Introduction

The main focus of our research in this section of the RED pages is the Northamptonshire village of Cottingham and the entangled family lines of the generations of inhabitants who have lived in it. This article is a history of another of these families: the Cranes.

 The surname Crane (sometimes Crain or Crayne) is common enough in the archives of many parts of the country. The earliest entries in the Cottingham Parish records date from 1761 when Ann Crane married Thomas Ingram and from November 1786 when Richard Crane married Catharine Burbage. Although both were declared "of this parish" there are no baptismal records and nothing to confirm that Ann and Richard were related. Other records relating to known individuals suggest that the family originated in Medbourne over the border in Leicestershire.

Richard and Catharine were both in their mid 20s when they married. Over a fourteen year period, they had seven children: four sons (Thomas, born 1788; William, born 1795, John, born 1799 and Robert, who died within weeks in October 1800) and three daughters (Mary, who died in October 1790, a second Mary, born 1791 and Elizabeth, born 1802). Catharine died in 1802, presumably of complications following the birth of her third daughter. She was buried at St Mary Magdalene Church on October 1st 1802. Richard married again on October 29th 1804 to Elizabeth West, a spinster from the village. There were no further children. He lived another 13 years.

For the next century, descendents of Richard and Catharine Crane lived and worked in the village. They were of humble stock, employed as agricultural labourers when they could find the work; seeking other means of support and sustenance when they could not. In this first part, we will concentrate mainly on their oldest son, Thomas and his children. Through a combination of historical records and local newspaper reports we will endeavour to paint a picture of life in the nineteenth century English countryside through their eyes.

The Game and The Law (A, B)

Cottingham lies on the edge of the historic Rockingham Forest. In the years after the Norman Conquest of 1066 AD, King William I set aside the best areas of the English countryside as a preserve for his favourite sport of hunting. As well as woodland, these areas contained arable land and often many villages. The word 'forest' became applied to them, a legal term signifying that they were subject to stringent Forest Laws. These laws stipulated that no-one but the king and his party could hunt certain game. Bailiffs were appointed to prevent poaching. The laws also protected trees from illegal felling and decreed what the inhabitants could and could not do on the land.

Rockingham Forest, which lay between the rivers Welland and Nene and stretched north as far as Stamford and south to Northampton, became the largest of three royal forests in Northamptonshire. Most of the forest was, in fact, not woodland, although what was present provided important grazing for deer during the winter and cover in the breeding season. At its peak, the Forest contained over 50 villages. Villagers living under Forest Law were given somewhat more generous concessions than those living outside the forest. They could collect 'naturally fallen' timber for fuel and building material. Also, subject to seasonal constraints, they could keep horses and livestock within the forest. This often led to friction and jealousy between the inhabitants of the poorer non-Forest and the Forest villages.

Over the centuries, large tracts of woodland were cleared and sold off to the wealthy for their own use and to raise revenue for the Crown. By Tudor times, Forest Law was lax and often went unenforced. All this changed in 1671 with the passage of The Game Act which made hunting the exclusive privilege of the landed gentry. This act, although complex and at times confusing, defined the status in law of a variety of animals. By this time, much of the countryside had been "enclosed" into estates and fenced off into parkland. Animals such as deer and rabbits were no longer free to roam and were deemed the private property of the landowner. In law, the taking of these animals was classed as theft. Wild animals (such as hares, pheasant and partridge), on the other hand, could still roam free and were initially classed as "game". From the outset, punishment reflected these differences. Stealing a deer risked transportation whereas a game poacher could expect a fine of up to £ 5 or three months imprisonment. He could however also be charged with trespass.

Up to the beginning of the nineteenth century increasing numbers of game animals and birds became "enclosed" and the attitude to poachers and poaching became more harsh. It was made illegal to hunt after dark. There was a financial or land requirement to be able to hunt game. Those who qualified tended to hunt for sport. The unqualified peasantry, who often looked on game as a source of food, were banned from hunting or killing these animals or even possessing the means to do so (such as owning a gun or a dog). Game was also considered a delicacy to the increasing middle classes and an organised black market run by gangs of poachers developed to supply innkeepers and poultrymen.

