Your favourite ERO documents – Photograph of Elizabeth Greenwood

Posted on May 8, 2013 by admin

As part of our 75th anniversary celebrations this year, we recently asked you, our users, to nominate your favourite ERO documents. Thank you very much to those of you who have sent in nominations so far – today we bring you the first in a series of your favourites.

Photograph of Elizabeth Greenwood, born in 1788

This photograph of Elizabeth Greenwood was nominated by Rosalind Kaye, who has been using the ERO for her research for over 20 years. This is why she nominated this photograph:

Elizabeth was born in 1788, yet in this charming little photograph you feel you can touch her shawl, it is so clear. She produced 8 children, two of whom made their mark in Halstead – Robert Ellington (banker, farmer and proprietor of the gas works) and Lucy (founder and superintendent of the Halstead Industrial School). They were Quakers.

Thank you very much to Rosalind for nominating the photograph, we can see exactly what she means about the clarity of Elizabeth’s shawl, and how amazing it is to have a photograph of someone born in the eighteenth century.

We’ll be bringing you more favourites over the next few months. Nominate yours by downloading our form and either returning it in to the Searchroom desk or e-mailing it to hannahjane.salisbury[at]essex.gov.uk

John Lewis’s medieval roots in Chelmsford – part 2

Posted on May 7, 2013 by admin

First of all, apologies for the break in transmission. We have been having some technical problems which our IT department is working on solving, and hopefully all will be back to normal soon.

On 1 April this year we published news of a recent ‘discovery’ in our archives that showed that medieval Chelmsford had its own John Lewis department store. The document in question said that a man named John Lewis had bought some land in Chelmsford fronting the High Street to build ‘a big shop’.

The text for the fake deed was constructed by Archivist Katharine Schofield, who specialises in medieval documents. She used her expertise to mimic the way in which medieval deeds were written, constructing it in both Latin and in English translation. The finished text was sent to our Conservation Studio, where Conservator Diane Taylor used her calligraphy skills to recreate the style in which a deed of this type would have been written.

Here we reveal what was right and what not quite so right about our April Fools forgery…

Ageing our forged deed

A question of language

Medieval legal documents were written in Latin, unless there was no Latin equivalent for an English word, when the scribe would have to resort to the vernacular to make the meaning clear. (See, for example, our post on ‘Names not to call the bailiff’, when the Maldon court had to break away from Latin to record the insults in question in the vernacular English.)

By the date of our forged deed (1405), however, English would have been much more commonly used and expressing something in Latin would have consequently been much more difficult.

Location location location

Field names do occur in deeds of this date (and earlier) and they are often obviously of a pre-Conquest origin. The land mentioned in this deed, ‘Le Backsydes’, is taken from the description of land on the Walker map of 1591.

Purpose

Our forgery tells the reader the purpose the land was being given for, i.e. the building of a ‘big shop’. Real deeds of this date, however, do not mention the purpose for which the land is being conveyed. (Moreover the idea of department stores was still some way off!)

Money matters

In our deed, the annual rent that John Lewis paid for his land was one chilli pepper on All Fools Day.

Token rents were quite common in deeds of this date and applied to land that had been bought and sold as well as to land that was leased. Rents could be flowers, items of clothing such as gloves, pepper and wax. Some of these would be of a monetary value, others would not. Chilli peppers, however, are native to the America sand were not introduced to Europe until the end of the 15^th century.

Payment of rents was usually done on feast days, the most common in medieval deeds being Easter, Midsummer, Michaelmas and Christmas. Occasionally there were payments on feast days. However, All Fools Day is not a feast day.

Witnesses

The witnesses in our deed were chosen from the names of founders of stores which now all trade as John Lewis round the country. A number had to be discarded as the Christian names were 19^th century and would not work in Latin. There was, for example, a third Cole brother but his first name was Skelton.

The land in question in our deed was being granted by the Bishop of London, who would have had his own men who would have been witnesses to his deeds and would not have necessarily had to call on men from outside his own diocese.

