Old Ashburton

                                                       
                                         Cordwainers and Shoemakers

Although 'cordwainer' means a shoemaker, the title tends to be used by those wishing to show themselves as belonging to a certain class. Cordwainers always worked with new leather, as distinct from cobblers, who repaired and reused old.
http://www.thehcc.org/backgrnd.htm

1555-56 'Seats...William Dolbeare, shewmaker...'
Alison Hanham, Churchwardens Accounts of Ashburton, 1479-1580, Devon and Cornwall Record Society, The Devonshire Press Ltd., Torquay 1970, p132

The will of Thomas Reeve, cordwainer of Ashburton, was proved in the Prerogative Court of Canterbury in 1655
http://discovery.nationalarchives.gov.uk ref PROB 11/249/705

Richard Bickham, cordwainer of Ashburton, and his family appear in the settlement records of Modbury parish in 1675
http://discovery.nationalarchives.gov.uk Devon Archives and Local Studies Service, ref 269A/PO 10

http://discovery.nationalarchives.gov.uk Devon Archives and Local Studies Service, ref QS/128/3/6

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Roger Maunder, cordwainer, is one of the parties to a lease of Sparnham, Ashburton, in 1779, together with his wife Margery.
Ref Z10/2/1a-b, Devon Archives and Local Studies Service, http://discovery.nationalarchives.gov.uk

In 1792 Roger Maunder, cordwainer, North Street, was named in an insurance document.
http://discovery.nationalarchives.gov.uk London Metropolitan Archives ref MS 11936/391/605729


http://discovery.nationalarchives.gov.uk ref PROB 11/1664/1

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At the Bastardy examinations in 1796 Edward Langworthy, cordwainer of Ashburton, was named as the father of Mary Foster's male child.*
http://discovery.nationalarchives.gov.uk Devon Archives and Local Studies Services ref 122 A/PO 309
* Born 13th April 1795 ref 122 A/PO 326

Tho. Mugridge was a boot and shoemaker in the Universal British Directory of Trade, Commerce and Manufacture, Vol 2, late 1700s.

1807 Bankrupts. Wm Ireland Snr, Ashburton, cordwainer
Salisbury and Winchester Journal 23 November 1807 p4 col1

Taunton Courier and Western Advertiser 25 April 1816 p5 col1

George Haberfield was baptized in April 1816. His parents were Charles, a shoemaker, and Mary. Another son, Richard, was baptized in April 1821.
Parish records

In 1817 the overseers decided that several shoemakers, who had applied for relief, should be employed making shoes for the poor the ensuing month.

In April 1845 Mary, the daughter of Mr Abbotfield, cordwainer, Ashburton, married Mr Lavers at Dean Church
Western Times 26 April 1845 p3 col1

1848 William Mitchelmore, shoemaker, summoned William Brimmicombe of Torquay for a debt of £2 15s 11d. Mitchelmore had done work for both Brimmicombe and his daughter, and claimed that Brimmicombe had promised that he would pay the total amount. Brimmicombe's daughter had ordered boots, entered into the shoemaker's books as 'whole soled, bound and buttoned'. Brimmicombe denied promising to pay for these, saying that his daughter was 30 years old and he had nothing to do with her debts. It appears from the report that Brimmicombe only had to pay for the work done for himself.
Western Times 14 October 1848 p7 col4

William Brown, a shoemaker, was summoned by Mary Blackler for assault in 1856. The case was described as 'a paltry squabble between parties who live in the same house' - nevertheless the assault was proved. Brown was fined 10s 6d and 9s 6d costs.

                                             Samuel Henry Chalk

Above: Invoice from S H Chalk in the 1880s
From my own collection

Samuel Henry Chalk was baptised in April 1832, the son of Samuel Chalk, a carpenter, and Maria Brown Chalk.
Parish records

At the time of the 1861 census he is a master cordwainer, employing one boy. He and his widowed mother are the next entry on from Thomas Bowden, a journeyman cordwainer.

