By Christine Swan

I have previously written that all of my ancestors appeared to gravitate towards London from their origins. I don’t think that either of my parents fully appreciated that fact although, my mother had told me that my maternal grandmother’s family hailed from a tiny village in Essex called Helions Bumpstead. This name caused me some amusement as it sounds rather like one fabricated for a fictional period drama.

Helions Bumpstead looking towards St Andrew’s Church

I last visited Helions Bumpstead a few years ago and it is indeed exactly as I had imagined – a beautiful village with a traditional pub, a lovely old church, a village green, a few houses and surrounded by farms. Although it could now be considered to be in commuter land, transport links are still dreadful if you do not own a car. The phrase “out in the sticks” is highly applicable. It is beautiful, but rather remote for this town mouse.

Charles Humphrey was born in 1850 to William Humphrey and his wife Mary Mizen. Some surnames are very prominent in this corner of Essex, and Mizen is very much one of them. William worked as an agricultural labourer which would have been the most common occupation in the village. Mary was a bonnet maker which did cause me some delight as I am fond of wearing hats. Hats would have been essential to protect the wearer from the midday sun while working in the fields, but they were decorative headgear too and very much a fashion item as well as a functional one. I am aware that some such industries were labour-intensive, with workers paid by the piece. Work in London would often involve whole families, working long hours, to earn enough money to live. Perhaps Mary worked alone and even more fancifully, designed fashionable bonnets that were the items to be worn to church on Sunday. Without the whole picture, my mind is free to conjure an idyllic scene, although I suspect that reality was probably far less glamourous. However, with both adults working and, bonnet-making was something that Mary could have done at home, the additional income would have been welcome. The census does not state whether Mary worked with straw or fabric, but ladies bonnets would have been decorated with artificial flowers and silk ribbons. I would like to imagine that Mary worked to her own original designs, but I think it more likely that she worked to patterns adapted to meet customer requirements.

Charles was baptised at St Andrew’s church and was his parents first child. Three years later, Charles was joined by a brother, John. Sadly, as seems to have been all too common, Mary died in 1855, aged just twenty seven, leaving William with two small children to care for.

Interior of St Andrew’s church, Helions Bumpstead

In 1861, Charles was aged eleven and already working as an agricultural labourer. The family address is given simply as “cottage” in Helions Bumpstead, which is not terribly helpful for me to try to locate exactly where the family lived. The housekeeper was Ann Mizen, William’s niece by marriage, who was eighteen years old. William is listed as a horsekeeper, which did cause me some initial confusion, however, the enumerator has helpfully added: “agr. labourer” next to the entry.

The Humphrey family in 1861

William remarried in 1862 and Charles was himself married in December 1870, to Martha Ann Malyon, jacket maker. Initially, the newlyweds lived with the bride’s father, Stephen. Martha’s mother had died one year previously so, I am sure, would have been a comfort and help for her grieving father. The family were still living in Water Road, Helions Bumpstead. Their first daughter, Emily, was born in 1872, followed by a son, Alfred, in 1874.

Charles and Martha Ann in 1871

In about 1874, the family left Helions Bumpstead for good and moved to Leyton. Although we would now consider this to be part of Greater London, at that time, it would still have been fairly rural in nature. The family lived in the delightfully named School Nook, Lea Bridge. There was a Victorian schoolhouse in the Nook which has fortunately survived, and is now the Chan Khong Zen Buddhist Monastery. A school bell on the roof, which faced the River, would toll to announce the start of school to the children who lived, and worked, on the river boats moored there.

Ada was born in 1877, John in 1879 and my grandmother, Dora, in 1880. Another son, Thomas, was born in 1883 and then Walter in 1886. In 1891, the family also house three lodgers, all general labourers like Charles. In total, there were eleven people living in the small cottage in School Nook in 1891. It really does bring to mind the old woman living in a shoe! Emily had already left home but only Alfred, as the oldest son, was employed.

The Humphrey family in 1881

Charles Humphrey died in 1897, aged just forty seven, leaving Martha and the children to manage without him. Times were very hard and my grandmother went into service as a young teenager. This was very difficult for her, not only to be away from her family, but also because the work was hard and frequently unpleasant. She was just seventeen when her father died and this had a big impact on her.

St Andrew’s church Helions Bumpstead

A few years ago, I watched the sun baking the wheat and barley in the fields around Helions Bumpstead. Lawnmowers hummed in the warm afternoon. A few drinkers were sitting outside of the Three Horseshoes, it was a perfect view. Charles Humphrey was born in this place. Life was hard here too and maybe he thought that a move closer to London would provide greater opportunities and an escape from a depressed agricultural economy. Dora’s time close to the River Lea had a big impact on her although, as we will learn, her relationship with the water was a troubled one.

One final view of St Andrew’s church

More information

Wikipedia entry for Helions Bumpstead – https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Helions_Bumpstead

Verdon, N. (2020), Skill, status and the agricultural workforce in Victorian England

Would you like to make your own Victorian bonnet? Here’s how: https://hathawaysofhaworth.wordpress.com/2015/04/22/an-very-easy-guide-to-making-your-own-victorian-or-regency-bonnet/

Interesting information about St Andrew’s church – https://www.tracerytales.uk/fairytale-church-at-helions-bumpstead/