Our witnesses from Watford and Chelsea may well have been called upon as they were part of the Diocese of London, but our witnesses from Reading and Windsor(part of the Diocese of Salisbury) and Cambridge and Norwich(Diocese of Ely) would not have been.

We also gave our witnesses both first names and surnames and places of origin, but at this date witnesses were more often described by their first names only, e.g. Robert of Cambridge, or by a family relationship, e.g. Robert son of John. Since they would have been regular witnesses and known to the Bishop and his household no more accuracy was required. It is for this reason that medieval deeds usually conclude the list of witnesses with ‘et multis aliis’ (and many others). The deed was describing an act which had taken place, the transfer of land (hence it was written in the past tense) and the witnesses were people who would if called upon be prepared to bear witness to the transaction. It was unnecessary to list them in lengthy detail, it was sufficient to know that witnesses existed.

What’s in a date?

The date of 1^st April in 1263 was Easter Day. It is very unlikely that any deed would be dated on Easter Day. Both Sunday and Easter Day were too holy for business to be transacted on those days. Deeds are often dated before or after Easter and are often dated by the number of days from Easter. It is also rare for deeds of the 13^th century to be precisely dated. Dates can often be deduced from other evidence and sometimes if the witnesses are well known.

Married women’s property in the Victorian age

Posted on April 11, 2013 by admin

Edward Harris, Archives Assistant, writes for us about a rare document which gives us an insight into Victorian married life…

One of the advantages of working in the Searchroom is that you often find interesting items from our collections passing through your hands. One document which caught our eye recently is this ‘Certificate of Acknowledgement of Deeds by Married Women’, something which we have only a few examples of (D/DC 27/680/A).

These are to Certify, that on the twenty fifth day of June in the Year One Thousand Eight Hundred and Thirty Six before us John Mayhew and William Sparling Two of the perpetual Commissioners appointed for the County of Essex for taking the acknowledgements of Deeds by Married Women, pursuant to an Act passed in the Third and Fourth Years of the Reign of His Majesty King William the Fourth, intituled, “An Act for the Abolition of Fines and Recoveries, and for the Substitution of more simple modes of Assurance,” appeared personally Ann the wife of Henry Skingley and produced a certain Indenture marked B bearing date the twenty fourth day of June one thousand eight hundred and thirty six and made between the said Henry Skingley and Ann his wife of the one part and Thomas Batt on the other part and acknowledged the same to be her Act and Deed And We do hereby certify that the said Ann Skingley was at the time of her acknowledging the said Deed of full age and competent understanding, and that she was examined by us apart from her Husband touching her knowledge of the contents of the said Deed and that she freely and voluntarily consented to the same. (D/DC 27/680/A)

These certificates, the earliest dating to 1833, are sometimes found attached to the deed to which they refer. They were created in a half attempt to right the centuries old wrong whereby on marriage all the property belonging to the wife became the property of the husband, meaning she effectively lost all control over its disposition or sale. Despite a common law requirement that she be a party to the deed of sale, it was generally held that the husband’s will always prevailed and abuses of that position were thought to be common.

In 1833 a clause in the Fines and Recoveries Act required that a woman selling property jointly with her husband would have to be interviewed separately by a public official, known as a commissioner, to certify that she was ‘of full age and competent understanding’, to confirm that she was not being forced into agreeing to the sale. The example above relates to the mortgaging of a property by Mr Henry Skingley and his wife Ann to one Thomas Batt. It was also noted on the original deed (D/DC 27/680) that this examination had taken place.

A note on the original deed that Ann Skingley had agreed to the mortgaging of the land which had belonged to her before her marriage (D/DC 27/680)

The Married Women’s Property Act of 1882 finally granted equal rights in property ownership to married women and simultaneously brought to an end the production of the certificates of Acknowledgement.

We have a small number of original certificates amidst our vast collection of deeds and lists of the commissioners for Essexcan be found in Q/RDm 3.

Nominate your favourite record

Posted on April 4, 2013 by admin

As part of our 75^th anniversary celebrations this year, we want to hear from you.