The Game Act was repealed and replaced with a new Act in 1831 which did away with the land qualifications for hunting but replaced them with a licencing system and a regime of closed seasons when game could not be hunted. This Act, coupled with the Night Poaching Act of 1828, attempted to lay down the rights, rules, felonies and remedies of the countryside, but its interpretation and implementation remained complex (2).

Even after the passage of this new Act, the Game Laws continued to cause increasing social and logistical problems. In November 1844, the editor of the Leicester Chronicle noted that the number of convictions under the Game Laws were so numerous at the Kettering bench, especially of persons living near the preserves at Corby, Rockingham and the neighbourhood, that it was causing concern to the Secretary of State in London. Many prisoners were having to be let out of prison early. The newspaper also noted that farmers in these areas were finding the uncontrolled breeding of rabbits and game so destructive on wheat and grain that it was not uncommon to lose more than half of their annual crop.

The Grain and The Law (3)

The price and movement of wheat and cereals had been subject to control in England for centuries. The Corn Laws came to prominence in the late eighteenth and early nineteenth centuries with the rapid growth of the population, blockades enforced during the Napoleonic Wars and a series of failed harvests. Attempts to fix prices aimed to stabilise the income of farmers but was unpopular with the middle classes and led to food riots amongst the peasantry. The Corn Laws were repealed after the famine precipitated by the failure of the potato crop in Ireland.

Unpredicatability of employment on the land and increasing industrialisation in the towns and cities led to a continual drain of manpower from the villages in the countryside. The prospects of a new and better life abroad led many families to emigrate to America and to the burgeoning colonies in Australasia. Those that chose or had to stay faced an uncertain and often uncomfortable future.

The Family of Thomas Crane and Elizabeth Gibbins

Thomas Crane married Elizabeth Gibbins in 1808 at the Parish Church of St. Giles, Medbourne, although banns were also read in Cottingham. Soon afterwards, Thomas moved his family back to his native village. Later census records show that their eldest son, William, had been born to Elizabeth at least two years prior to the marriage. Over the course of the next twelve years, they were to have another five sons and a daughter. Thomas died in 1820, at the early age of 32 years leaving Elizabeth to bring up her young family on her own as best she could. By the time of the 1841 census she was living in George Street (now Corby Road) with her daughter and two youngest sons. She was in receipt of parochial relief. Elizabeth died at the end of January 1845, just days before an outbreak of scarlet fever claimed the lives of three of her young grandchildren.

All the offspring had brushes with the law as they moved into adult life, some more frequently than others. As a result, the family gained a notoriety around the village and in the neighbourhood. Whether this was caused through poverty and their social circumstances or whether it was through criminal intent is a matter of conjecture. William and Thomas fell foul of the Game Laws in 1839, receiving a two month sentence at the Northampton House of Correction. We have plotted Thomas and Amos' experiences through newspaper accounts at the time and present them on this page in the form of their imagined journals (5).

William, born about 1805, married local girl, Maria Vickers in 1829. Over a 20 year period they are known to have had ten children (including eight daughters). He spent his working life as an agricultural labourer and died in the 1870s. Second son, Charles, was born in 1813. He married Sarah Ann Whitehead in 1844. They had two sons; James and Eli.

Possibly at the behest of their mother, four of the Crane boys were baptised at St Mary Magdalene Church on the same day: Sunday, July 3rd 1831. John, the third son, had been born on February 12th 1815; Thomas, on March 10th 1817; Henry, on June 12th 1819 and Amos, on February 14th 1820. We are uncertain why a group ceremony was arranged at this time. It is possible that Elizabeth was aware of the impending changes to the management of the needy which would be brought about by the Poor Law Act of 1834 (6) and she wished to be recognised by the parish. It could explain her domestic situation in 1841 which was mentioned above.

