My family were not great keepers of paperwork, in complete contrast
to my husband’s family who kept everything!
I have very few documents, just birth and marriage
certificates back to grandparents, a few bills for funerals, a couple of memorial
cards, some wedding invitations, and some baptism certificates. Meagre pickings for a family historian.
One day I will transcribe and catalogue all my husband’s
family archive, but for this week’s #52ancestors challenge I am going to
highlight the oldest document I have relating to my Nickels ancestors and write
a biography about the ancestor to whom it belonged, Alfred John Nickels, my
great-grandfather.
The document is a vellum1 Apprenticeship
Indenture from 1863.
Vellum is very durable and most of the legal documents prepared from pre 1066 still extant are written on vellum sheets, so too are illuminated devotional manuscripts, Acts of Parliament and such well known historical items such as Magna Carta and the Mappa Mundi.
This Indenture Witnesseth That
Alfred Nickles Son of Charles
Nickles of Orford in the County of
Suffolk Mariner (with the approbation and Consent
Of his said Father testified by
his executing these presents
Doth put himself Apprentice to Thomas
Fairhead of Orford aforesaid Plumber Glazier and Painter
To learn is Art and with him after
the Manner of an Apprentice to serve from the fourteenth day of April 1863
Now last past
Unto the full End and Term of
Seven Years from thence next following to be fully complete and ended During
Which Term the said Apprentice his
Master faithfully shall serve his secrets keep his awful command every
Where gladly do he shall do no
damage to his said Master nor see to be done to others but to his Power shall
tell
Or forthwith give warning to his
said Master of the same he shall not waste the Goods of his said Master
Nor lend them unlawfully to any he
shall not commit fornication nor contract Matrimony within the said Term
Shall not play at Cards or Dice
Tables or any other unlawful Games whereby his said Master may have any loss
With his own goods or others
during the said Term without Licence of his said Master he shall neither buy
Nor sell he shall not haunt
Taverns or Playhouses nor absent himself from his said Masters service day
Or night unlawfully But in all
things as a faithful Apprentice he shall behave himself towards his said Master
And all his during the said Term
And the said Thomas Fairhead in consideration of the Work and Labour of the said
Apprentice
Hereby agrees to pay or cause to
be paid to the said Apprentice three shillings per week for the first Year,
four shillings per Week for the second Year four shillings per Week for the
Third year, Five shillings per
Week for the fourth year, Six Shillings per Week for the fifth Year, seven
Shillings per Week for the sixth Year And eight shillings per
Week for the Seventh and last Year
of the Term.
H is said Apprentice in the Art of
the Plumber Glazier and Painter which he useth by the best means
That he can shall teach and
Instruct, or cause to be taught and instructed Finding unto the said Apprentice
sufficient [crossed out section]
Tools for his use and employment
[crossed our section] during the said Term . And the said
Charles Nickles Agrees for himself
His Executors or Administrators to find the Apprentice with sufficient Meat,
Drink, Cloathing
Washing, Mending, Making and
Lodging. Also a Surgeon where necessary
during the said Term.
And for the true performance of
all and every the said Covenants and Agreements either of the said Parties
bindeth himself unto the
Other by these presents In Witness
whereof the Parties above named to these Indentures interchangeably have put
their Hands and Seals
The Twenty Second day of June and
in the twenty seventh Year of the Reign of our Sovereign
Lady Queen Victoria by the Grace
of God of the United Kingdom of Great Britain and Ireland QUEEN Defender of the
Faith
And in the Year of Our Lord One
Thousand Eight Hundred and sixty three
The Amount of Money or the value of any other matter or thing
given or agreed to be Alfred Nickels
Given with the Apprentice by way of Premium must be truly
inserted in words at length
Otherwise the Indenture will be void and double such amount
or value forfeited
Signed Seal’d and delivered in the
presence of Charles Nickels
William Stephen Thomas Fairhead
The Indenture gives useful information about the parentage of Alfred Nickels, the duration of the Apprenticeship, and who his Master was. It also lists the things he could and couldn’t do whilst bound as an Apprentice and what wages he would receive each year.
Thomas Fairhead was also Alfred’s Uncle as well as his Master. Thomas’ wife was Charles Nickels sister Emma.
On the outside of the document is the following
declaration.