We always like to hear how searchers are using our collections, whether it’s in the Searchroom or online through Seax and Essex Ancestors, so we’ve decided to ask searchers to nominate their favourite record, and to tell us what it is about it that appeals to you.

Entries can be long or short, medieval or modern, whole volumes or single sheets, parchment or photographs or DVDs or cassettes. All you need to do is to download our nomination form here and either return it in to the Searchroom desk or e-mail it to hannahjane.salisbury[at]essex.gov.uk

Nominated documents may be featured on our blog or in displays at our open day on Saturday 14 September.

To get the ball rolling, here is one of the favourite documents of Hannah Salisbury, Audience Development Officer:

Bond to Indemnify the parish of Walden agt Ann White’s Child by Mr Rebecca, 1773 (D/B 2/PAR8/35)

Bastardy Bonds were used to protect parish ratepayers from ending up paying to support unmarried mothers and their children if the mother was unable to support herself.

There are hundreds of such bonds in our collection, mostly dating to the eighteenth century, but this one particularly stands out for me because of the story it tells.

Dated 24 April 1773, the bond tells us that Ann White, a servant at Audley End near Saffron Walden, had given birth to a male child, the son of Biagio Rebecca, an Italian painter employed at the house by its owner, Sir John Griffin Griffin.

Extract from D/B 2/PAR8/35

Rebecca had acknowledged that the child was his, but clearly had no intention of marrying the hapless Ann. To indemnify the parish from ever having to support her and their child, Rebecca had agreed to deposit £100 with Sir John Griffin Griffin, to whom Ann would have to apply when in need of funds to support herself and the child. In paying this lump sum, Rebecca absolved himself of all responsibility to Ann and their child. You can view the document in full on Seax here.

The story continues in the baptism register of St Mary’s Saffron Walden where the child’s baptism is recorded:

*John Biagio, son of Biagio Rebecca & Ann White *(base-born)

N.B. Senior Biagio Rebecca was a most ingenious artist who was employed by Sir John Griffin, at Audley End, to paint the cieling [sic] & Panels of ye little south drawing Room, & several family portraits in the great Room over the eating Parlor!!! [sic]

Baptism of John Biagio, 24 December 1772. Extract from parish register of St Mary’s, Saffron Walden (D/P 192/1/5, image 40)

You can still see Biagio Rebecca’s paintings at Audley End, and read his entry in the Oxford Dictionary of National Biography (Essex Library card holders can access the ODNB for free with their library card number).

Fascinating Find: John Lewis’s Medieval roots in Chelmsford

Posted on April 1, 2013 by admin

A deed dating from 1263 was recently discovered by our archivists in the county archive which shows that Henry of Sandwich, the Bishop of London, granted land to John Lewis (recorded as ‘Johannes Lewis’ in the medieval Latin) of the Uxbridge Road in Middlesex to build ‘a big shop’ in Chelmsford town centre.

This story has particular relevance for 1 April, as in return for the land John Lewis was to pay Henry of Sandwich ‘one chilli pepper on the feast of All Fools’ each year.

The deed names several other men as witnesses, Peter Jones of Chelsea, Robert Sayle of Cambridge, Robert Bond recently of Chelmsford and then of Norwich, Arthur and Henry Trewin of Watford, John Caley of Windsor, John Heelas of Reading, Zebedee Jessop of Nottingham, and John and Thomas Cole of Sheffield.

750 year old deed discovered giving land in Chelmsford to ‘Johannes Lewis’ to build ‘a big shop’

Archie Ives, spokesman for Essex Record Office said today: “This is a very exciting find and shows the importance of new stores in the development of medieval Chelmsford, just as it is today. I am delighted that the Record Office has found evidence for the development of department stores at such an early date. It shows that Chelmsfordwas leading the way in retail 750 years ago.”

The deed ties in with a later map of Chelmsford dating to 1591, which helps us to identify the land in question. Lewis was granted ‘land in the field called in English Le Backsydes’, which is clearly shown on the later map to the east of the High Street. The map also shows us how little the shape of Chelmsford has changed since the medieval period.

