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Stoke Row Census Return 1871

Parish of Ipsden

Night of Sunday, 2 April 1871

A book on the history of this village, called Dipping into the Wells, is available; details here.

Notes on the Stoke Row 1871 Census

This Census was taken seven years after the sinking of the Maharajah's Well.  More people were now coming into the village and James Cox, the builder, (No 46) was already employing 4 men and 1 boy.  Jacob Clargo (No 29) was a Bricklayer and worked on the Cherry Tree extension and John Godwin was a Builder, employing 7 men and 2 boys, so there was a great deal of building work going on then.  A large number of the older houses in Stoke Row date from this period.

The notes say 'All that part of the Parish of Ipsden which is on the East side and Eastward of the road leading from Nuffield to Checkendon, including the Cottages adjoining the above Road on the West side thereof situated near Scot's, the whole of this district forms part of the Consolidated Chapelry of Stoke Row.'

The Enumerator was George Hope, who is listed at No 82 as Brickmaker and Farmer, employing (what seems to be) 29 men and 7 boys.  He also built and owned the Hope Beer House.

Two girls, (both named Mary!) are mentioned as being 'Lame', No 5, Mary Parsons, aged 9 and No 11, Mary Giles, aged 11.

No 7: John Ring, Police Constable - he may have lived in what is now known as 'Coggins Cottage' (named after the late police Sgt Coggins), but was built as a Police House, probably about 1870.

No 17: Thomas Munday is listed as a 'Fruit Dealer' - he probably sold cherries from the local orchards (including that adjacent to the new Maharajah's Well) down in Reading.

No 19: The youngest child, a boy, is named as 'Baby'; he was just 3 weeks old and obviously they had not yet chosen a name for him!

No 23: John Francis, Blacksmith - this was almost certainly what today is known as Cherry Tree Cottage in Newlands Lane, which was originally the local Forge.

No 25: Jacob Clargo, Bricklayer - this house is 'Meadow side', the right-hand of a pair of Victorian cottages, the first, on the right-hand side, in Busgrove Lane.

No 30: Rebecca Pearce and her daughter, Mary, were Lacemakers.  They had come from Great Missenden in Bucks, which was a lace-making centre.

No 33: The Hope, Beer House - John Godwin was a builder.  He and his wife, Susan, had five children.  None of them were listed as Scholars, was this an error?

No 38: The Cherry Tree (Public House) is listed as Cherry Tree Farm - there may have been a smallholding at the rear.

No 39: Charles Neate's wife, Ann was listed as a Shoe Binder, but this was scratched through, as wives were not normally shown as workers or she may have ceased to carry on this trade.

Nos 41-42: Between these two entries is one stating '4 houses building' - this may have been Ishree Terrace, the four terraced houses next to The Hope, then the Farmer and now Farmer's Cottage.

No 46: The famous James Cox, renowned as a builder, undertaker, major local employer for man years and father of eight children.  He was a pillar of the Stoke Row Independent Chapel.

No 47: Like No 39, Kate Francis's profession 'School Mistress, parish School' was struck through, probably for the same reason.  No birthplace is shown for her - perhaps the enumerator was unnerved by his previous mistake.

No 60: Dogmore End House (now Basset Manor) was, at this period, a private boarding school, with 10 boarders and the Morrises' two children.  For more on this subject see Stoke Row 'Schools' file.

No 63: George Holland, aged 29, a Woodman, is listed as suffering with Paralysis - perhaps he was injured whilst at work?

There were 82 properties (though the boundaries have since been changed): 183 males, 168 females = total pop: 351 (including 2 visitors).

Angela Spencer-Harper.  February, 2002.