By 1871 Samuel, now married with a daughter, is employing two men and a boy. On the census of that year he calls himself a shoemaker.
1861 census RG09, piece no.1405, folio 49, p8
1871 census RG10, piece no.2080, folio 34, p19

Ten years later his nephew Albert Fletcher, aged 16, is a shoemaker in the same household.
1881 census RG11, piece no. 2161, folio 31, p17

Samuel's daughter Flora R is assisting him in 1891. She is a 'boot & shoe shop assistant' in 1901.
1891 census RG12, piece no. 1698, folio 50, p7
1901 census RG13, piece no. 2053, folio 9 p9

Although Samuel spent most of his life in Ashburton, towards the end of his life he appears to have gone to live with his daughter and her husband in Lewisham, London. This is where he is on the 1911 census, aged 78 and a widower. He died in the September quarter of that year.
1911 census RG14, piece no. 2815
https://www.freebmd.org.uk

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                                      People connected to shoemaking in the 1861 census

Six of the above, all women, were boot binders.
'The linen linings are then cut true to this pattern; the cashmere, prunella or cloth, cut to form the outside, and the morocco, patent leather or cordovan, added for the goloshing, and in this state it is given to the binder. Great care is now required and exacted in working up the boot-leg true to the pattern, and if it be lace, button or elastic, the binder has it is her power to spoil the whole affair - more, perhaps, depends on fitting the work than the workmanship, an union therefore, of skill in these two points  constitutes a good boot-binder.'
The Book of the Feet, A History of Boots and Shoes, J Sparkes Hall, London, p84

Solomon Weeks, a boot and shoe maker, died in February 1864. He was 79

  *                                                                The Giles family                                                              *
John Giles, aged roughly 55, and his wife Mary, are living in North Street in the 1841 census. John is a cordwainer.
1851 census HO107, piece no. 253 ,folio 12, p19

In the 1851 census 45 year old John Giles and his wife Elizabeth are living in East Street. With them is their son, Henry, aged 19, who like his father is a cordwainer. There are three daughters including Thomasin and Ann, and John's 70 year old father, also called John and also a cordwainer, is with them.
James Abbot, a 21 year old apprentice cordwainer, is also in the household.
1851 census HO107, piece no. 1871, folio 292, p12

John Harding married Anne Giles in the Newton Abbot district, in the June quarter of 1860.
By the time of the 1861 census they had a 3 month old son, John C. 21 year old John was a watchmaker; his wife was 22.
https://www.freebmd.org.uk
1861 census, piece no 1405, folio 33, p15, https://freecen2.freecen.org.uk

2 girls were born with the surname Harding and the mother's surname Giles after 1864: Elizabeth Ann in 1865, and Thirza in 1867. Both births were registered in the Newton Abbot district.
https://www.gro.gov.uk

Ann Harding, aged 30, died in 1868
https://www.freebmd.org.uk

A notice in 1869 called for all debtors and creditors to the estate of John Harding, jeweller, Ashburton, to come forward before the 30th April. They were to contact Messrs Giles and Son, Boot and Shoemakers, Ashburton.
Exeter and Plymouth Gazette Daily Telegrams 21 April 1869 p2 col3

After the death of John and Ann, their children seem to have been distributed amongst relatives:
In the 1871 census John Giles, a boot and shoemaker aged 65, is living in East Street with his wife Elizabeth.
With them is his niece Elizabeth Harding, aged 5, who was born in Ashburton.
1871 census RG10, piece no. 2080, folio 68, p10

Meanwhile Thirza Harding, aged 3, is living in the household of James Port and his wife Thomasin S. Her relationship to the head of the household is 'niece.'
James Port had married Thomesina Saunders Giles in the September quarter of 1860
1871 census RG10, piece no. 2080, folio 31, p14
https://www.freebmd.org.uk

In 1871 Henry Giles and his wife Frances Newham Giles were living in West Street. Henry was a master boot and shoemaker employing 4 men and 2 boys. In the household on census night were their 5 children, and nieces and nephews John E [C?] Harding, John Harding, William Harding, Francis N Rowland and Kate Rowland.
1871 census RG10, piece no. 2080, folio 69, p12

By 1881 Henry and Frances are living in East Street, probably in the property at the junction of East Street and North Street. Of the 5 children living with them Robert, aged 16, is a bootmaker; also in the household is Charles Harding, Henry's nephew, who is also a bootmaker.
1881 census RG11, piece no. 2161, folio 28, p 12

1898 'Re Henry Giles of Ashburton, bootmaker. In the matter of a deed of assignment for the benefit of creditors. A first and final dividend is about to be declared. Creditors who have not sent in their claims are required to send particulars thereof to the undersigned on or before the 10th day of December next...Tucker and Son, Ashburton, Devonshire, solicitors to the trustee.'
The London Gazette 29 November 1898 p7755

George Rowland Giles is a boot and shoemaker at the corner of North and East Street in the 1901 census. 31 years old and born in Ashburton, he is living there with his wife Elizabeth and three young children.
A postcard from the early 20th century (sold privately, not in my possession) shows a business with the name Giles, on the property that is now 2 North Street.
1901 census RG13, piece no. 2053, folio 35, p1

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 Edwin Weeks Johns, aged 32 and living in St Lawrence Lane, was a boot and shoe maker and a letter carrier in the 1871 census.