1839 Tithe notes (supplemented with reference to
census and other sources)
Upton Township included some of what we today call
Bache – it bordered onto the Townships of Bache; Moston; Caughall; Picton and Newton.
Upton contained 1106 acres of which over half was owned by Baronet Sir Philip
Egerton whose family line Brock/Egerton
had been ‘Lord of the Manor’ since Elizabethan times.
Other major
landowners were Land Agent Samuel Brittain; Lloyd &
Henry Branford ;
– who owned land bordering Newton and may have held Newton’s Manor; & Charles Potts of a
long-established Chester family. The Earl of Kilmorey
still held most of Upton and the 1839 Tithe Apportionment
recorded his dues from each land plot.
There were
two main clusters of dwellings
·
Upton
Heath - (the village pump area) –
cottages
·
Upton Village – (Church Ln / Upton Ln / Demage Ln junction near Golfclub)
mainly farm houses/yards but some cottages
and two
smaller clusters
·
(Bache – around the Egerton Arms)
·
(Liverpool Rd ribbon development near Frog Inn
and a few
individual or pair of dwellings.
Most
farmers were tenant farmers leasing fields which were not always adjacent and
changed hands according to demand. Hence ‘farms’ couldn’t be defined as
specific single entities. People recorded on the census as ‘farmers’ occupied
land from only two acres up to a few hundreds of acres. The fields used by a particular farmer were
not confided within a township boundary and so occupiers of fields within Upton may have been farmed by farmers
living in a neighbouring township or further afield.
Only 62
dwellings in all with no school or church although some public houses and some
provisions were sold from dwellings.
The asylum
had been recently built (the 1829 building) on a site of a few acres – known as
the asylum gardens (18) with a lodge and tree’d drive (17a) – all in the ownership of the County Magistrates.
There was
only one ‘gentleman’s estate’ – Charles Potts (established Chester family) owned the old ‘Upper Upton
Hall’ (site of the Golfclub) – possibly by
inheritance.
The Chester
& Birkenhead railway had ownership of the track cutting north to south
through the western part of the township splitting many fields into two.
The
apportionments were assigned to plots 1-154 and 156 - 185 although some of these
were further subdivided such as 76 and 76a. Where these plot numbers are given
in the text below they are shown in red (34).
NB – to aid
identification - the following text describes where the field plots were in
relation to today’s landmarks such as road names, golf course,
shops etc
The farms
- Tenant farmer - Thomas Seacome occupied Upton Hall (12)–
with most of the fields to the west of the railway line 1,2,8,9,10,11,13b,14,15,16,17,19,20,12a,13
but also much of the Bache pool area.26,26a , and part of the golf course (49,50).
- Tenant farmer - Thomas Ithell ( a father and son
both Thomas – aged 59 and 23 in 1839) occupied the farmhouse & yard (61) in Upton Village n. of Upton Lane (by sandpit) with fields 63,64,66,67,68 to the n. incl
the dale 65. They also had fields w. of
Grange farm 163,164,165 and 73,74,75,77 west/north of the dwellings 78 (known at
various times as Demage Hall & Demage farm). The 1851 census records the Ithells as farming 267 acres – at a quarter of Upton’s land area - theirs was the
largest ‘farm’ although they only owned some 4 acres in 1839.
- George Rolison
(he signed Rolison but many records show Rolinson) occupied the Egerton
Arms public house (22) and a few acres (21,23,24,24a) to the
north of Mill Ln from Liverpool Rd to the Mill Ln rise. He also had hay fields 37 & 38 (Wealstone Ln playing fields) and 41 part of the golfcourse.
(He is recorded in the 1851 census as a farmer of 40 acres but in Bagshaw’s directory – though as George Robinson - as
the victualler of the Egerton
arms. By the 1874 directory his son Charles Rolinson
is the victualler).
- Tenant farmer - Martha Denson
occupied the house – 88 (opposite the house
now named Upton Farm) and the walled garden 86. She is also recorded as
occupying fields 80 – 85, 89,90,90a,97
(much of central Upton bordered by Church Ln
/Heath Rd/ A41/Demage Ln). Fields 127-130 known as Marl Heyes.
Fields 140 – 145 much of the land between
Flag Ln Nth. and just beyond Caughall
Rd. By the 1851 census and Bagshaw’s 1850
directory she is not mentioned – presumably deceased. Beecroft ??? jo in 1874 upton green – William in 1851 with 140acres
- Tenant farmer - Samuel Thomason
occupied the moated Grange farm (171,172) and surrounding fields 166 – 185. He also had his own field 115 - site of Upton High school & playing fields. In the
1851 census he is recorded as aged 50 and unmarried; farming 165 acres.
- Tenant farmer - Joseph Jones occupied
a house(91) on the corner of Church Ln fields 119,120,123-126
(Westlea school area); 76&76a,146,154,156-158
(around Caughall Rd and going towards Duttons Ln) and 42/42a (SW part of the golf course); 93 (Known as Kiln croft – site of the Chuch Hall/Vicarage); 96,98,100,101
(Alpraham Cres/Cross
Green area)
- Tenant farmer Joseph Lloyd
occupied the farmhouse (31) by Upton Mill
and occupied the Mill orchard (32) and
nearby fields fields (33-35)
– these some fifteen years later becoming the new residential development
Upton Park.
