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Hi is there anyone who regularly visits the Swindon and wiltshire records office?
I would like info on Joseph Whale born 1806 wiltshire. He is on the census 1851.
I would like to know the correct address of the farm as I have several.- 7 corston - "The Firs" - and Manor farm.
Are these all the same place or different addresses?
Also did he own the farm or did he rent it? and did he leave a will? died 1879
Thanks
lesley tesdale

Hi There
I do go to the Wiltshire and Swindom Records office quite regularly but as it is the school holidays (what joy!!) I am unable to go for a few weeks, I have got the 1851 Wiltsshire census on a CD, I could have a quick look at it for you. Also I live in Wiltshire and know the area quite well so I may be able to shed some light on your request!!
Will get back to you as soon as I can!!
Tina

Whilst I am searching you can search the Swindon and Wiltshire records office on line for a list of wills they have in their collection! Don't be too disapointed though if not listed as I don't think the entire collection has been logged on line. You could phone them and ask them to send it to you if they have it!
Also just had a quick look on ancestry, (which doesn't help with the address!) but it says he was a farmer of 500 acres employing 20 men and boys, so if he did own it which he could well have done he was quiet wealthy?
Tina

Lesley,
Hi, on the 1851 census it has the number 7 then Corston but is it number 7 because it's the 7th house in this particular district???

Manor Farm, Corston, Malmesbury still exists as a working farm and also has a B and B now, described on their website as a 17th century farm! If you google it you will see it!!!-good pictures!
The Firs, Corston seems to exist too , the post code is similar to Manor Farm so must be quite close!
Sorry I'm not being all that helpfull am I !!
Where did you get the 3 different address' from by the way? Was it from the census returns??
Tina

Hi Tina
sorry it's been a while, I have been busy with family.
I have all the same info you have. The different addresses appear on different census years. I have'nt got them to hand at the moment.
I also know about the b and b, and I have actually emailed the farm owners but did not get a reply. I also tried looking for wills online but got nowhere.
Thankyou for your time, and hope you can find some info at the office when school starts back.
Enjoy the rest of the holidays
Lesley Tesdale

On the 1851 census the address is just Corston - which is the village - so the houses probably don't have numbers. The number 7 is the schedule number - not the house number.

Kath. x

In the 1840's there were Tithe Maps which showed who the owners of land were. You should find the Tithe Maps for Wiltshire at the County Records Office.

We had farmers in my husband's family in the 1840's and 1850's in Northumberland. We found the owner was the Countess of Newburgh but hubby's family were tenant farmers for many years.

Kath. x

Hi Kathleen
thanks for your reply
so what does this mean? Have we reached a dead end on where joseph Whale lived and if he owned the farm or rented it as a tenent?
I do knoe he is buried in the little church with his family and it seems to be the biggest headstone in the churchyard.
Lesley Tesdale

Even tenant farmers could be relatively wealthy by everyday standards. We were lucky i n that the Northumberland Record Office had an 11 page A3 size tenancy agreement between my husband's great, great uncle and the Countess and with it were letters and accounts and these showed that even after paying all expenses, rent, wages etc. he still made a very good profit for those days.

As I said, the Tithe Maps will show you who actually owned the land in the 1840's - so may give a clue.
Kath. x

Hi Kathleen
Unfortunately this is why I need help as I live in Penzance, I cannot get to the Wiltshire record office.
regards
Lesley

I have only visited Wiltshire Record Office once (I live in the North East so I'm a long way off too) but the staff were very helpful. It might be worth emailing or phoning them to see if they would be willing to look up the information for you. Staff at some record offices are better than others so it just depends on who you get.

Kath. x

Hi Kathleen
Thankyou very much for your information. I'll look up the office to see if the tyhthe maps are online
Thankyou again
Lesley tesdale

Hi There
Further to the comments regarding the Tythe Maps, I do know they have a lot of tythe maps in the Wiltshire Records Office, maybe when the children go back to school that would be something that I could look up for you, I know I looked at some of these tythe maps there for my own research and found that they were very usefull and interesting, although I was looking at some that were from the 1880's I think.
Maybe there is some one on here that could tell us how often were tythe maps produced, maybe it was every 10 years or something like that, does anyone know??
Do you think the Whale family are buried in Corston Churchyard?
It was a shame that you did not hear back from the present owners of Manor Farm B&B, maybe they will get back to you eventually!!
I will keep in touch with you and let you know when I am going to the records office, won't be until week begining the 7th September at the earliest though, OK#
Tina

Hi Tina
Thanks for your reply
Yes they are buried in the little churchyard there, but I'm not sure of the name of the church, maybe All saints? My neice visited there once and I have photos of the grave stones. That's how I found out the maiden name of his wife, Mary Bullock. Her family is also buried there.
Please find out what you can as I'm interested to know more about their life, not just names.
I look forward to what you find out. Thankyou once again you are very kind.
regards
Lesley Tesdale