Daughter, Mary Ann, born in 1813, went into domestic service in her teenage years. General Register Office and parish baptismal records show that she gave birth to at least five illegitimate children between 1834 and 1852. In July 1838, she was arrested and appeared before the Northampton Summer Assizes. She pleaded guilty to the charge of concealing the birth of another illegitimate child and casting its body into the river Welland. It was also suggested that previously she had attempted to procure an abortion but no proof was offered and she was acquitted on that charge. She was sentenced to one month's imprisonment with hard labour.

Later, she worked as a lace runner (typically a woman working from home, embroidering decorative threads onto an small item) for an agent from Nottingham. In 1841 she was taken to Court for failing to complete her contract. As a result of the ruling, it was determined that she was to receive three pence per one thousand items finished in future: a sum which was about half what she was originally paid.

In 1851, Henry and his sister were next door neighbours in George Street with Amos living just two doors away. This generation became friendly with another Cottingham family, the Sculthorpes, who lived a few doors up the hill on the corner of The Nook. Henry Crane married Mary Sculthorpe in April 1853. Mary Ann Crane married John, who had been her brother Amos' friend for several years, in December 1855. Their niece, Sarah, daughter of John Crane, had married John and Mary's brother, William Sculthorpe, in 1843.

Continued in column 2...

Thomas Crane - His Book

October 26 1840 Big day today. Me and Mary are getting wed. Not in the local church but over at Bringhurst. She was born here in Middleton, but Drayton's where she grew up on account of the Bamfords getting sent there when they fell on hard times and had to go on the parish. That's where her Mam and Dad are, and her sister Rebecca got married in Bringhurst this summer, so that's where she wants to get hitched. My brother, Henry, and sister, Mary Ann, will stand up for me, but most of my family won't be there because it's Monday and it'd bring hardship on them if they took the day off work. We'll go to Drayton in the evening, and our friends and family will get together for ale and a bit of a feast and that'll be that. The next thing will be the babe. That's due very soon now. Mary says if it's a boy, she wants to call it Henry, after her Dad.

June 6 1841 Just gave the census man our information and remembered I'd forgotten to put Henry's birth in this book. He's 6 months old now.

September 20 1841 Our Amos got wed to Sophia Bradshaw in Gretton today. I agreed to stand up for him, which meant taking time off work, right in the middle of harvest. But he is my brother, so I wasn't going to say no.

October 19 1841 Mary's beside herself. It was her Dad's trial yesterday. He got four months in prison for fraud. He'd gone into Goddard's shop in Harborough for some knives and forks and a copper pot and said they were for Bill Aldwinckle in Cottingham. Trouble was, he'd done the same thing a few years ago and Goddard's assistant remembered him doing it. They checked it out with Mr A. and then they tracked Mary's Dad down and got him to confess. The local copper Inchley locked him up till he could go up before the magistrate. We thought he might get off on account of him being 61, but no luck there, so he had to go to trial. Mr Rawlins tried to get him off, though. Said he was insane on account of his fits, but it didn't do any good. Mary keeps saying he's an old man and she's worried he'll die in prison.

August 7 1842 Had Caroline baptized today.

May 15 1844 Sad day yesterday. Mary's brother Bill and his wife Lucy have emigrated. The locals always said he'd end up getting transported to Australia on account of him being in and out of court and prison. Well, he didn't get transported, but he is going to Australia anyway. They set sail yesterday, him and Lucy and Lucy's sister and husband. Mary's worried something bad will happen on the journey out there and we'll never see him again. I keep telling her they'll probably be better off there than staying here. We've got another babe on the way.

September 12 1844 Had Amy baptized today

February 27 1845 What a terrible month it's been. First, Mam died. We weren't surprised. She's been really ill for a while now. Something to do with her woman's parts. Sister Mary Ann helped nurse her. Then, scarlet fever hit the village. Amos's babe, Elizabeth, went first. She was only 15 months. Then it was Mary Ann's little'un, Eli, and then it was our turn. Poor little Henry. He was only 4. As soon as he got the fever and we saw the rash, we feared the worst. Thankfully, Caroline and Amy were spared. So were the other kids in the family. You never know what's going to happen next.

December 15 1846 Betsy Ann just been born. Betsy after my Mam and Ann after Mary's.