Extract from Walker map of Chelmsford, 1591 (D/DM P1)

In an interesting coincidence, the 750 year old document reflects the 75^th anniversary of the foundation of the Essex Record Office.

Full English translation:

Let all men present and future know that I Henry [of Sandwich], by the grace of God, Bishop of London have given, conceded and by this present charter have confirmed to John Lewis of the Uxbridge road in the parish of St. Martin in the Fields in the county of Middlesex and his heirs and assigns for ever for homage and service, land in the field called in English Le Backsydes in the town of Chelmsford to build a big shop. To have and to hold to him and his heirs and assigns from me and my heirs quietly freely and fully the said land paying annually to me and my heirs one chili pepper on the feast of All Fools for all secular service, exactions and demands and I and my heirs will warrant and defend the said land to the said John and his heirs and assigns against all people forever. These being witnesses Peter Jones of Chelsea, Robert Sayle of Cambridge, Robert Bond recently of Chelmsford and now of Norwich, Arthur and Henry Trewin of Watford, John Caley of Windsor, John Heelas of Reading, Zebedee Jessop of Nottingham, John and Thomas Cole of Sheffield and many others. Given at Chelmsford on Easter Day in the forty-seventh year of the reign of Henry III.

Original Latin transcription:

Sciant p[re]sentes et futuri q[uo]d ego Hen[ricus] d[e]i gr[ati]a Ep[iscopu]s Lond[on] dedi concessi et hac p[re]senti carta confirmavi Joh[ann]e Lewis de via ad Woxbrigg[e] in par[ochia] s[an]c[t]i Martin[i] in campo in com[itatu] Midd[lesex] et h[er]edibus et assignatis suis imp[er]petuum p[ro] homagio et s[er]vicio t[er]ram in campo vocet anglice le Backsydes in villa de Chelmeresford ad aedificand[am] magnum emporium. Habendum et tenendum sibi et h[er]edibus et assignatis suis de me et h[er]edibus meis lib[er]e et quiete integre plen[ar]ie p[re]dicto t[er]ra Reddendo inde annuatim mihi et h[er]edibus meis pro unum purum piper in die fest[um] om[niu]m stultor[um] p[ro] om[n]i secul[ar]i s[er]vicio exactione et demand[a]. Et ego et h[er]edes mei p[re]dicto t[er]ra Joh[ann]e p[re]dicto et h[er]edibus et assignatis suis cont[ra] o[mn]es gentes warrantizabimus et defendemus imp[er]petuum. Hiis testibus Pet[ro] Jones de Chelchith, Rob[erto] Sayle de Cantabrig[ia], Rob[erto] Bond nuper de Chelmeresford et m[oment]o de Noruicum, Art[ori]o et Hen[ric]o Trewin de Wadford, Joh[ann]e Caley de Windesor[a], Joh[ann]e Heelas de Redding[es], Zebed[ae] Jessop de Nottingam[ia], Joh[ann]e et Thom[e] Cole de Scafeld et multis aliis. Dat’ apud Chelmeresford die Pasch[a] anno regni Hen[rici] tercii post conquest[um] quadraginta septem

Easter eggs in Essex’s past

Posted on March 27, 2013 by admin

Are you looking forward to chocolate eggs this weekend? Archivist Katharine Schofield takes a look back at Easter eggs in an earlier guise…

The tradition of giving Easter eggs can be traced back to the early Christian tradition of giving up dairy products for Lent. All of the household eggs would be used up on Shrove Tuesday (Pancake Day) and none could be eaten again until Easter, when households would need to restock.

In 1297 an extent was made of the manors of Walton, Thorpe and Kirby (D/DHw M1) which detailed all the land and valued all the rights of the lord of the manor. Manorial tenants held land from the lord in return for the payment of goods, money and labour.

