, has the repute of being the most haunted village in Britain and is so picturesque it was in our more modern times chosen as the setting for The Darling Buds of May. My four times great grandfather, George Maxted, lived in this very village, having been born there in 1785, to a family who had long been in the Pluckley area. George Maxted based himself between three villages, Pluckley itself, and nearby, the villages of Hothfield and Westwell. Hothfield was especially attractive to the poor roaming people for its traditional common on which locals could keep some livestock. For sure I know that my family were poor and it being likely too that they had at least part gypsy origins, for which camping out on the Hothfield common could have been quite desirable at times.
In regard to my ancestors having for long been locals of such a bizarre and pretty little village as Pluckley, I have been inspired to make a study into what I can find of the history of this place, mostly from old newspaper articles, back to when there was never a mention of Pluckley being haunted, when stealing a loaf of bread from someones house could get you the death penalty, when cattle driving Welsh drovers passed by like something out of the Wild West, when lightning was known to strike dead sheep in fields and turn maidens blind, when pigs roamed freely munching on acorns, and just about everyone among the peasantry lived on merely tea, bread, cheese and potatoes.
The landscape of these villages was to the locals a source of peat, which my Maxteds would have dug up for making fires, for warmth and cooking. The peat digging was a longtime freedom of the people, just as much a right of the people as it was to use the Hothfield common.
The old tradition of gathering peat for food
The Maxted family had long been in Kent, as can be seen from one byway there appearing to have been named after them, Maxted Street. If they'd originally been gypsies, as has been hinted at, this could have been the lane that they for long based themselves in.
As far as I can so far work out, which is not a total certainty, George's father and grandfather were both called Edward, and both married Elizabeth's. In the time of grandfather Edward's childhood, in the summer of 1736, I have seen from the newspaper of that year that much damage was done locally due to a thunder and lightning storm, the lightning beating off the shingles from the church steeple, and it being said that if not for the rain the steeple would have burnt down.
St Nicholas, the church of Pluckley
Grandfather Edward Maxted married grandmother Elizabeth Pile in 1744, on September 30th, in the Pluckley church. A year later a son, also named Edward, was born, who would grow up to be the father of George. Young Edward was baptised in Pluckley on October 6th 1745.
1749 A certain happening at Hothfield, near Pluckley, when Edward the younger was a child of about four years, was that a bunch of noblemen, out hunting with a pack of hounds, went into cover where the Welsh drovers had left a bullock dead of the contagious distemper, upon which their dogs fed very greedily. This had such a violent effect on the dogs that shortly after they were staggering and having convulsive fits to such a degree that eight couples died in two hours, and it is imagined the whole pack would have been carried off by the same, but by applying oils and proper medicines they were preserved.
Welsh drovers who would travel as far as Pluckley
The Welsh drovers were tough Welsh men who drove the Welsh cattle from one place to another, sometimes to market and sometimes to summer pastures. They went huge distances, as far as London, and as can be seen in this instance to the Pluckley area in Kent, not only with cattle but any animals that needed moving elsewhere. It was somewhat like the Wild West. They drovers had ancient trackways which snaked around the countryside, wide enough to permit the passing of many animals, and sometimes passing over mountains to avoid turnpike tolls. Sometimes the men rode horses, but mostly they walked, and they had dog companions, which were so well trained they could return home totally alone once their assistance was no longer needed, stopping at previously visited inns where the innkeepers had been paid to feed them. The drovers would stay some days at their place of destination before returning to Wales. The Haverfordwest drovers who came to the Pluckley area, at around this time, earned three shillings a day, with a bonus of six shillings once all the cattle were sold. Cows would be fitted with iron shoes to protect their feet, and geese would have leather boots. The Welsh drovers were a unique band of men, proud of their heritage and tight knit. The coming of the railways in the 1840's and 1850's spelled the end of the droving trade, as a journey that would take the drovers many days or weeks could now be done in a couple of hours.
In 1782 on 23rd October Edward the Younger, now a young man, got married to Elizabeth Harling at Pluckley church, and it was in 1875 that their son, my ancestor George Maxted, was born, being baptised at Pluckley church on 4th September.
1786 When George was still a toddler a little boy went missing from Pluckley village, which I find interesting because from the description this is clearly a child with downs syndrome, in a time when there was no understanding, nor name, for someone with this condition. This is all the more interesting to me because I myself have a down syndrome son and have wondered what history can reveal in regard to this: 'Strayed away from the parish of Pluckley, a poor boy not more than five feet high, is by nature an idiot, cannot speak any word that can be understood, had on when he went away a fearnothing coat tied too with strings, this is to give notice that he belongs to Pluckley, and that his mother there would be glad to receive him home again. His tongue is most times out of his mouth.'
1795 A summer storm, when George Maxted was ten years old, hit Pluckley, during which two sheep and a lamb were killed by lightning.