September 1848 Haven't written in here for over 6 months on account of me being in prison. I got nabbed for poaching pheasants on Cardigan's land near Corby. I was up there with some others, who I won't name, and Cardigan's gamekeepers heard my gun go off. They came running, and one grabbed hold of my collar so I couldn't get away like the others. We got in a scuffle and I hit one of them on the head when I was trying to get free, and one of them hit me in the back with a billhook. I asked them to go easy on me, but they gave me 6 months prison with hard labour. I don't know how poor Mary managed without my wages for 6 months, what with 3 little'uns and Betsy still a babe.

May 27 1849 Mary gave birth to Alice today, nearly 9 months to the day after I got out of prison!

April 4 1852 Baptized William Henry today, but we'll call him Henry in memory of our first boy who passed away.

July 16 1854 Baptized the twins Charlotte Ann and Lois today. Mary delivered them a month ago. We were all a bit worried. One babe's hard but two! We were afraid there might be problems, but it looks like it'll be alright. Twins run on the Bamford side, so we weren't surprised it happened to us.

December 14 1855 Our sister Mary Ann's married at last! She married John Sculthorpe today. She's 42, but she said she was younger, and he's 28. She's had a tough life, really. She went into service when she was young and ended up getting pregnant with Tom. She's had 5 kids to look after without a husband to help out. Then there was all that trouble when she was caught throwing that babe into the river and accused of getting rid of another. People can be quick to look down their noses at women like our Mary Ann.

September 15 1856 Thomas Frederick born. Thomas after me and my Dad, Frederick after Mary's brother, who went off to fight in the Crimea. He was one of the lucky ones that made it back. Poor Mary. She worried about him all through the war, and now he's talking of joining Bill in Australia. I wager he'll do it, too. We'll call the new babe Fred.

September 26 1856 Landlord's putting our cottage and four others up for sale. The auction announcement was in the Mercury tonight. It says if anyone wants to look at the house, they have to apply to the tenants. I suppose that means we've got to put up with strangers tramping round the house. Mary won't like that, especially with us having a house full of kids and one of them only 2 weeks and bawling all the time. I hope the new owners don't turf us out or put the rent up. Brother Bill's in the same boat.

April 17 1859 Mary safely delivered of another girl, Naomi. I think this will be the last new mouth to feed. Mary's 44 now. We've been lucky to have her come through all these births in one piece. Lots of women in the village have died on account of having a babe.

May 1862 Our Caroline in court. Rebecca Rayson wanted to charge her a guinea for drapery goods bought 5 years ago. Caroline said her Mam had bought them, but the shopkeeper said she hadn't. Judge said Caroline could have pleaded infancy because she was only 14 at the time. It was left that Rebecca Rayson can sue me instead. The cheek!

November 2 1863 Good news. Our eldest got wed. Caroline married Tom Coles in Cottingham church. Bad news. John Chamberlain has charged me with not paying for 2 guineas worth of goods he says I got off him. I've been ordered to pay him off at 2 shillings a month. I don't know where I'll find that on a farm labourer's wage.

November 22 1862 Amos nearly got done a few weeks back. One of Palmer's gamekeepers claimed he was poaching near Carlton Wood. Said he heard a gun go off and went to investigate. Saw two men on the riding and one of them was Amos and he had a gun. Amos said he was nowhere near the wood that day and he had a witness who could prove it. Mary! She did a good job. Told the magistrate she saw Amos going into Hobbs's field near our house. When he came out he was with me and then we went to church together. Magistrate thought there was doubt, so he gave our Amos the benefit, and dismissed the case. Not saying anymore about that!

December 23 1864 Got my name in the Mercury again, but this time it wasn't me in trouble. Bill Oliver and Lew and Tom Bindley were charged with being drunk at Shaw's pub a fortnight ago. Bill and Lew didn't turn up so they just heard Tom's case. I was a witness on account of me drinking with him in Shaw's house that night. The copper, Deacon, said Tom assaulted him when he threw him out. I said Tom went out quietly and when they got outside Deacon hit him on the back of his head with his staff and you could see the wound. Deacon said he raised his staff in self-defence but he didn't hit Tom. Anyway, Tom got off with 2/6d fine. I think it was all down to what I said.

