A History of Preston
in Hertfordshire
Chalkley was baptised on 7 November 1722 at Meppershall, Beds., which is ten miles
north of Preston. He was the son of Francis and Ann Whitbread. Details of his marriage(s)
are clouded. A Chalkley Whitbread married Sarah Chessam at Wheathampstead, Herts
on 24 January 1745. However, during his bankruptcy proceedings, it emerged that his
mother-
His daughter, Ann married Thomas Simmes at Ippollitts in 1769 at Ippollitts. Thomas was a joint owner of Pond Farm, Preston in 1780 and Ann inherited this holding on his death.
I marked Chalkley Whitbread as a future subject for a page on this web site, when I found a thick bundle of documents relating to his money problems at Hertford Archives in October 2009. As well as the quantity of recorded details of his bankruptcy, his name was unusual enough to stand out.
When I scrutinized the papers, I found that he was a farmer at Preston, Ippollitts with land in Ippollitts, Hitchin and Kings Walden parishes. This posed a problem: where had he farmed? The most likely locations were Castle Farm or Home Farm, However, I was sure I knew the occupants of these farms in 1761 when Chalkley ran out of cash and credit and chalked up his debts.
The documents mentioned that he owed rent to John and Ann Salmon. These names feature in manorial records, so it was a case of poring over these again to find entries for the Salmons. As they were mentioned in the records of both Temple Dinsley and Maidencroft (Ippollitts) Manors, it was possible to follow the trail of ownership over several decades. From this information and comparing it with the Enclosure Map of Ippollitts in 1816, one could pinpoint the location of the farm and many of its fields.
This research spawned the web page devoted to this farm -
The details provided by the papers about Chalkley’s life -
Chalkley began his tenancy at Preston Farm in 1752 when he was thirty years of age and his wife was expecting their second child, signing a lease from James Salmon on 5 March.
An inventory of their possessions was made on 20 April 1761, taken by Robert Collison and William Wilshere and signed by Samuel Peete (the Ippollitts constable). The total value of the items was £140.The farm house had five rooms downstairs (a parlour, kitchen, back kitchen, dairy and drink (brewing) house) and three bedrooms together with a garret (a small room just under the roof). This is the inventory:
In the kitchen
One clock, five pewter dishes and one pewter cheese plate, fifteen pewter plates
and some other broken pewter, one tin colander and tin false bottom, one dresser
and shelves, two large oval tables and one small table, seven chairs, a buffet and
two cupboards, one wind-
Linen: Three pair and one sheet, five table-
In the parlour
Six cane chairs and one elbow cane chairs, two other chairs, two tables, nine pictures and frames, blue window curtains, corner cupboard, about two bushels of clover seed @ £1 3s 4d a hundred, two sacks and one basket, four glass bottles, one stone jar, irons, an old fender and old box.
Closet adjoining the parlour
A large flask close stool and pewter pan, a hand butter churn and a basket
Back Kitchen
Copper hung pothook, kneading trough, spade tin colander, one boiler, two small old kettles, one skillet (small frying pan), long table and forms, two tubs, one rimnell (?), one hand cleaver, beef fork and two tea kettles.
Dairy
One cupboard, two tin pans, seven earthen milk pans, three milk rimnells and two wooden bowls,one earthen pickling pan and other earthen ware, one brass frying pan.
The Drink House and room adjoining
Two large tubs, one small tub, one brewing tub,five beer vessels, one barrel churn, a spade, two drink stalls, two large earthen jars, eighteen glass bottle, six wooden bottles, and an old form, a bottle and four wedges and three pails.
Room over the Parlour
One flock bed, feather bolster, and feather pillow, sacking-
Room over the Kitchen
One feather bed, bolster and two pillows, blue furniture, sacking-
Closet adjoining
Two chests and three old boxes and a large basket
Room over the back kitchen
One flock bed, corded-
Back Room
(?) forks, eight quarter sacks, seven five bushel sacks, an old bridle, two sieves, riddle tub and about six bushels of horse corn
Garrett
Straw bed corded bedstead, a pair of sheets, blanket and coverlet, an old feather bed, chest and trunk
In the stable
Four horses, complete harnesses for four horses, five pair of plough, traces, corn bin, and a horn tin lantern
In the yard
Two cows and two bullocks and one calf, three pigs, about four score fowls, one wagon,
four carts, five ploughs,five large harrows,and two small harrows, one wheelbarrow,three
dung forks, two old sheep racks, two old shovels, three ladders and a wagon jack.
All the grain in the barley barn being about six quarters of barley in sacks and
on the floor, five quarter sacks and five-
Sheep
About four score sheep and twenty lambs
The debts of Chalkley Whitbread
James and Ann Salmon, rent due on Lady Day 1761
John Cooke, aka Lee (included 70 shillings damages)
Samuel Bradley of Maidencroft, farmer for hedges
Thomas Smith of Hitchin, maltster for turnip seed, a bullock and clover seed
Henry Crookall of Hitchin, apothecary, for pork etc.
William Blundell of New England, Herts, gentleman, for faggots and money
James Witney of Gosmore, butcher, for a fat hog and money
John Swain of Preston, blacksmith, for ploughing etc.
