Information Sources
Public Records Office, Family Records Centre
| Cert.Type | Name(s) | Quarter | Volume | Page | District |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Birth | Herbert George TOWN | MAR 1871 | ? | ? | Hatfield |
| Marriage | William TOWN | DEC 1884 | 36 | 487 | Peterbor' |
| Death | Herbert George TOWN | JUN 1888 | ? | ? | Salford |
| Birth | Herbert Walter TOWN | DEC 1888 | ? | ? | Peterbor' |
| Birth | Thomas Reginald TOWN | SEPT 1901 | 9a | 264 | Huddersfield |
Parish and other Local Records
Details from the North Mymms Parish Register (located at Hertfordshire
County Hall) pertaining to Herbert George TOWN.
Index Book D/P69
| Film Box No. | Page No. | Entry No. | Date/Event | Address |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 87 | 86 | 682 | 4th August 1872/Baptism | Marshmoor Gate |
| 16 | 180 | 1433 | 28th May 1888/Burial | Marshmoor |
The death of Herbert Town reported in the North Mymms Parish Magazine, June 1888 edition. Hertfordshire Public Records Office reference D/P69/29/22
The Census of 1871
The Census of 1881
The Census of 1891
All above for Marshmoor in the District of Hatfield.
The following publications by Dr Peter Kingsford:-
"North Mymms People in Victorian Times"
"North Mymms Schools and Their Children
1700 to 1964"
Herby's death and the subsequent inquest are reported in The Salford And Pendleton Reporter, 2nd June 1888. The full report reads as follows: -
Walter Frank Town, 14, Lord Nelson-street,
Salford, railway porter, said the deceased was
his brother, who had lodged at 26, Mode Wheel-road,
and was a porter at Weaste Station. He had only
been employed on the railway a week. The last
time he saw the deceased alive was on Wednesday
night, and he then appeared to be well and hearty.
Isaac Daniels, the stationmaster at Weaste
Station, said the deceased should have been at
his work at 5 15 on Thursday morning. Witness
arrived at the station about five o'clock, but
he did not see Town there. A little before six
o'clock the pointsman drew witness's attention
to the deceased lying on the down fast platform.
He went to him and found he was dead. There was
a large wound on his head, from which the brains
were protruding; the skull was also fractured.
A train arrived in the station at 5 45 for
Eccles, which witness attended to. He thought
an excursion train to North Wales passed through
the station at the time the Eccles train was in.
There was no other engine which could have caused
the injuries to the deceased only the excursion
train. He did not see Town that morning alive.
He was very careful, and was not too venturesome.
He had left his breakfast in the porter's room,
near to wear he was found dead.
Joseph Crompton, residing at Barton, the pointsman
at Weaste Station, said he saw the deceased lying
on the platform at 5 45 on Thursday morning. He did
not see the accident.
A verdict of accidental death was returned.
The following extracts are from the school log books of The Boys' School, Welham Green. At the time of writing, (2001) these logs were in the care of the head teacher at St. Mary's JMI School, Dellsome Lane, North Mymms.
From the School Log Book Commencing 1868
Monday, 4th March 1872 (p153)
W. Towne admitted.
Monday, 24th April 1876 (p370)
Wm Moore, H.Towne and Thomas Atkins admitted. 65 present.
From the Log Book Commencing 3rd March 1879
Boys kept from school for acorning, bashing/beating for the shoot, minding birds for the game keeper.
Thursday, 16th December 1880 (p79)
Mr George H. Foster, 16 years Master of this school died this evening.
Geo. D. Freeman (St Mark's) takes over until a permanent master is engaged on January 7th 1881. On January 10th, Frederick John Carter takes charge of the school.
Wednesday, 3rd August, 1881 (p103)
Examined St II in Arithmatic on paper. Albert Towne, Honor, Pope,
Archer and Townsend did well.
Monday, 26th October, 1881 (p105)
Gave the 1st Class to write about the British Possessions in
Europe. Pratchett, Wilson and Towne wrote the best accounts.
Wednesday, 2nd November 1881 (p108)
Examined St. III on Long Division. Towne, Archer, Pollard and
Chalkley seem to have mastered it.
Wednesday, 15th November, 1881 (p110)
Examined St. III in Long Division and found A. Towne, Chalkley,
Archer, Pollard and Townsend could work sums in that exercise.
Tuesday, 17th January, 1882 (p114)
The Rev. G.S. Batty visited the school and gave away four
prizes of 5/- each to Albert Towne, Joseph Baldwin, Emmanuel
Chapman and Wm Pratchett. The last named being absent his
prize was reserved.
Monday, 29th January, 1882 (p115)
I examined St. III in Long Division, but found the working
incorrect. Towne and Farrer did the best.
Monday, 20th February, 1882 (p117)
Arthur Longstaff and Alfred Perry returned from a period
of illness and Albert Towne from a week's holiday.
Tuesday, 4th April, 1882 (p121)
Examined the first class in the conjugation of verbs.