April 2 1871 Census time again. This time we're in Leicester, like lots of people who thought things would be better in a big town than in the country. Caroline's here with her family too. We're renting a small house on Gladstone Street. I'm working as a labourer. Bill, Lois, Charlotte and Fred are still at home. Bill's a labourer too. Lois is a hosiery hand (hosiery's big here in Leicester) and Charlotte makes cigars. Their wages help a lot. We've also got our grandson, Harry, living with us, but he's only 3, so Mary has to look after him.

May 4 1875 Dreadful news. The worst. We've just found out that 3 days ago brother Henry murdered a small child back in Cottingham. We all knew that Henry was going downhill, what with him and his wife splitting up and the filthy conditions he was living in, and we knew he had a reputation for being a bit odd, but we never expected anything like this. That poor child! And his poor mother who found him! I'm so choked I can't write anything more. It'll be in all the newspapers, anyhow.

April 3 1881 Well, we've been in Leicester over ten years now, so I reckon we made the right move coming to the town. We're still on Gladstone Street, but in a different house. Terraced. Two rooms up, two down. Yard out back. Same as the other one. All the houses round here are the same. We've got a lodger with us, so that helps pay the rent. We've got James with us too, our Amos' son, and grandchildren Julia and Harry. Bit tight, but what's new? Brother Bill's son, Tom, is lodging with our Caroline. Mary's hoping her sister Lois will settle down near us. She married John Hollowday when she was only 17 and he was 36. He's a railway contractor's timekeeper, so they've been all over the country. They're up in Bradford now. But he's 70, needs to put roots down, and there's rumblings they'll do that in Leicester. Mary would love it if they moved near us.

June 3 1887 Lois's hubby John died today. He'll be buried in the Leicester Cemetery. He and Lois moved into a house on Wheat Street a few years back, just round the corner from us, so we saw a lot of them. Well, death comes to us all in the end. Lois is talking of moving up north to live with her son. Mary's really upset about that. She'll badly miss her sister.

April 5 1891 Census again. Still in Leicester, but we've moved to Rolleston Street in Evington. Harry and Julia are still living with us. It's a big help to have them here now we're both in our 70s. Harry's a shoe rivetter. Shoemaking's a big trade here in Leicester. Julia's a dressmaker like Mary. It's a bit like old times really. David Peach and John Coles, both Cottingham lads, have their families living just down the street.

October 4 1893 Difficult day today. We buried Mary Ann up at Welford Road Cemetery. Same grave as we put our Caroline and her two kiddies in and the one I'll be in too, when my time comes. It feels strange, not having her here. Another few weeks and we'd have been wed 53 years.

June 21 1903 I'm in the poorhouse on Sparkenhoe St now. I had to move out of our Alice's house. I think it was getting too much for her to look after her grocer's shop and me in my old age. I'm 84, so I think my time is getting near. I'm quite comfortable in here. They did a lot to make these places a bit better, especially for us old'uns, but there's still the shame. I'd rather not be in here. But at least I know I've got a proper grave to go in with Mary and not a pauper's grave with strangers. I've asked the people here to give someone in the family this book, in case someone's interested in it in the future. This is the last time I will write in it.

Thomas Crane died a few days later and was buried June 27 1903 in Welford Road Cemetery in the same plot as his wife Mary, daughter Caroline Coles and grandchildren Lois and Fred Coles. One more person lies in the grave: John Daniel Thorpe Rowley, who was buried in 1855 aged 11 weeks. His relationship to the family is currently unknown.

Continued in column 3...

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The Journal of Amos Crane

September 20th 1841 Monday! Sophia and I got married. The Bradshaws come from Harringworth but she's been living on George Street, Cottingham with her mother for some time now. So had the day off to go over to Gretton and her church, St James the Great. Still, she's very sweet and only 16. Brother Thomas and my sister Mary Ann were witnesses.