Date June 22 1863
===============
Indenture of
Apprenticeship
Of Alfred Nickels
With
Thomas Fairhead
For Seven Years
From 14th April 1863
======================
Expired 14th April 1870
This note gives us the main dates of the Apprenticeship,
started on 22 June 1863 and expired on 14 April 1870, a term of 7 years
learning the Art of a Plumber, Glazier and Painter.
For many years it was folded up in an old envelope but more
recently I have flattened it out so it is now just folded in half.
So, who was Alfred John Nickels.
Alfred John was the fourth son of Charles and Betsey Nickels
from Orford in Suffolk. He was baptised
at St Bartholomew’s Church, Orford on 23 June 1850.2 His father Charles was described as a
Mariner.
The first UK Census that Alfred appears in is that of 1851.
1851 Census - 23 Orford, Suffolk
Elizabeth Nickoles Head Mar 30 Dressmaker Suffolk, Orford
George “ Son 7 Scholar Suffolk,
Orford
William “ Son 6 Scholar Suffolk,
Orford
Edward “ Son 3 Suffolk,
Orford
Alfred “ Son 2 Suffolk,
Orford
Elizabeth Burwood Visitor 37 Washerwoman Suffolk, Orford
Orford at this point in time was a small town but it had
once been a considerable Port with the still impressive remains of the Castle - https://www.orford.org.uk/heritage/the-early-history/
The family are still living in Orford in 1861
1861 Census – 7 Raydon Road, Orford
Betsey Nickels Head Mar 41 Sailor’s Wife Suffolk, Orford
George Nickels Son Unm 17 Jn Painter Suffolk, Orford
William Nickels Son 15 Suffolk,
Orford
Edward Nickels Son 13 Suffolk,
Orford
Alfred Nickels Son 11 Suffolk,
Orford
Arthur Nickels Son 7 Suffolk,
Orford
Louisa Nickels Dau 5 Suffolk,
Orford
John Nickels Son 3 S uffolk,
Orford
The missing sibling, Elizabeth, is also in Orford on census
night with her grandmother, Betsey’s mother.
1861 Census – 12 Raydon Road, Orford
Elizabeth Hunt Head W 67 Formerly house servant Suffolk, Gedgrave
Elizabeth Nickels Visitor Unm 9 Scholar Suffolk, Orford
From the Apprenticeship Indenture we can presume that Alfred
remained living at home whilst undertaking his Apprenticeship from 1863 until 14
April 1870. Sometime between April 1870 and
the next Census Alfred seems to have left Orford and headed to London in search
of work. There would have been more
opportunity for a useful sort of chap like a trained Plumber, Glazier and
Painter with new developments being built in the Metropolis.
1871 Census – 9 Clarendon Street, Westminster – a house
of multiple occupation.
Thomas Shave Head Mar 40 Bricklayer Suffolk, Orford
Sarah Ann “ Wife Mar 39 Suffolk,
Baylham
Ellen “ Dau 14 Middx,
Pinner
Willm “ Son 12 Middx, Pinner
Geo “ Son 8 Middx,
Pinner
Mary “ Dau 4 Middx,
Pinner
Willm Nicholls Boarder 25 Carpenter Suffolk, Orford
Alfred Nicholls Boarder 21 Plumber Suffolk, Orford
Interestingly the man with whom Alfred and his elder brother
William were boarding was also a native of Orford. All three working age men have a skill which
could be used in the building trade, a bricklayer, a carpenter and a plumber.
In 1874 Alfred John got married. As has been noted in an earlier blog, his
wife Lizzie was a little older that Alfred and a widow at the time of their marriage.
St Stephen’s Church, Walworth, Surrey
May 3rd Alfred John Nickels 25 Bachelor Plumber Albany Road Charles Nickels Mariner
1874 Lizzie Mountjoy 30
Widow Albany Road James Dominy Deceased
Signed: Alfred John Nickels
Witnesses: James Sturney Harsom
Lizzie
Mountjoy Mary
Ann Harsom
Eldest daughter Bessie was born in September 1874 so looking
at the dates this was a ‘shotgun’ marriage.
By 1881 the family is resident in Walworth in Surrey which nowadays
is really South London.
