Gardener, Balls & Westhorp

[windy_miller]

Hello,

After another weekend searching archives a question relating to a Lavenham Mill & miller...

It seems a John Gardener married a Sarah Westhorp in 1805; within a year he was being pursued through the courts by Lydia Balls.  And by 1807 (Gardiner) he was selling up and leaving the area.

I cannot find the following (and any assistance would be great)...
Where was his mill in Lavenham?
Where did he go?
Did he continue milling?

Many thanks as always,
Windy

[windy_miller]

PS I forgot to say that Lydia Balls was pursuing Gardener through the courts as he had promised to marry her before he married Sarah Westhorp.

Windy

[hookleg]

John Gardener was a miller, maltster and brickmaker  of Lavenham and Lydia was from Barton Mills. She was awarded £300 as a result of his infidelity. Sarah Westhorp was born in Wethersfield in 1778. Marriage 22 Jul 1805.
The brick works was on the eastern side of Lavenham between Lower Road and Water Street. Opposite A1141, Brent Eleigh Rd. On the 1888 map there is a Mill House and probably the site of the mill by the z bend on Bear's Lane. Only half a mile away from the brick works.

[hookleg]

http://maps.nls.uk/geo/explore/sidebyside.cfm#zoom=16&lat=52.1059&lon=0.7984&layers=171&right=BingHyb

This link should show brickworks a top of the map and Mill at the bottom.

There was another possible windmill at the northern end of Lavenham half a mile to the north of the brickworks. Link below. Mill at north and brickworks at south end.

http://maps.nls.uk/geo/explore/sidebyside.cfm#zoom=16&lat=52.1122&lon=0.7983&layers=171&right=BingHyb

[hookleg]

Just a thought, Do you know for sure that his mill was in Lavenham. I know it may say miller of Lavenham and that there were 3 mills in about 1800, but if he owned the brickworks, as seems likely due to his adverts for selling bricks, might his milling been in an adjacent village such as Preston or Cockfield for example. He could have had his maltings in Lavenham and transported the barley.

[windy_miller]

Hi Hookleg,

Thanks for all the info and thoughts (I REALLY like the map package!!!).

I have found John Gardener again in nearby Long Melford where he died in 1830 (described as a miller).  I've not established that it is the same man yet, though he looks a good fit.

Gardener was not at either of the Preston mills.  Brian Flint in "Suffolk Windmills" has four mills listed in Lavenham & my records show 3 (or possibly 4).  The Baker family had the 2 tower mills at the north end of the village (plus an earlier post-mill that was pulled down to allow construction of one of the towers); an earlier mill than fell down in 1795 (Jonas' Mill).

The "Mill House" location you have shown me does not match any site listed by Brian Flint, nor match data I have.  Perhaps the mill was a steam or animal driven mill?  The mystery deepens.

I'll need to investigate further.

Cheers,
Windy

[windy_miller]

Hookleg,

Success!!!  I revisited a photo of map I acquired many years ago from Bishopsgate Institute (OS 1836?) and when I looked at Lavenham again I notice a windmill symbol at exactly the location you identified.

Thanks a lot!  It is just this sort of help that make Rootschat so invaluable to researcher!

Cheers,
Windy

I might need to pop over to see the folks at Mill House to see if they can confirm that Gardener was there?

[hookleg]

Just a point. I think the ghost of the mill is visible on the modern aerial map.

http://www.babergh.gov.uk/assets/Uploads-BDC/Economy/Heritage/Con-Area-Apps/Lavenham2010CAA.pdf   has some interesting info and maps but you may have it.

Have you visited SRO in Bury to look at the 1842 tithe map? Don't know if it will be helpful as it is after Gardener's time, but may have some detailabout the brickworks etc in any accompanying tithe record. I found the info from the tithe map and Tithe record invaluable for my village.

There may be an even older map of Lavenham as it was a place of considerable importance.

[windy_miller]

Hookleg,

Thanks again for the additional info.  I suspect that there have been a number of mills over the last 800 years in Lavenham.  Finding them is the tricky bit & yes I have looked at the Apportionment books of about 80% of Suffolk's villages, I'm now tying the mill related sites to the maps, I've only about 200 villages to go.

Windy