November 13th 1844 Got in a spot of bother with the law today. John Sculthorpe and I were out with the gun looking for a couple of rabbits or a game bird or two. We were with Henry Ward, Henry West and Samuel Tilley Unfortunately Constable Essam came upon us and a bit of a fight broke out. I don't think he was badly hurt.

November 29th 1844 Up before their lordships at the Kettering Petty Sessions today. They charged John and me with trespassing with a gun in pursuit of game and violent assault of the Constable in execution of his duty. They fined me £ 7 10 shillings and 5 shillings costs. Couldn't pay, so got sent to Northampton County Gaol for two months instead.

February 19th 1845 What a dreadful month its been for the family and for the village. Mum died at the end of January. She'd been ill and in a lot of pain with some internal complaint for a while. A woman's trouble the doctor called it. Then the scarlet fever hit the village. We lost our little Elizabeth first. Then it was Mary Ann's young 'un, Eli and lastly, brother Thomas' son, Henry, died yesterday. When will it end?

November 12th 1845 Sophia went into labour today. She safely gave me a new son, a brother to William.

December 5th 1845 The family went to St Mary Magdalene Church today for the baptism of our new son. We named him Henry Alfred.

May 23rd 1847 I was out with the gun again today with brother John and our friend James Perkins. We were after game in the fields when we were pursued by Joseph Potter and his mate. Potter got hold of John, who fended him off with his fist. I hit him too although he had a stick in his hand which he was waving about and nearly hit me.

June 4th 1847 Back before the beak at the Kettering Petty Sessions today. That Potter had us charged with assault. Got fined another £ 1 and costs.

March 30th 1851 The census man came round today. It's a pity we couldn't have the whole family together for the count. Still, I guess we are lucky that Sophia's Mum and her husband - he's the blacksmith - are near enough to put a roof over the heads of our youngsters, William and Henry, for the time being.

January 20th 1852 Judgment day, again! Got caught poaching again at the back end of last year. This time no option. Given three months hard labour at the County Gaol for using a gun to kill game.

September 24th 1856 Up before Judge Collyer in the County Court. Arthur Stretton, the Carrier from Middleton, sued me for a debt of ten shillings!

October 6th 1858 Starting another stretch of two months hard for poaching last July. What's a man to do for food? The Court even noted I had a wife and seven children to feed. Didn't help.

May 26th 1860 Off to the House of Correction again today. Got three months hard labour after getting caught poaching at Carlton and then they added on a further fourteen days "for leaving his family chargeable to the Parish of Cottingham". I guess it goes with the territory - the stealing bit, but the second part's a bit rich punishing us poor for trying to make ends meet.

October 3rd 1861 Oh, my poor boy; my dear wife. They told us that they had found our son Henry dead by the side of the road this morning. I thought he was making something of himself and the future looked bright. He had been apprenticed to William Leach, the shoemaker, in Kettering for several months although he did come back home for a bit of a rest a couple of months ago.

October 5th 1861The inquest on Henry was held today in the village. It seems he went to the King's Head for a beer and a game of skittles on Wednesday night. One of his mates bought a bottle of gin which they all drank from. Henry left the pub at midnight and was found dead the next morning. Mr Greaves, the surgeon from Great Easton, said he had died of apoplexy brought on by excessive drinking.

April 23rd 1862 Life's very hard in the village at the moment. Haven't been able to find work and it's difficult even to get bread for the table. Got caught trespassing again at the beginning of the month. In Court today. Fair cop, so pleaded guilty. Six weeks' hard!!

November 19th 1862 A close shave! In Court again today charged with trespass in Carlton Wood on Sir John Palmer's estate on Sunday two weeks ago. I even got called an old offender and 'that well-known poacher'! Anyway his gamekeeper said he recognised me with a gun from a hundred yards away. Fortunately, Mary, brother Thomas' wife, was able to say that she saw me in the village at the time and that Tom and I went to church together that morning. The magistrates dismissed the charge.

November 26th 1864 Here we go again. Another three months hard labour at the County Gaol. Got caught for night poaching at Great Oakley this time.