John Creasy of Hitchin, farmer, for turnip seed, oats and clover seed
Dreary Foster of Hill End, farmer, for clover seed
John Wilson of Preston, farmer, for clover seed and a pig
Total Debt
100
60
4
4
10
3
4
3
6
3
3
208
0
70
7
2
6
7
16
9
11
15
18
4
0
0
3
4
5
6
0
10
4
3
0
0
½
½
½
½
£ s d
Total value: £140
Money owed to Chalkley Whitbread
Mr Evans of Welwyn, meal man, carriage of wheat and chaff Nov/Dec 1760
Edward Lisles of New England, Herts, farmer, for pinewood and faggots
Thomas Burrell aka Marshall of Gosmore, labourer, for faggots
Total Creditors
4
2
6
7
1
8
0
3
8
11
On 21 October 1761, Chalkley was in Hertford Gaol after being charged by his second highest creditor, John Cooke. His cattle, corn, grain, stock and farming and dairy utensils and were seized by William Thomas (maltster of Hitchin) who acted on behalf of Chalkley’s landlords, the Salmons.
He sensibly and astutely arranged for his brother, James Whitbread, a shopkeeper
of Harpenden, to dispose of his goods and effects ‘to save expense and also prevent
items being sold too cheaply’. He owed his brother £90 and his brother was able to
recover this before handing on the residue of the fire sale. Chalkley also affirmed
that some items included in the inventory were actually the property of of his mother-
Chalkley also drew attention to a diamond ring and clothes that he had held in trust for his niece, Eleanor Whitbread who was thirteen years old. She was the daughter of his brother, Thomas Whitbread, formerly a farmer of Kings Walden. Thomas married Eleanor, but then died and his widow married William Harrowell, yeoman of Kings Walden.
Sheep sold by Mr Poulton and the money received from him by William Thomas:
15 coples (?), 40 pug (?) and 2 gast (?) ewes
Received of Mr Poulton for a wagon and a pair of three-
Received of Mr Poulton for a mare and collar and also of plough traces and a bit halter
Received of Mr Poulton for a sorrel (reddish brown) mare
Had 130 lbs of clover seed @ 2½d a lb
Edward Poulton owes for a horse sold at Dunstable
Edward Poulton owes for a cow
Mr Harwell owes for 19 sheep at 8/3d a head
Mr Harwell owes for a bullock
Mr Whitbread note of hand for
Allowed for the fallow thatches (ie plant stalks) and sowing of grass
Money (?) allowed for two years tax
Total cash received
Cash received from sale of items seized from Chalkley Whitbread for debt to James Salmon
31
6
6
9
1
7
4
7
2
7
10
12
105
4
0
0
8
7
18
15
16
0
7
3
0
19
3
0
0
0
0
1
0
0
9
0
0
6
0
7
£ s d
Mrs Whitbread had to keep house
Paid John Swain for keeping possession for four days
Bought two bushels of bran
Paid for swearing the appraisers to the Constable (Samuel Peete, Ippollitts)
Bought two bushels of bran
Bought three bushels of cow dust
Bought 2 bushels of malt and 1½ lbs of hops
Paid William Barker for eighteen days work
Paid Thomas Merritt half a years wages
Paid Edward Andrews (boy) 15 days work
Paid William Chalkley for a horse to work four weeks
Mrs Whitbread had in cash
Paid John Swain (the blacksmith) his bill
Paid to the two appraisers: Robert Collison and William Wiltshire
Paid Thomas Cutler for keeping possession 5 weeks and two days a sack of flour of Mr Nash
Eight quarters of oats at 13d a quarter from Richard Foster
To pay to Edward Poulton and Harwell for selling the things
Total paid out
Money paid out from proceeds of Chalkley Whitbread’s assets which were seized
1
1
1
5
1
14
14 1
10
4
2
1
2
3
7
18
1
5
12
1
11
1
15
4
10
10
6
0
0
6
0
6
10
0
0
0
0
0
9
0
0
0
0
1
£ s d
½
½
The full picture does not emerge from these accounts. In round figures, Chalkley
had evidently debts of £298 (including £90 owed to his brother,James). Further costs
incurred relating to the bankruptcy proceedings were £11 making a total deficit of
£309. Only £106 was recovered by Mr Thomas from his portion of the the sale of Chalkley’s
assets. Presumably, the £6 owed to him was salvaged and James Whitbread paid himself
the £90 he was owed. The total incomings amounted to £202 -
One further matter of interest is that on 4 August 1761, Chalkley assigned to Mary Pilgrim a lease (which had three years remaining) of twenty acres of land in Ippollitts parish and which had been made to him by William and Mary Blundell and William and Ann Simms.
A few random thoughts
Chalkley came from a reasonably affluent family -
The mobility of farmers at Preston in the mid-
Local wages in 1761 were a shilling a day for men and four pence for boys.
The main crops of Preston Farm were wheat and turnips. A rotation system was used which included clover. Chalkley also had a flock of eighty sheep,
Postscript.
I have been informed that Thomas Roberts married Eleanor Whitbread 20 January 1774 at Kings Walden Church. Witnessed by Chalkley Whitbread.
According to family records they resided at Parsonage Farm. Eleanor was Chalkley’s niece, for whom he was holding a ring & clothes in trust.
Their son, Richard Roberts, and his brothers were to farm at various parts in the
area. George his brother farmed the Parsonage at the time of the fire in 1844.
Richard married Mary Ann Butterfield & raised a family of eight at Winch Hill. Their
daughter, Sarah, emigrated to New Zealand in 1859.