jonathan edser

Subject :            Jonathan Edser (b 1814 – d 1882)

Researcher :      Jean Libaert

Bachelor life for a Shere born and bred labourer

Jonathan Edser lived in the Shere district all his life.  He remained unmarried, working as an agricultural labourer before becoming a hoop shaver and lime burner.  His final years were spent in the Guildford Union Workhouse, passing away there from heart disease.

Jonathan was born in Shere in about 1814 and baptised at the village’s St James’ Church on 14th August that year, the fourth of eight children for James and Charlotte Edser née Longhurst 1-11.

His parents had moved the short distance from Abinger to Shere after the birth of their first child. All their other children including Jonathan were baptised in Shere, so it seems that the Edser family were settled in the area. 

In 1841, 26-year-old Jonathan, his parents, and younger siblings Harriett and James were living at ‘Fullverns’, now known as Fulvens Farm located between Sutton Abinger and Abinger Hammer. Jonathan and his father were both labourers, presumably on the farm 12.

The 1851 Census showed Jonathan to be in Gomshall, lodging with agricultural labourer James Puttock and family 13.  Jonathan, 36 and unmarried, was a ‘day labourer ag’, meaning that he was only being employed on a day-by-day basis, a somewhat uncertain way of earning a living.

It is not known if Jonathan did experience difficulty in finding work at this time, but by 1861, he appeared to be regularly employed again as an agricultural labourer 14. He had moved about seven miles (10km) north-east to Great Bookham, lodging at Hill House with a fellow agricultural labourer and family.  

Bachelor Jonathan had returned to Gomshall by 1871, living next to the flour mill. Now in his late 50s, he had two new occupations – ‘hoop shaver’ and ‘lime burner’ 15, 16.  The first job involved making metal hoops for barrels and casks, possibly at the nearby Gomshall brewery 17.  Jonathan’s father James had also been a lime burner in later life, which involved producing quicklime in kilns by heating limestone or chalk for use in agriculture and making mortar and plaster 18.  This was a dangerous and demanding job – the temperatures required for the process were very high and the fumes from the burning were toxic 19.  The kilns were generally situated away from villages, one of the nearest to Gomshall in 1871 being on Hackhurst Downs, about a mile (2km) away 20.          

There are no records available to show when Jonathan became unable to support himself, but by 1881 he was an inmate of the Guildford Union Workhouse, listed on the Census as a 68-year-old agricultural labourer 21.  Although his entry said he was widowed, no trace has been found of a marriage.

Jonathan passed away in the Workhouse in February the following year, aged 69 22.  He had been suffering from heart disease for three years.  His funeral was held two days later at Shere’s St James’ Church, where he had been baptised back in 1814 23.

 

 

November 2022, updated August 2025
Edited by Mike Brock 

Spike Lives is a Heritage project that chronicles the lives of inmates, staff and the Board of Guardians of the Guildford Union Workhouse at the time of the 1881 Census.  The Spike Heritage Museum in Guildford offers guided tours which present a unique opportunity to discover what life was like in the Casual/Vagrant ward of a Workhouse. More information can be found here

References

Note: the source is Ancestry.co.uk unless otherwise specified, names are as spelled in original documents.

  1. James Edser & Charlotte Longhurst 21 Nov 1807 Marriage Surrey History Centre, Woking; Surrey Church of England Parish Registers; Abinger, St James; Ref Ab/2/1
  2. James Edser 28 Nov 1779 Baptism Surrey History Centre, Woking; Surrey Church of England Parish Registers; Abinger, St James; Ref Ab/1/1
    James Edser 15 Jan 1859 Burial Surrey History Centre, Woking; Surrey Church of England Parish Registers; Abinger, St James; Ref Ab/5/1
  3. Charlotte Longhurst 29 Oct 1780 Baptism Surrey History Centre, Woking; Surrey Church of England Parish Registers; Okewood, St John the Baptist; Ref OK/1/1
    Charlotte Edser 2 Jul 1842 Burial Surrey History Centre, Woking; Surrey Church of England Parish Registers; Shere, St James; Ref SHER/5/1
  4. Mary Edser 24 Apr 1808 Baptism Surrey History Centre, Woking; Surrey Church of England Parish Registers; Abinger, St James; Ref Ab/1/2
  5. Hannah Edser 1 Apr 1810 Baptism Surrey History Centre, Woking; Surrey Church of England Parish Registers; Shere, St James; Ref SHER/1/2
  6. William Edser 12 Jan 1812 Baptism Surrey History Centre, Woking; Surrey Church of England Parish Registers; Shere, St James; Ref SHER/1/2
  7. Jonathan Edser 14 Aug 1814 Baptism Surrey History Centre, Woking; Surrey Church of England Parish Registers; Shere, St James; Ref SHER/4/1
  8. Caroline Edser 7 Apr 1817 Baptism Surrey History Centre, Woking; Surrey Church of England Parish Registers; Shere, St James; Ref SHER/4/1
  9. Harriett Edser 19 Sep 1819 Baptism Surrey History Centre, Woking; Surrey Church of England Parish Registers; Shere, St James; Ref SHER/4/1
  10. James Edser 26 Aug 1821 Baptism Surrey History Centre, Woking; Surrey Church of England Parish Registers; Shere, St James; Ref SHER/4/1
  11. Eliza Edser 8 Jan 1826 Baptism Surrey History Centre, Woking; Surrey Church of England Parish Registers; Shere, St James; Ref SHER/4/1
  12. James, Jonathan, Charlotte, Harriet, James Edser 1841 Census for Fullverns, Gomshall, Shere, Guildford, Surrey; class HO107; piece 1045; enumeration district 7; folio 18; page 30
  13. James, Maria, George Puttock; Jonathan Edser 1851 Census for Gomshall, Shere, Guildford, Surrey; class HO107; piece 1594; enumeration district 6a; folio 323; page 10
  14. Absolam, Ann, Absolam, Edmund, John Cooper; Jonathen Edsor 1861 Census for Hill House, Great Bookham, Epsom, Surrey; class RG9; piece 420; folio 138; page 18
  15. Jonathen Edser (lodger) 1871 Census for Gomshall, Guildford, Surrey; class RG10; piece 810; folio 57; page 8
  16. Hoop Shaver, Lime Burner Dictionary of old occupations FamilyResearcher.co.uk
  17. The Black Horse and the Gomshall Brewery (1817-1926) Reffell Family History reffell.org.uk
  18. James, Caroline, Jonathan, Ann, Elizabeth Motte; James Edser (father in law) 1851 Census for ‘Felda’, Shere, Guildford, Surrey; class HO107; piece 1594; enumeration district 6a; folio 334; page 33
  19. Lime Burner Worst Jobs In History co.uk
    Limeburner Wiktionary.org
  20. Gomshall, Shere Map Ordnance Survey Surrey Sheet XXXII; Surveyed 1871, published 1873 National Library of Scotland nls.uk
  21. Jonathen Edser 1881 Census for Guildford Union Workhouse, Stoke Next Guildford, Surrey; class RG11; piece 778; folio 93; page 7
  22. Jonathan Edser 22 Feb 1882 England & Wales Civil Registration Death Index; Guildford, Surrey; volume 2A; page 54 Digital copy from Government Register Office GRO.gov.uk
  23. Jonathan Edser 24 Feb 1882 Burial Surrey History Centre, Woking; Surrey Church of England Parish Registers; Shere, St James; Ref SHER/5/2