- James Sadler – occupied the
Acres farmhouse/yard (148); and adjacent
fields 147,149-152 (Nth of Acres Ln).
Miller
- William Carter was the tenant
miller & farmer of
Upton Mill (30) occupying only two fields 36 (off Wealstone Ln just Nth of Newton); 160 (NthE of LongLn).
Nurseryman
- Francis Dickson – nurseryman
& seedman (bn. Edinburgh)
(with James Husband?) owned and occupied
Upton Villa (later known as Upton House & Stanton House) within the
large plot (29). He also owned and used
fields 27,27a,28
presumably as nursery ground (on the southern boundary with Newton and Bache).
Plot 28 also contained a building – this may have been the working centre
of the nursery business. He also rented field (40)
between the Mill and Upton Cross.
Gentleman’s estate (probably with a farm manager)
- Charles Potts (of a
long-established Chester family) owned the orchard
homestead (43) along with fields 44-48, 51,52 (part of
the estate – now golfcourse) and also an
isolated field 39 – between the mill and Wealstone Ln.
- Edward Evans owned and occupied
fields 107 – 112 the
area that latter became Plas Newton. Could this
have been purchased to build Plas Newton ?
The
following occupied fields within Upton Township but appear not to have lived in Upton. They possibly farmed from outside Upton but had some fields within Upton.
- Henry Hesketh
102,105,106 on the Newton boundary
- William Fox – 116-118,121,122 (Cornwall Rd area)
- John Dinwoodie
– fields 4-7 in the far NthWst
of Upton may have farmed in Moston – even from Moston Hall.
- Richard Massey had two fields between
rail & road 59,9a and the plantation
(58,58a) all just s. of the Moston boundary.
- James Price had a small field
(114) just Nth of Newton.
- Charles Billington
had two fields (103,104) just Nth of Newton
- Robert Rolison
had a meadow (3) on the western boundary – possibly with more land further
west beyond Upton.
- Isaac David Jacques occupied
field 153 on the border with Picton – possibly
with other fields in Picton.
The dwellings
Upton Heath
-
131 (Wheatsheaf area) – 6 cottages owned by Samuel Rushton
- George Blake
- John Smith
- Miss Smith
- Thomas Tasker (Ag Lab married aged 59 in 1851)
- George Taylor
- Charles Williamson ( Railway porter married aged 36 in 1851)
-
132 (Upton Ln / Heath Rd corner) – owned by
Lloyd Bamford
- Samuel
Blake
-
132a
(north side of Heath Rd heading up towards the
pump)
- Mary Darlington
-
133 (next
up) - owned by Lloyd Bamford
- Mary Farrington (Charwoman married aged 57 in 1851) who also occupied a thin
strip of land 161 alongside Brook Av.
-
134 (next
up) - owned by Lloyd Bamford
William Parsonage who also had a garden (89a) in the triangle opposite the
later site of the Wheatsheaf; and field (138) owned
by the Cathedral now partly the site of the A41 between the traffic lights and
Flag Ln.
-
135 (next
up – three dwellings) – owned by Sir Philip Egerton
- John Jones (also occupied the field 136 (site of Baptist church))
- John Reeves (also occupied the garden 137 (part of the wedge between Flag Ln Sth and Heath Rd)
- James Speed
-
139
five dwellings(site of Heath newsagents)- owned by Samuel Brittain
- Isaac Blackman
- Richard Challoner
- John Pulford
- George Reeves
- James Roberts
Upton Village
-
70 –
(Rose Cottage) Miss Whitelock – owned by Samuel Brittain
-
69 two dwellings next door – owned by Sir P Egerton
- John Hughes who also occupied small field 79 by the Demage
cottages
- Mary Hughes
-
86a –
two dwellings on Upton Ln by the farm with walled
garden
- Mary Brooks
- the Misses Hibbert
-
88 –
two cottages alongside Martha Denson’s farmhouse
- John Sauntley
- John Tasker
-
71 –
the house later known as Upton Farm with the small croft (72) at the back
- William Cardwell
The Bache (as part of Upton Township)
Two
dwellings (25) occupied by Mary Dutton & Samuel Massey with 25a a garden
adjacent to the Bache pool .
Upton Cross
John
Axe owned and occupied Sand Hole croft (95) and the house and cottage and
garden (95a). John Dane tenanted either
the house or the cottage.
Frog Hall area
Frog
Hall (54) owned by John Axe was
recorded as five dwellings
- Matthew Fayle
- Samuel Hignett
-
Joseph Johnson
-
Samuel Lloyd
-
Thomas Reeves
The
public house (55) owned by Lloyd Bramford was
occupied by Robert Jones.
The
cottage (53) also owned by Lloyd Bramford was occupied by Jane Jones
The smithy on the Liverpool Rd (56) and field opposite (10a)– owned by Sir P.Egerton
Occupied
by William Darlington (blacksmith) and family
Demage Cottages (78) Site of the future Demage Farm (and former
Damage Hall?)
Both
owned by George Blake (of Upton Heath?) these were occupied by Thomas Bennett
(an Ag. Lab.) and Mary Jones
. (surrounding
fields were occupied by other farmers.)
Two dwellings just Sth of the
plantation boundary with Moston
- Moses Lanceley & George Wynne