A History of Preston
in Hertfordshire
Link to Currell’s family tree.
Link to discussion of the Currells in the parishes around Hitchin: Norton, Baldock, Aston, Willian and Graveley.
Robert was apparently the only son of Robert and Mary Currall (sic). He was baptized two miles away from Willian in Graveley, Herts on 3 July 1762.
He met Martha Dearman who was baptized in the city of Hertford on 29 March 1769.
The couple married at All Saints Church Hertford on 14 November 1784.
Back at Hill End, Robert and Martha had a least nine children, six boys and three
girls (see link below tofamily tree). They were all given biblical names -
non-
Despite their taste for Old Testament names, Robert and Martha were not conscientious about baptizing their children. Joseph, Sarah and Samuel were baptized together on 10 July 1808. The clergyman (with the sort of aside which warms the hearts of family researchers) recorded the extra information that they were aged 8, 6
and 4 years respectively.
Robert died in March, 1832 aged 74. Nine years later, in 1841, Martha was surviving on charity and parish aid
and was living at the Biggin Charity House, Biggin Lane, Hitchin -
Robert (1762-
Robert and Martha lived in the vicinity of the hamlet of Preston, Herts. An unofficial
census of Preston in 1821 showed Robert Currall, an agricultural labourer, living
at Jack’s Hill, Hill End -
It seems likely that Robert was living in Hill End as early as 1781 because the Hertfordshire
Militia List (Link ML) shows a Robert Currell as living in Langley from 1781-
Robert and Martha’s daughter, Mary Currell (baptized 4 June 1797) was named in a document in St Pauls Walden’s parish chest. She was the subject of a Settlement Order. (See below for more information concerning Settlement Orders.) On 20 August 1819 the overseers of the parish acknowledged that she, ‘the single woman and the child of which she is now pregnant’ were legally settled in their parish. Her son, William was duly baptized there on 26 March 1820.
Mary Currell (bap. 1797) Settlement Order
‘The poor are always with us’,. From the 16th to the 20th century each parish was responsible for financially helping the ‘deserving poor’ who lived (or were ‘settled’) within its boundaries.
People were considered to be ‘settled’ in a parish if they were born to ‘settled’ parents there, or if a woman married a ‘settled’ man, or if a man was hired for a full year in the parish.
Poor relief funds were raised by a local rate on owners of property. Anyone who
moved into the parish was a potential drain on its relief fund -
as Mary Currell, above) with all of its implications for aid.
The Justices of the Peace in the parish would quickly investigate newcomers to decide who would foot the bill if they fell ill or destitute. This was called a Settlement Examination.
If it was deemed likely that the in-
The Settlement Examination and Removal Order documents were kept in the Parish Chest for future reference. ‘In Hertfordshire the survival of examinations is comparatively rare’, but the record of Joseph’s examination has survived and is a ‘mine of genealogical information’:
‘Six years ago next spring I let myself to Mr. George Roberts at Kings Walden Lodge ’til the Michaelmas (29 September, when half year rents were due) and I served him ‘til that time.
At the Michaelmas, I let myself to him for another year at five shillings a week
and five pounds wages as shepherd. I stayed in my service the whole year and received
my wages -
I am married -
We are living in the parish of Hitchin and are chargeable to it.
The mark of X Joseph Currell’.
Joseph (1800-
Like many of the Currells, having newly-
Joseph set a trend for other Currells by marrying a Fairey -
Susan on 21 May 1831 at Hitchin.
Joseph Currells’s settlement certificate
The Justices of the parish of Hitchin were attempting to ‘remove’ the Currells to Kings Walden, parish but Joseph’s case was that he had been hired in the parish of Hitchin for a year and more at Kings Walden Lodge which was within the Hitchin parish boundary.
The churchwardens and overseers of the poor in Kings Walden appealed against the order on 28 March 1833 and the case was set for the Hertford Quarter Sessions on the 7 April. The decision of the court is not on
record, but two years later the Currells were living in Preston which is mainly located in the parish of Hitchin. Joseph was still a shepherd.
After Thomas’ birth in 1831, Joseph and Susan had children at regular intervals -
Joseph and his children, even after they married, lived in Preston and Kings Walden for all of their lives. The women were all straw plaiters.
Joseph died on 10 November 1863 in Preston of “old age”. The informant was Catherine Winch.
Susan Currell – midwife and nurse
After her husband’s death, the censuses of 1871 to 1891 indicate that Susan served
the community as a midwife. She was living at Little Almshoe with her daughters Catharine
and Lucy and had her grandchildren, William Currell and Ellen Shambrook for company
in 1871 when she described herself as a ‘midwife’. Then, in 1881, she was at the
Holly Bush Hall public house at Kings Walden. She was said to be a ‘monthly nurse’
. She attended mothers after the birth of a child. She was aged seventy-
Maybe I am being unfair to Susan by noting these observations. She was clearly providing a needed service. I wonder how many of my relatives she brought into the world!
In 1891, Susan had retired as a midwife and was living with her daughter, Catharine and her husband George Shambrook at 9 In Row, Hitchin.
Susan died in 1892, aged 90.