In the three Soken manors, the tenants owed regular amounts of work to the lord on the lands which were kept ‘in hand’ (demesne land); that is they were farmed directly with the labour of the tenants. As well as threshing, weeding, reaping, ploughing, mowing and making hay, keeping and shearing sheep, they had to maintain the lord’s granary and byre and provide a horse for harrowing.

The lord of the three manors was St. Paul’s Cathedral and this explains why among their duties, the tenants had to load corn from the manor house on to a ship. In addition to the labour, they also paid rent and provided food. Those tenants who held one hide of land (120 acres) were obliged to give the lord 300 eggs at Easter.

Extract from D/DHw M1, detailing the labour and goods owed by the tenants of the three Soken manors to their lord, including 300 eggs at Easter. The word ‘Pasha’ (Easter) can just be made out at the beginning of the second line.

You can find out more about manorial documents at our new workshop Discover: Manorial documents on Tuesday 31 October 2013. Details are available in our events guide, which can be downloaded here.

Conserving Essex’s past: Saffron Walden on the Map

Posted on March 12, 2013 by admin

In the days when you can carry a device in your pocket which can access not only a map of the whole globe but satellite images of the earth’s surface, it is hard to imagine life without easy access to accurate maps.

Historic maps are fascinating and often beautiful documents, and the Essex Record Office holds many maps which help us to tell the story of our county’s past. Some of these maps have been well treated and survive today in good condition, perhaps a little faded and worn but largely complete. Others, however, have not been quite so lucky.

Regular readers may remember that in spring 2012, a dirty, tattered piece of parchment was found in a farm outbuilding in Wendons Ambo, near Saffron Walden. Upon unrolling it, it was discovered to be a map of the historic town ofSaffron Walden, dating to 1757. This makes it the earliest known map of the town. This is a very special find, showing in great detail the historic centre of Saffron Walden, much of which survives today.

Before conservation work. The map was brittle, dark, mouldy, and peppered with small tears and holes.

The map was made by Edward John Eyre, whose slightly later, larger 1758 map of the area around the town may well already be familiar to Saffron Walden residents. It is likely that both maps were commissioned by Elizabeth Countess ofPortsmouthor her nephew, Sir John Griffin Griffin, who inherited part of the nearby estate of Audley End.

In June 2012 the map was transferred on permanent loan to the Essex Record Office for conservation work and storage. Despite the degree of damage it has suffered, the hand-drawn streets and buildings are still remarkably clear. Since the map arrived at ERO, our expert conservators have worked to stabilise the map to prevent any further deterioration, and have made any repairs possible.

During conservation work. As part of the conservation work the map was stretched out after being humidified. This looks alarming but it mimics the original treatment process the parchment went through when new.

After months of painstaking effort, the conservation work is now complete, and the map is due to make a special one-day visit to its home town for local people to come and see it.

For your opportunity to see the original map and to find out more about its conservation, come to Saffron Walden on the Map at Saffron Walden Town Hall on Saturday 16 March, 10.30am-3.30pm, were ERO Senior Conservator Tony King will be talking about his work. There will also be talks from other experts about historic maps and how they were made. You can download a programme for the day here.

After conservation work. The map is still very dark due to the layer of discoloured varnish which cannot be removed, but it has been flattened and tears and holes filled in. Despite the damage it has suffered, the outlines of the streets and buildings are remarkably clear.

Stories from the Stores: blacksmith’s ledger of John Packard Smith of Chipping Ongar, A13540 (D/F 326)

Posted on March 6, 2013 by admin

Account books and ledgers can be an excellent way of finding out about details of daily life in the past. Archivist Sarah Dickie rifles through the ledger book of John Packard Smith, blacksmith of Chipping Ongar, and turns up some unusual details of early twentieth century life…

John Packard Smith is listed in the 1908 Kelly’s Directory of Essex as a blacksmith, cycle agent and repairer. We found a couple of entries in 1911 for repairing and fitting cycle tubes but this does not feature as a large part of his work. The accounts in the ledger show that Smith’s work was predominantly as a blacksmith and farrier. For example on 13 August 1913 he made ‘a new steel plate to Deerings Binder Knife, Filing out [w]hole of New Casting & Fixing to Knife & Rivets’ for a sum of 2 shillings 3 pence for Mr. Bennett of Little Myles. Shoeing horses took up a great deal of his time, e.g. 22 May 1908 ‘To 3 shoes and one Bar shoe & dressing foot with tar 3s 6d’ for Mr. Brown of New House Farm (Greenstead-juxta-Ongar).