R. Nash and H.Towne proved most satisfactory.
Tuesday, 11th April, 1882 (p121)
The school reassembled. Chalkley and Towne returned from
illness; Horace and Frank Titmuss came after an absence
entailed by their removing their abode to South Mymms.
Wednesday, 19th July, 1882 (p127)
Examined St. II & III in the month's Geography. Towne and
Hipgrave answered best. St. II require attention.
Friday, 4th August, 1882 (p129)
The Rev. G.S.Batty visited the school and gave a Scripture
lesson.
Found that Levi Hill, Honor, Speary and Sams still were
weak at Arithmatic. Towne did his work well.
Being the last afternoon, the boys were allowed ten
minutes play at 2.45.
The school closed for one month's holiday.
Wednesday, 29th November, 1882 (p139)
Nearly all the First Class were absent "Bashing", the
number present being only four.
Monday, 18th December, 1882 (p140)
Geo. Pollard, Alf.d Longstaffe, Herbert Towne, R. Pollard
went to Mr. Charter's to apply for Bashing employ. The
two former failed to present themselves in time to be
marked and the latter came in ten minutes after registers
were called.
Tuesday, 19th December, 1882 (p141)
Attendance today smaller owing to several boys being
absent bashing.
Found that the boys had behaved unkindly to the girls
after the Band of Hope Meeting last Friday.
Monday, 9th June, 1884 (p182)
The school reopened. Alick Hart is absent from illness.
Herbert Towne, the top boy, has gone to fill a place in
the gardens at Squire Church's.
Monday, 21st July, 1884 (p184)
Alf. Allen is reported to have gone to work - passed
St. II. Ernest Towne absent from an illness, in which
he lost the top of his finger.
October 1884 (p189)
Edward J. Knowles takes on the duties of master.
7th January, 1885 (p194)
School closed this afternoon to allow children to
attend the funeral of their late school-fellow Frank
Chalkley who died from Hydrophobia during the holidays.
1st October, 1885 (p214)
The following is the result of St IV work on Foolscap. (Arithmatic)
| W. Clark | attempted 10 sums | obtained 5 R |
| S. Chuck | 5 | 4 |
| E. Flint | 6 | 0 |
| W. Gray | 6 | 3 |
| A. Hart | 5 | 3 |
| J. Marsden | 11 | 9 |
| W. Pollard | 9 | 6 |
| A. Sams | 9 | 5 |
| E. Towne | 4 | 3 |
| A. Townsend | 6 | 3 |
| J. Moles | 11 | 9 |
October 26th, 1885 (p218)
Arranged boys into class & u es according to their
passing examination.
Class i will contain St iv upwards
Class ii will contain St ii & iii
Class iii will contain St I
This being the last year for P.T. [pupil-teacher] & Albert Towne the most likely boy to take his place, I have placed him as monitor during mornings. He attends school afternoons. Shall mark him as a half-timer. His father was desirous for his becoming a teacher, and is willing for him to act as monitor for training. Have agreed to remit his school fee.
December 14th, 1885 (p223)
Ernest Towne & John Marsden are progressing in Fractions
much better than the rest of St v.
September 24th, 1886 (p243)
William Thomas Lock takes on the duties of master.
November 12th, 1886 (p252)
Albert Towne left last Monday, having obtained a situation.
Ex. P.T. Pratchett had a leave of absence on Tuesday to
go after an appointment at Barnet. Returned on Wednesday
saying he was successful and had to go away at once. So
he has finally left. This causes some modification of the
Time Table.
Feb 18th. Demolition of the old school house begins.
June 21st, 1887 (p272)
Holiday on account of Queen's Jubilee. Children taken to
church, after which they were regaled with a bun and an
orange each on the vicarage lawn. Each child was also
presented with a medal commemorating the event.
Thursday, 24th May, 1888 - Herbert George Town killed by a railway locomotive, Weaste Station, Salford, aged 17 years and 3 months.
July 9th, 1888 (p301)
Eleven children sent up from the Infant School
[one of them is Percy Joseph Towne]
this morning.
Examined them to see if any were fit for St II but
found none; so kept all in St I.
NB Percy joins the
school just a month after Herby's death.
May 20th, 1889, (p331). Benjamin Mallett takes charge as Master, a position he is to hold for thirty-three years.
October 1st, 1889 (p345)
A tame jack-daw belonging to Ernest Goult came into
school this afternoon. Impossible to keep it out
without closing every window. Have advised the boy
to shut it up in future.
October 16th, 1889 (p347)
Stan I Reading as on Oct. 3rd
Another visit from the jackdaw.
May 11th, 1890 (p373)
George Bean returned this morning.
Rev G. Staunton Batty gave the school a lesson on
the Parable of the Ten Virgins.