May 1st 1875 Oh Henry, what have you done? My brother has been arrested for murdering our next door neighbour, Mrs Craxford's son, Thomas. As we all do, Henry has had his fair share of trouble in the past. He was separated from his family but I thought he had settled down when I found the empty cottage for him in Blind Lane. I thought he got on OK with the Craxfords as well because she used to do odd jobs around the house for him.

May 4th 1875 The inquest on that lad, Thomas Claypole was today. He was only six. Seems Henry slashed his throat with a knife. Henry was rambling in the Court saying that people had been trying to poison him. He's been sent for trial at Northampton.

Amos Crane moved his family the short distance from Corby Road to Blind Lane during the 1850s. In 1871, at the age of 51 years, his census return declared him to be a pauper. He died in the village at the beginning of 1879.

The troubles of Henry Crane

Henry Crane had a troubled life. He grew to adulthood a little above average height and slightly built. He was blind in his left eye. He lived with lace maker, Mary Sculthorpe, in the cottage in George Street for at least two years before he married her in April 1853. They had eleven recorded children, although two were born before their marriage. He started working as an agricultural labourer but later found employment with the landlord of the Spread Eagle Inn where he spent over five years.

His relationship with his wife had deteriorated during the late 1860s. In 1873, this became violent and he was sent to prison for six months on a charge of threatening her life. On his release, he was served with a restraining order and they had subsequently lived apart. He found accomodation in a thatched cottage in Blind Lane, next door to John and Sarah Ann Craxford. It was there that he killed Thomas Christopher Claypole, the son of Sarah Ann, on May 1st 1875. A full account of the murder with original witness statements and a transcript of a local newspaper article can be found at Death for Threeha'p'orth of Suckers.

He was sent for trial in Northampton but before this could take place he was declared insane and was committed to Broadmoor on the order of the Secretary of State. He was never released. He died there on March 29th 1885.

The story of the Crane family of Cottingham continues in Part 2: The Younger Generations - Those who left and those who stayed ...

Acknowledgements

We would like to thank Dr Peter Hill for his advice and critique on the Game Laws which form the background to this article. Peter has written many books of local and historical interest on Northamptonshire in general and the Rockingham Forest in particular. Other titles include "Corby & Rockingham Forest", "Folklore of Northamptonshire" and "A History of Death and Burial in Northamptonshire".

Peter is a director of Rockingham Forest Trust.

Further Reading

A. Hill, Dr. Peter: "Life Under Forest Law" in Secret Northamptonshire: Amberley Publishing plc; Stroud, England: (2009). ISBN 978 1 84868 7202
B. Munsche, P.B.: Gentlemen and Poachers: The English Game Laws 1671-1831: Cambridge University Press, New York USA (1981). ISBN 978 0 52123 2845

References

1. Family tree graphic: Freeware Graphics: Vintage Kin Design Studio, Australia
2. Game Laws in The 1911 Classic Encyclopedia
3. The Corn Laws: The Victorian Web
4. St Giles' Church, Medbourne: Photograph: © Stephen McKay, and licenced for reuse under this Creative Commons Licence
5. Thomas Crane's Book and Amos Crane's Journal: Reconstructed from extracts of Court reports and other items: Leicester Chronicle; Leicestershire Mercury; Northampton Mercury (1839-1875): The British Newspaper Archive; © The British Library Board.
6. 1834 Poor Law: The National Archives website
7. St Nicholas Church, Bringhurst: Photograph: © Mat Fascione, and licenced for reuse under this Creative Commons Licence
8. Sir Luke Fildes: "The Doctor": (1891) oil on canvas wikipedia. From the Wikimedia Commons Gallery.
9. Gladstone Street 18-72 in My Leicestershire History Photograph © Dennis Calow, and licenced for reuse under this Creative Commons Licence.
10. The workhouse in Leicester in Peter Higginbotham's web site The Workhouse
11. Frank Holl: "Death of Her First Born": (1876) oil on canvas wikigallery. Reproduction licenced by WikiGallery for non commercial use.
12. East Carlton Hall, Leicestershire: Photograph: © Tim Heaton, and licenced for reuse under this Creative Commons Licence

Page added: February 24th 2012

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