Front cover – showing how well used the ledger was

The ledger is extremely detailed and we get know a lot of personal details; Smith shoed horses called Druid, Pantaloon, Cardinal and Match Girl for Mr. H.E. Jones, whilst he made nuts and bolts for McNoble the builders to do repairs at ‘The Bear’, a pin for a boiler plug at Blake Hall and new gutter brackets for High Ongar Rectory. In this throwaway age it is surprising to see how many everyday objects were repaired. There are bills for a new hoop for a wine cask, repairing the woodwork on a wheel barrow wheel as well as fitting horse shoes for the Cheshire Regiment in June and July 1915. Many of his customers were farmers so it is no surprise that he was repairing harrows, undertaking major works on a hay shaker and supplying a new thumb screw for a churn.

Accounts for Mr Jones, who was obviously a regular customer, naming the horses he brought to be shod.

Amongst his customers was the Eddison Steam Rolling Co. (shortening long reversing rod), Miss Bishop of Roden House School (soldering music stand), Bishop’s Stortford and Epping Gas Co. (mending and strengthening a generator bar), Mr. Bianchi of Hall Farm, Greenstead-juxta Ongar (repairing kitchen range) and Mr. Britton of the ‘Two Brewers’ [High Ongar] (shoeing horses).

This volume provides a wealth of detail on local businesses and individuals, as well as fascinating information on the work of a blacksmith at the beginning of the twentieth century just before the motor car took hold.

Frederick Park and Ernest Boulton, aka Fanny and Stella

Posted on February 21, 2013 by admin

We have been busy preparing copies of one of our more unusual sets of photographs to go on display in Chelmsford Library, before going on tour to other libraries around the county.

We are very fortunate to have c.7,000 images from the Spalding family (three generations of the family, all named Fred, worked as professional photographers), taken in the last half of the nineteenth century and first half of the twentieth century.

One of the more unusual sets of photographs within the collection is a series of portraits of two young men, Frederick William Park and Ernest Boulton, taken in c.1869.

Park and Boulton were popular theatrical players during the late 1860s, and were better known as their female alter egos, Fanny and Stella.

Fanny and Stella, photographed in Chelmsford by Fred Spalding, c.1869 (D/F 269/1/3712)

Fanny and Stella, photographed in Chelmsford by Fred Spalding, c.1870 (D/F 269/1/3712)

Along with several other players they were performing with in Chelmsford, the pair commissioned the portraits from Spalding, and copies of the photographs were sold in great numbers, presumably to their audiences.

Female impersonation was a fairly widespread and acceptable form of entertainment, but the pair found themselves in trouble when they began to take their act off stage. Often travelling to and from their performances in costume, initially they attracted little attention, but eventually they gained a certain moral notoriety, visiting theatres in female dress as patrons and frequenting the Burlington Arcade dressed as and claiming to be women. They were arrested by the Metropolitan Police in 1870 and involved in a major court case at Queen’s Bench in May 1871. Park and Boulton were charged with “conspiring and inciting persons to commit an unnatural offence”.

Amongst the evidence produced at the trial was the existence of “an album with photographs beautifully executed of Boulton in female attire”. Possibly this could have included Spalding’s studio portraits.

It is not known whether Park’s family connections in the legal sphere – his father was one of the Masters of the Court of Common Pleas – had any significant part to play in the trial, for Park’s father appeared as a witness for the defence and the two men were eventually acquitted. The verdict was greeted with popular acclaim and Park and Boulton disappeared from the public eye for good.

