Apprentices

• BARBER, Frank David (b.1874, Ardleigh, Essex) - Builder's Apprentice, probably to his father.

• CARTER, Samuel (b.1776) aged 13 - Apprenticed to John NORMAN of Manningtree, fisherman - 1790

• DEEKS, Nathaniel, (b.1724) Apprenticed to William LUGAR -carpenter - 1768.

• FROSTICK, James (b.1792) Apprenticed to Ben Stacey shipowner of Wivenhoe and made several voyages including one to Quebec. 1810 Ran away from his apprentice on a voyage to Oporto. Alais James CLARKE.

• DOWNS, John (b.1873, Ardleigh, Essex) in 1891

• NORMAN, Ernest (b.1866, Colchester, Essex) apprentice Wheelwright

• SAUNDERS, James (b.1792) Apprenticed to Thomas COLE, mason of Harwich, fishingsmack owner in 1807.

• SIMMONS, William (b.1781) Apprenticed to Stephen BUCK, Carpenter 1796.

• STEADY, Edward (b.1786) Apprenticed to Robert Chidwick of Brightlingsea, oyster dredger - 1800.

• WHITE, Willie (b.1875, Ardleigh, Essex) Blacksmith apprentice.

Military 

• BISHOP, Frederick Cox (b.1814) Captain of 36th regiment , Madras native infantry.

• LAMBE, Mark (b. 1772) A Lieutenant

• LAMBE, Sandford (b. 1766) Captain in HM 15th Regiment of Light Dragoons

Militia

• ABREY, Samuel (b.1778) Chosen by lot to serve in the militia but provided a substitute, Jacob VINCE in 1803.

• CUTTLE, George was a private in the Sommerset Militia.

• FRANCIS, William (b. 1766) He would have been the leader pioneer if there was a French invasion.

• GOYMER, John John West Suffolk Militia 1797.

• VINCE, Jacob (b.1787) Served in the Militia as a substitute for Samuel Abrey 1803

• WENDEN, Nathaniel (b.1785) 1808 chosen to serve in the militia but provided a substitute.

• YOUNG. James (b.1781) served in the 3rd Regiment of Local Militia in 1811.

Royal Navy

• UPCHER/UPSHER, Augustus (b.1788) Purser in Royal Navy in 1814.

Sailors (unspecific)

• BRAYLEY, William (b.1781) Sailor 1796

• LEVERETT, Henry (b.1776) Sailor in 1796

• LEVERETT, Philip (b.1777) Sailor in 1796

• MILLS, Abraham (b. 1781) Sailor.

• SADLER, William (b.1777) Sailor in 1796

• SADLER, Henry (b. 2 May 1784, Ardleigh) In 1807 he was a seaman fishing in Greenland water. Not to be presses into the Navy. He was 5ft 2 in tall and with a scar on his under lip.

• UPCHER/UPSHER, Jacob (b.1772) Sailor. 1796

• WEBB, William (b.1775) Sailor 1796

Mills & Millers 

• Spring Valley Watermill

  • There were three windmills and two water mills in the early 19th century.

• Burnt Heath Mill (windmill)

  • In a rate list in June 1800 Manester Cooper was entered for his windmill. Thomas Harriss ran the mill for many years (1813 and 1830). This was replaced by John Mortimer in 1832 and given as owner-occupier in 1844. The windmill was advertised to be let in 1853. In 1868 the executors of the late J S Mortimer were disposing the freehold of the mill which at the time was occupied by a Joel Dorling. Dorling was a tenant paying £40. It was bought by Clarkson for £280. In 1876 a C W Dorlin was selling parts of the mill, though this did not indicate the demise of the mill. Edward Sebborn was the last miller at Burnt Heath recorded in 1874 and 1890. He moved to Greenstead mill in Colchester when the Burnt Heath mill was demolished in 1891. The mill house was not demolished and was inhabited by Amos Chaplin of Little Bromley, Essex in the 1891 census.

• John de Bois Mill (windmill)

  • In 1771 the windmill was for sale, it was a 'very good windmill' on the turnpike road with 2 acres of land. It was leased to a Daniel Holt, a miller, for £16 p.a. In 1771 a Benjamin Nice was occupying the mill. In 1794, Benjamin Nice of Ardleigh, a miller, insured his windmill with a roundhouse for £300 and from a deed in 1838 he was known to have had the John de Bois mill. Nice was evidently an overseer in the parish census but the mill had little involvement in a drive to provide cheap flour for the poor in the parish. In 1805 an old post mill was replaced by Thomas Thompson for a new one. William Mason owned the mill after Benjamin Nice in 1814. Some of his tenants were: Leonard Holding (1834), Zachariah Warren (1835) and Jonathan Wakeling (1844). Herbert Hicks occupied the mill in 1871. In 1891 William Clover was renting the mill for £30p.a. In that same year it was for sale again and was put up for auction. According to the back of a photograph of the mill, it was demolished in 1898.

• Webbs' Harwich road (windmill) 

  • This windmill seems to be built in 1791. Bezaliel Angier of Colchester insured a watermill in Ardleigh in March in 1791 for £400. It had a brick roundhouse. In 1794 and 1798 the mill was assessed for rates, Angier was still the owner. On 26th January 1802 Angier insured the windmill for £50 plus £40 on the gears and stocks. Around 1826 John Webb had the windmill. He continued to occupy the mill and was holding 'Windmill Piece' in 1844.

• Spring Valley (watermill)

  •  In the 1881 census Charles Clarke (b, 1848, Gt Bromley, Essex) was corn miller living with his wife Ellen CLARKE (b. abt 1851, Ipswich, Suffolk) and son un-named CLARKE , Son,aged 11 days in the 1881 census and born in Ardleigh). In the 1891 census William Clover was the miller , living with his family. [22] Still stands today, not in operation. It was featured in a film in the 1960s. 

• Webbs' Harwich Road (watermill)

  • Bezaliel Angier of Colchester insured a watermill in Ardleigh in March & November 1791. On 26th January 1802 Angier insured the watermill and its contents for £810. Around 1826 John Webb had the watermill.

• Phoenix Mill (steam)(corn) info on type of mill from John Mead

  • Warren Zacharh,1848. c1850, now for rent for commercial use. Fulling Mill (water)

• There were three Fulling Watermills (i.e. Fulling was a cloth making process) on the salary brook. James Nunn occupied the most southern one in 1771.

•  Notes: Thomas Harriss ran a watermill - Wallswood Mill

Elizabethan Lives -

• The following extracts are from "Elizabethan Life" by Dr Frederick George Emmison, who is a former County Archivist of the Essex Record Office.

• Elizabethan Life - 'Home, Work & Land'

  • Chapter 5 - Crafts and Trades, page 77 [17]  -

    • 'Bare references to....'my tenter yard' by John Steeven, a clothier of Ardleigh, who lives at the 'Cock' (1586)'.

  • Chapter 5 - Crafts and Trades, page 80  [17]

    • 'John Harte of Ardleigh specifies his tools, 'as knives, tubs and leather tawed as untawed which is made to sell as that which is not' (1570)'.

     

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