Notes on the history of Little Thetford
Compiled by Pat and Mike Petty : February 1981, revised May 2009
Contents
Page 1: Introduction
Page 2: Early settlement and Place names
Page 3: Buildings and infrastructure
Page 4: Newspaper clippings: 1778 – 1799
Page 5: Newspaper clippings: 1801 -1899
Page 6: Newspaper clippings: 1900 -1940
Page 7: Ely Deanery Magazine Extracts: 1895 -1896
Page 8: Village people: 19th & early 20th century
Village people: 19th & early 20th century
Villages are more than buildings and events, they are people too.Lt. Thetford has never been a very large village as these population figures show: |
Year
|
Population |
1801
|
119 |
1811
|
147 |
1821
|
229 |
1831
|
257 |
1841
|
250 |
1851
|
366 : this figure is inflated because the day the count was taken was during the village Feast, it is proof that Feast time was a time for everybody to return to their old home. |
1861
|
306 |
1871
|
317 |
1881
|
242 |
1891
|
221 |
1901
|
204 |
1911
|
209 |
1921
|
150 ; quite whether this reflects the appalling loss of life and disruption caused by the Great War is open to speculation. |
1931
|
191 |
1941
|
—- : no census taken because of the second world war |
1951
|
263 |
1961
|
283 |
1971
|
290 |
1978
|
385 : a mini census revealing considerable growth, the population having doubled in just over 40 years but getting back to what it was when the village school first opened. |
|
Trades
|
People need jobs and a century ago most villages were self sufficient in tradesmen and with the majority of the inhabitants working in or near their home. Today only few are lucky enough to have employment on their doorstep. |
Kelly’s County Directory: 1933
|
In 1933 Lt. Thetford had the following tradesmen and employers:
- Farmers: John and William Cranwell, Walter Driver, Herbert Kisby, Ralph Kisby, Markwell brothers, Ernest Taylor and William Utteridge
- Shopkeepers: Mrs Emma Roberts, tobacconist; Johnathan Utteridge shopkeeper and post office
- Beer Sellers: James Cocklin ; George Scarrow at the ‘Halfway House’; Frederick Yarrow at the ‘Three Horse Shoes’.
The village also boasted a police station. |
Kelly’s County Directory: 1900
|
- Farmers: Walter Driver, William Driver, George Farby, Thomas Hinkin, Benjamin Pope, James Yarrow, Sidney Yarrow
- Shopkeepers: William Cranwell; James Yarrow
- Beer sellers: Robert Hinkin, John Martin, Benjamin Pope, Thomas Roberts, George Scarrow at the ‘Three Horse Shoes’.
|
Kelly’s County Directory: 1883
|
- Farmers: Robert Driver, Robert Driver, jnr., George Farby, Jeremiah Hinkin, James Markwell, Benjamin Pope, James Yarrow, Owen Yarrow
- Shopkeepers: William Cranwell (also a shoemaker); James Yarrow (dairyman & post office); James Yarrow (grocer)
- Beer Sellers: Robert Hinkin, Thomas Roberts, George Sennit, Yarrow (Three Horse Shoes)
|
Kelly’s County Directory 1864
|
- Farmers: John Charles, William Dewesbury, Jermiah Hinkin, John Lister, James Markwell, Richard Pope, Ellis Stedman, Mrs Charlotte Yarrow, Mrs Frances Yarrow, John Yarrow, Owen Yarrow
- Shopkeepers: John Lister (postmaster); James Saddler; Joseph Sharp (shoemaker);Mrs Elizabeth Yarrow
- Beer Sellers: John Charles, John Hinkins, Thomas Roberts, Owen Yarrow ( Three Horse Shoes), William Yarrow
Note how people combined trades – farmer and beer retailer, etc. |
—
Pat and Mike Petty, February, 1981.
Postscript
These notes were compiled 28 years ago and since then much more information has become accessible. None of this has been included in this reissue of the original pamphlet.
See my website www.cambridgeshirehistory.com/MikePetty for advice and guidance
Mike Petty, June 2009.
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