A selection of Spalding’s portraits of Boulton and Park will be on display in Chelmsford Library throughout March, before touring around other libraries around the county. The display marks the publication of a new book investigating the case by Neil McKenna, Fanny and Stella: The Young Men Who Shocked Victorian England, which will shortly be available to borrow from Essex Libraries.

Neil McKenna will be reading extracts from his book and taking questions at Chelmsford Library on Thursday 14 March 2013 at 7:30pm as part of the Essex Book Festival. To book tickets please call the Box Office on 01206 573948 or book online.

Shire Hall: Past, present and future

Posted on February 7, 2013 by admin

Shire Hall is one of Chelmsford’s most significant landmarks, and features heavily in our collections of images of the historic city centre. From its opening in 1791 until 2012, Shire Hall served as the County Court. As the County Council asks residents to submit ideas for the building’s future, we took a look back through the archives to see what they reveal about the Hall’s past.

Shire Hall replaced two earlier buildings which served as the county’s court rooms. The Tudor Market Cross, or Great Cross, had been built in 1569, replacing an earlier Medieval building, and it served as both market place and court house. The ground floor was open-sided, with enclosed galleries above, as depicted in John Walker’s map below. Despite the fact that it was open to the street and dusty, draughty, and noisy, the county Assizes and Quarter Sessions courts were conducted in the open piazza on the ground floor, and corn merchants conducted their trade there on Friday market days.

At some point between 1569 and 1660 a second, smaller court building was built, apparently on the west side of the Great Cross, known as the Little Cross. While the Great Cross continued to host the Crown Court, the Little Cross hosted the Nisi Prius (civil) Court.

Extract from John Walker’s 1591 map ofChelmsford, showing the north end of the High Street, with the Tudor Market Cross building in the centre of the market place (D/DM P1)

In October 1788, the Tudor court houses were condemned by the Quarter Sessions as ‘not in a fit condition for transacting the publick [sic] business of the County’, and the County Surveyor John Johnson was commissioned to build a new ‘Shire House’.

The authorities quickly settled on a site for the new building at the north end of the High Street, between the market place and the churchyard, which was then occupied by the existing court houses and several private properties. The new building was to be set further back from the market place, offering some relief to the traffic bottleneck at the top of the High Street.

We are fortunate to have John Johnson’s original plans for the building, including elevations of the south, west and north sides of the buildings, and plans of each of the four storeys, with the plan for the ground floor including internal layouts for the Nisi Prius and Crown Courts. In 1789, a county rate was levied to raise £14,000 to buy the site and construct the new building.

Plans and elevations for the ‘County Hall of Essex’, 1788 (Q/AS 1/1)

The builders of Shire Hall encountered some of the problems experienced today when working on enclosed sites in built-up areas; the old courts were not demolished straight away as they had to carry on functioning, and the churchyard could not be turned into a builder’s yard, so a field was leased in Duke Street to assemble and store materials and carry out preparative carpentry and masonry work. Contractors complained bitterly about the extra time, effort and monetary cost of transferring materials, and also the interruptions to their work caused by the running of the court, and by the annual fairs in May and November.

Despite these challenges, the new building was completed in 1791, and the old courts demolished, revealing the impressive Portland Stone façade of the new Shire Hall.

Shire Hall soon after its opening. Engraving by J. Walker after an original picture by Reinagle, 1795 (I/Mb 74/1/59)

The three central arches of the new building led into a large hall, which replaced the old Market Cross and functioned as market space and corn exchange. Beyond the market hall at the back of the ground floor Nisi Prius and Crown Courts, and a retiring room for judges. A grand staircase lit by a glazed dome led out of the market hall up to the grand jury room and the ‘county room’ or ballroom, which took up the whole of the front of the first floor. There was also a small waiting room for witnesses and an office for the Clerk of the Peace and his records. The building’s façade included three emblematic figures by John Bacon, representing mercy, wisdom and justice.

On 3 June 1791 the Chelmsford Chronicle gave its verdict the transformation to the town centre. The new building ‘…exhibits a splendid object to all persons coming up the town; this elegant building when completely finished will not only do credit to the taste and spirit of the magistrates of this opulent county, and honour to the architect, but will be of the greatest service and accommodation to every person frequenting the public meetings.’