A 1797 Report shows, when young George would have been twelve years old, that there were more than the national average of poor people in the Pluckley region, said to be due to a low rate of wages and a high price of provisions. These poor folk had the need to be supported in their own homes by the local parish. The diet of the poor was observed and described at this time, and I should thus think reveals what my own ancestors ate, the habit being always to have tea, drunk with every meal, the food eaten being merely bread, potatoes and cheese. Private beer brewing did not exist, though in the past it had, nor was meat ever eaten, not unless one resorted to the poorhouse where it would be served up as fare. Little or no milk was ever used by the people, just as there was very little beer, and there was no butter at all. I would equate this as being rather a healthy diet really, vegetarian and no alcohol addictions.
In 1800 George's sister Selina, born either in this year of the previous year, was baptised on 16th Feb at Pluckley. And she would turn out to be an interesting character, choosing to be a single mother and eloping for a while to New York with one of her cousins.
In 1808 a practice of the local people was described in one newspaper, which was to let their hogs roam freely, that they may then feed on acorns. This was quite an ancient way of the locals, but it didn't gel well with one landowner who observed that his woods and fences were getting damaged as a result of the practice, specifically around Hothfield and Westwell. The landowner thus announced that he would be employing people to drive any pigs found on his property to the pound, after which he would sue the swine owners for trespass.
In 1808, on 19th September, George Maxted, a young man now, married Elizabeth Roberts, my ancestress, who was from the nearby village of Stalisfield, recognised as in an area of outstanding beauty, and according to references I have seen, she could have been of a known gypsy family. Elizabeths father was Charles Roberts, born an illegitimate child to a Mary Roberts, whose family was largely associated with the nearby village of Otterden, and Elizabeth's mother was Elizabeth Mugway, who herself was the daughter of John Mugway and Elizabeth Fonisett of Marden.
Marriage: George Maxted of Pluckley bachelor & Elizabeth Roberts of the same (age 20, father is Charles Roberts of Stalisfield, a labourer). 19 Sep 1808. George and Elizabeth lived out their life together between the three villages of Pluckley, Hothfield, and in Westwell, and George appears to have been a man of many capabilities, one of his skills being gardening, which as was the way would have been tending the lawns and flowerbeds of a monied aristocrat, the only likely candidate in this area being the Dering noble family of Surrenden Hall at Pluckley. George's main profession, mentioned in most of his children's future marriages, was given as that of a general dealer, and this was the selling of basic provisions at markets or from door to door. George also engaged in agricultural labour, working with haystacks as we know from his eventual death while engaged in this work. And there is a possibility he may have been dealing with horses too. Such a mix of skills hints to George having also been, like his wife, Elizabeth, connected to the gypsy community. Testing of my own DNA through my fathers line does back up that there may appears to be some gypsy blood in our family.
For at least six years George and Elizabeth were in Pluckley, revealed by the children that they had baptised there: 1812 - Edward; 1815 - John; 1817 - Elizabeth; and a daugter Mary is born in Pluckley too around this time. They then moved to Hothfield for a few years where they had these children: 1819 - Ann; 1821 - Sybilla.
Hothfield Common is known to have been a popular location for the gypsies, there being much free space there, with 143 acres of heathland and bogs, now run as a nature reserve. The church of St Margaret, near to the village, which I have visted, was medieval.
Hothfield's St margaret 's church where the Maxted's baptised some of their children
By 1822 the family was back in Pluckley, a son David being baptised there. And in that very year another summer tempest hit Pluckley and destroyed nearly all the church windows. It is reported that a boy on the road near Westwell had his hat cut through by hail, which was falling down as large as walnuts. It was in March of the same year that mention of a crime, unspecified, was made against George, which appears to have been connected to his capacity as a gardener at the grand mansion of the local Dering aristocrats: - Commitment to the county gaol, Maidstone, George Maxted, with a felony at Surrenden, sentenced to two months imprisonment. George appears to have had a partner in crime in this incident, a Stephen Bates, a few years older than him, who made the same felony at the same place and got the same punishment.
George Maxted would for some of his life have gardened at this grand mansion, Surrendon Manor in Pluckley
1823 There was quite something to gossip about in this year as one fellow of Pluckley, John Bates, was caught out having 'wickedly, feloniously, and against the order of nature' committed an 'unnatural offence upon the body of a mare'. For this he was imprisoned for nine months in the house of correction.
1823 there was the death of a Maxted relative (though I don't quite know how he's connected), it being John Maxted of Pluckley, who died in December age 61 at Canterbury
From 1824 to 1826 the family lived at Westwell, two more children there being born, one of whom was my ancestor, Charles: 1824 Sarah; 1826 - Charles.