He also distributed Illuminated Texts to those boys
who have been most regular at school. Two boys,
Algernon & Percy Bates, have not been absent once
during the school year. The next in order are
George C Charter, Charles Flint, Percy Towne, Herbert
Juby and Richard Honour; each of these having made
over 400 attendances out of 422; and there were 15
other boys who had made over 350.
The most irregular boys are those in the Upper
Standards who often work for farmers.
Today Algernon & Percy Bates leave the school as
they are removing to Lincoln. They have been not
only the most regular, but are also the most forward
in the work of their respective Standards.
October 24th, 1890 (p388)
Examined upper Stan in Arith. And found the rules well
mastered but many failures through inaccuracy. Percy
Towne has become very careless in this respect.
In the afternoon today Poetry is being taken instead
of Agriculture, the Poetry lesson being devoted to an
exam this morning.
Punished R. Honour & Geo. Page for talking when I was
out of the room.
November 6th, 1890 (p390)
The Organising Master visited and examined the boys.
The exam: lasted from 2pm till about 4pm.
November 7th, 1890 (p390)
I told George Sheldrake, Percy Town, Charles Denmark,
J. Gray and G. Page that, as a reward for having done
well yesterday they should be places in a higher standard.
November 17th, 1890 (p392)
Commenced Reduction in St IV - J. Gray, C. Denmark,
G. Sheldrake & P. Town are now in this Stan "on Probation"
until Christmas.
July 15th, 1891 (p426)
The Vicar distributed illuminated texts to those boys who
had been most regular
a) for the past quarter
b) for the year ending May 31: 1891
The following boys received a framed text each, for a
year's regularity:-
Bertie Groom, Reuben Gray, Wm. Juby, Percy Town,
Fred Mayes, Geo. Charter and Geo. Sheldrake.
April 25th, 1892 (p453)
41 present. Admitted John Randall a boy who is paralysed
and has lost the use of his limbs. He has never been to
school and is unable to do any work. I have places him
with a few other boys in the lowest class (St. 0).
May 9th, 1892 (p454)
Sent notices to the 6 boys who are absent, and reported
Mr Parsons (farmer) for employing Percy Town.
May 10th, 1892 (p454)
Town turned up this morning.
February 20th, 1893 (p485)
42 out of 46 present. Ernest Goult (Monitor) is absent,
unwell. Percy Town is teaching in his place.
March 13th, 1893 (p487)
The Monitor was absent today, and I set Percy Town to
hear the 3rd Standard read. As I found Town acting
dishonestly I sent him back to his class and put
Wm. Nash in his place.
March 24th, 1893 (p489)
P. Town and W. Nash put some seeds in their beds in
the garden today.
May 29th, 1893 (p496)
I am giving special attention to St I work this week.
Percy Town (St VI) has been helping me today in calling
out Dictation, and similar work.
May 30th, 1893 (p496)
Town is still helping (in Goult's absence).
June 5th, 1893 (p497)
39 present out of 44. Went through the words of the
Songs again.
Recapitulated Geography and Agriculture of Upper
Standards.
Monitor Goult is still absent, owing to the Measles.
Percy Town (St. VI) is taking his place.
From the Log Book Commencing June 7th, 1893
June 12th, 1893 (p1)
Monitor Goult still absent on account of illness:
his place is being supplied by Percy Town (St. VI).
July 19th, 1893 (p8)
Percy Town returned this afternoon after several
week's absence.
Learnt another school-song, - "Land of our Fathers".
July 28th, 1893 (p10)
I punished Arthur Currell, Arthur Hipgrave, and
Percy Town for throwing stones in the playground.
September 7th, 1893 (p12)
The photographer referred to on p10 came this morning
at 9.30, and photographed the boys at 9.45: 39 boys present.
October 5th, 1893 (p16)
Percy Town & G. Moon (St VII) are working at Algebra
in the Arith. Lesson, and will do so every other day.
November 27th, 1893 (p23)
Percy Town, (St VII), who has been absent several weeks
on account of scarlet fever being in his house, returned
this morning. I gave him and Geo. Moon a paper in Arithmatic:
Moon got 19 sums right out of 22, Town 2 right.
Many thanks to each of the following people who all supplied at least one piece of the puzzle or pointed me in the right direction:-
Derek Antrobus; helped with Salford history.
Marian Benton of North Mymms Local History Society.
David Brewer of 'Brookmans'; see LINKS page.
Ken Craven, LifeTimes Research Officer.
Mr P. Edwards, head teacher of St Mary's JMI School for use of the Boys'School Log Books.
Mike Fowler of The Guardian Newspaper.
Mr B.Jackson, County Archivist, Lancashire Records Office.
Ron Kingdon, for historic photos of Marshmoor.
Dr Peter Kingsford for alerting me to the existence of the School Log books and correctly suggesting their present (2001) location.
Mr H.J.Shadbolt for kindly loaning me the original photograph of the school boys - see School Logs section above.
Nigel Stalley for help with scanning graphics.
Thanks also to Paul McFedries for his book "The Complete
Idiot's Guide to Creating a Web Page".