Hundreds of thousands of cases have since been heard in the court rooms of Shire Hall since that time, including witchcraft trials in which women were sentenced to be burned alive, and trials which sentenced people to transportation for what would now be considered minor offences.

Shire Hall has also been the focal point of many grand occasions inChelmsford. Not least of these were the judges’ processions which opened the Assizes each year (where the most serious cases were heard). This was a tradition that continued until the late nineteenth century; prolific photographer and Mayor of Chelmsford Fred Spalding, reminisced in the 1930s:

‘Even the coming of the Judge to open the Assize has altered. It was a great event in my young days – the High Sheriff with his carriage and four horses, trumpeters, marshals, footmen with powdered wigs. I can remember the late Mr. John Joliffe Tufnell ofLangleys, Gt Waltham was Sheriff. A procession of tradesmen, farmers and others from the town and surrounding villages of nearly a mile long, went out to Broomfield to meet him and accompany him to Church with the Judge.’ (D/Z 206/1/93)

Engraving by J. Ryland showing the judges’ procession through Chelmsford High Street before the opening of the Assizes, attended by the High Sheriff and his officers. Pre-1788 (I/Mb 74/1/109)

Shire Hall has also been the iconic backdrop to the many large gatherings of Chelmsford residents in Tindal Square which have accompanied momentous occasions such as pronouncements of new monarchs and election campaigns, as well as social gatherings.

George V is proclaimed King from the steps of Shire Hall by the High Sheriff of Essex, Ralph Bury, 1910. Photograph by Fred Spalding (SCN 1445)

Election of 29 October 1924, candidates addressing the public in front of Shire Hall. Photograph by Fred Spalding (SCN 3396)

Dance in the ballroom, c. 1924. Photograph by Fred Spalding (SCN 4476)

The exterior of the building is little changed today; the west side was extended in 1851, and the east side remodelled in 1903-06.

Shire Hall in 1895, with addition on the west side, and the clock added to the pediment (I/LS/CFD/00011)

The interior, however, underwent more radical changes in 1935-6, when the lobby, courts, picture room and stairwell were substantially reconstructed by the County Architect J. Stuart, bringing in Art Deco aspects. These features are today considered to be an essential part of the building’s architectural character, but they were not universally accepted at the time. Fred Spalding, who took a particular interest in Shire Hall, was dismayed by the changes:

‘…alas!, what of the interior? During 1936, the architects of the present day, have altered it to such an extent that those who knew it, now fail to recognise it. The vestibule has had all its stately columns removed and now looks more like the entrance of a modern cinema. The Crown Court and Nisi Prius Court have been strip[p]ed of all their old solemnity…The whole atmosphere is changed.’ (D/Z 206/1/93)

Photograph of the Crown Court room in Shire Hall, taken by Fred Spalding before the alterations in 1936 (D/Z 206/1/89)

Court room after the 1930s alterations (SCN 4191)

The vestibule before 1936 alterations. Photograph by Fred Spalding (D/Z 206/1/89)

The vestibule after the 1930s alterations (SCN 4211)

Shire Hall is an important focal point in Chelmsford’s history, and in the present cityscape. Listed at Grade II*, it is recognised as a building of great significance.

If you would like to find out more about this Chelmsfordian icon, you can search for Shire Hall on Seax, or see Hilda Grieve’s magnificent history of Chelmsford The Sleepers and the Shadows, available in the ERO Searchroom and libraries across the county. To find out more about Shire Hall’s architect, see John Johnson, 1732-1814: Georgian Architect and County Surveyor of Essex, by Nancy Briggs, again available in libraries around the county and the ERO Searchroom (in the ERO library and also for sale).

To take part in the future use of Shire Hall consultation visit www.theshirehall.com or email shire.hallconsultation@essex.gov.uk.

The closing date for comments and expressions of interest is Friday 15 February 2013.

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