1881 Census - 121 Hill Street, Newington St Mary,
Walworth
Alfred Nickels Head Mar 32 Plumber Suffolk, Orford
Lizzie Nickels Wife Mar 37 Dorset,
Poole
Bessie Dau 6 Scholar Surrey,
Newington
Kate Dau 5 Scholar Surrey,
Newington
Alfred Son 1 Surrey,
Newington
Mary Mountjoy Visitor Unm 18 Dressmaker Dorset, Poole
1891 Census – 121 Hill Street, Newington St Mary,
London
Alfred J. Nickels Head Mar 41 Plumber Suffolk
Elizabeth “ Wife Mar 46 Dorsetshire
Kate “ Dau 16 London,
Walworth
Alfred “ Son 11 London,
Walworth
Mary Mountjoy Visitor 25 London,
Walworth
Gertrude “ 5 London,
Walworth
You may wonder where Alfred John’s eldest daughter Bessie is
– I found her living with her grandparents, Charles and Betsey Nickels, at The
Green Man in Tunstall, Suffolk. Charles
and Betsey ran the ‘pub, with Bessie aged 16 being described as a Barmaid. There is a long line of Nickels relations who
were Publicans, but that is another story.
Alfred appears in the Electoral Register for 121 Hillingdon
Street, Newington, London in 1898 3, so we can be sure that he was
still living in London at this date.
By 1899 Alfred seems to have moved county again as he is
shown as the Licensee of The Willian Arms pub in Willian, Hertfordshire which
he continued to be until 1903, when this Pub was renamed The Fox. He also ran a courier service (horse and
cart) from Willian to Hitchin on market days.
Hertfordshire Names
Online via www.hertfordshire.gov.uk4
After 1903, with the building of the Garden City of
Letchworth, Alfred John and Elizabeth seem to have moved to Walsworth, near
Hitchin, Hertfordshire.
His daughter Bessie was married at All Saints, Willian in
1905, so there was still a connection with the parish of Willian.
In the 1911 Census Alfred and Elizabeth were living in Walsworth
1911 Census – 5 Walsworth Villas, Walsworth,
Hertfordshire
Alfred Nickels Head 61 Mar Plumber Weston & Co, Letchworth Orford, Suffolk
Lizzie Nickels Wife 66 Mar 36
3 2 1 Dorset, Poole
Dwelling House with 5 rooms Signed:
Alfred John Nickels
5
Walsworth Villas
Some of my elderly relations could remember Alfred John as a jovial chap but much afflicted with gout in his later years. Cousin May could remember visiting her grandparents in the house in Walsworth.
On one memorable occasion which stuck
in her memory she visited her granddad and asked him where her granny was. He said she was out but would be back soon. May duly revisited later on to find granddad still
sitting in his fireside chair with his gouty foot on a stool, but, there was now
a pool of water on the floor, but still no granny to be seen. May asked where she was and was told that granny was back but wasn’t feeling too well and had gone to bed. Truth be told that granny had been to the Sailor
Boy pub, just across the river in Walsworth and being ‘three sheets to the wind’
had fallen in the river on her way home.
Granddad obviously couldn’t tell May her granny was a little worse for
wear, but the story somehow filtered out.
Knowing our family, they probably had a good laugh at granny’s expense.
Alfred John died in April 1913 and is buried at the council
cemetery in Hitchin in an unmarked grave5.
But we do have a precious photograph of him, he’s the man in
the centre. We don’t know who the two
other men are, but I wonder if they could be Alfred’s two younger brothers, Arthur
and John?
NOTES
1. 1. 'Vellum is prepared animal skin or
"membrane", typically used as a material for writing on. Parchment is
another term for this material, and if vellum is distinguished from this, it is
by its being made from calfskin, as opposed to that from other animals, or
otherwise being of higher quality. Vellum is prepared for writing or
printing on, to produce single pages, scrolls, codices, or books. The word is
borrowed from Old French vélin 'calfskin', from the Latin word vitulinum 'made
from calf'.’ from https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Vellum
[last accessed 24/4/2022]
2.
1850 Jun 23 Alfred John s. of Charles and Betsey
Nickels baptised. Mariner. Orford Parish Register transcript.
3.
Class: RG11; Piece: 540; Folio: 108; Page: 18;
GSU roll: 1341122 via Ancestry.com [last accessed 24/4/2022]
4.
https://www.hertfordshire.gov.uk/services/libraries-and-archives/hertfordshire-archives-and-local-studies/hertfordshire-archives-and-local-studies.aspx
5.
Buried 3 May 1913 at Standhill Road Cemetery, Hitchin
- Grave No N.E. 379. Cemetery Registers transcript.
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