1826 The hop picking season was underway by September, Pluckley being one of the locations in Kent for this. Hop picking was an activity whole families engaged in from old to young, many being gypsies, Irish or Londoners, and its very likely my Maxteds were among them. I know my Greenwich Londoners, not connected to the Maxteds and of Irish descent came every year out from the big city to pick the hops of Kent. The hops of 1826 were abundant and of the finest quality and over a thousand people would work to gather them.
seasonal hop picking in Kent
1827 November 4th was the date for the Pluckley fair of this year. Fair time would provide an opportunity for George to peddle his wares to a large amount of people.
As late as 1829 I have seen that people were still being put to death for just minor crimes; in March, two examples of those being put to death were: Thomas Bach for killing a farm animal at Pluckley, his intent having been to take part of the carcass, and at Hawkhurst, 14 miles away, a William Grey found guilty of breaking into a house from which he stole some bread.
In 1830 George and Elizabeth had a son Thomas in Westwell Westwell is a village beside the Pilgrims Way which continues onward all the way to Canterbury. It is set in a recognised area of outstanding beauty, being at the foot of the Westwell Downs. The village of Westwell is a conservation area with listed buildings, mature trees and its church is dedicated to St Mary the Virgin.
In 1832 the family was back in Hothfield, there having a son George, named after his father. 1832 was the year that the new Earl of Hothfield repaired his mansion, having just inherited it from his recently deceased brother, and it being a place which had much fallen into decay. Nearly 100 artisans were now employed, working both within and outside the building, the hall being expected to regain its original splendour by Christmas. Most of the locals would have been given work in the project, including our George, whose own skill would have been gardening. All did not go well for the Earls dear son, who died at Hothfield of tuberculosis, to the great grief of his father who watched over his sons long illness. In that same year of 1832, during the summer, some men, who were digging a vault at Pluckley churchyard, discovered a valuable treasure of gold and silver coins to the value of around £150. This would have been worth over £16,000 back in 1832. The dates of many of the coins could not be deciphered, but there were no less than five gold coins of Augustus Caesar, so that, as it was said, one may suppose they had been resting in their 'hallowed abode' many hundred years.
1834 to 1836 George's brother, John Maxted of Westwell, was hiring out for breeding his stallion. This is another sign that the family engaged in many ways to make money, general dealing, breeding horses, agricultural work, and gardening, whatever ways they could earn a living. The horse John was hiring out in 1834 was called 'Prince of the Valley', described as a bright bay, free from white, six years old, 16 hands and two inches high, with large black legs and superior action. The horse's father was called 'King of the Valley' and his mother was 'Whalesby', her father being 'Thornton Castle'. 'Prince of the Valley' was but one stain from being thoroughbred, with as much substance as a dray horse. Payment for each mare mated was one and a half sovereigns, with 5 shillings to be paid to the groom. Different towns would be travelled to with John's horse, a clue to the sometimes travelling lifestyle of the family; the circuit this year being firstly Cirencester, Wootten Bassett and Cricklade, then Swindon, Highworth and Lechworth, then Wimey and Stowe, and finally the Bull Inn at Burford. 'Prince of the Valley' served several mares in that one season and proved himself a sure foal getter. Formerly 'Prince of the Valley' was called Tradesman.
In 1835 A workhouse was built on the Hothfield Common designed to accommodate 240 poor people. This reveals that for a village there were indeed many poor people there, and that their days of getting free parish help were over. Now they would be required to work hard and be institutionalised to get any help.
1836 was a tragic year for our family as this was the year George Maxted had a fatal accident, and it was a horrid accident, George having fallen from a hay bail he was working on, in consequence of which he was speared by a stick that he landed upon, which pierced his entrails. It was a freak accident, which would break the family, leading to Elizabeth, now his widow, leaving the Kent countryside altogether for a new life in London. This event, I was able to discover, due to it being written of in the local newspaper, the Kentish Gazette, published on Tuesday 16th August: "Inquest on Monday at the parish of Hothfield before Mr T T Delasaux, coroner, on the body of George Maxted, who the preceding Friday being thatching a haystack, accidentally fell off, and coming in contact with a stick, it ran through part of his thigh and entered his bowels, from which injury he died the following evening. The jury returned a verdict of accidental death."
The death of my ancestor George Maxted
The widowed Elizabeth would move to Lambeth, in London, with most of her children, including her married daughter, Ann, who in 1837 had married Anthony Farrants in Hothfield, and who would look after her mother for many years. So too did go Elizabeth's four youngest still dependant children, which included my ancestor Charles. The industrial revolution was under way, attracting many people away from the villages with good job opportunities. For sure Elizabeth was in London by 1841, as is revealed by the census of that year. So it was that George had lost his life at only 51 years of age, and in her poverty Elizabeth had to turn to cleaning work to keep her younger children fed and alive.
In the last years that the Maxted family was in the Pluckley area there was much encouragement for locals to emigrate to both America and Australia and as a consequence many people did go, 70 small time farmers sailing to America on one boat journey, and there being free passage offered to Australia for farmers who, for each land parcel bought, could take for free two labourers along with their wives.