David and thomas woods

Subjects :  David Woods      (b.ca 1811 – d 1884)
                    Thomas Woods  (b ca. 1815 – d 1895?)

Researchers :  Diann Arnfield and Sue Driscoll

Brothers David and Thomas Woods were elderly inmates of the Guildford Union Workhouse in 1881.  They had remained in Surrey since birth but had led differing lifestyles – David was an unmarried blacksmith while Thomas was a widowed agricultural labourer.    

David and Thomas were born in Godalming around 1813 and 1815 respectively 1, 2.  Their parents were Abraham and Mary Woods née Hampton, who had married at Godalming’s St Peter and St Paul Church in 1801 3.  Abraham and Mary had seven sons, with David the fifth and Thomas sixth.  All were baptised at St Peter and St Paul with the latter records, including those of David and James, showing that father Abraham was a framework knitter from Crownpits, just to the south of Godalming 4.  

Framework knitting, which involved making articles of clothing such as stockings, had been a local industry from as early as the 17th Century and Abraham was one of the latest in a line of the Woods family involved 5.  Records show that his father Perryer was training apprentices in the industry back in the mid-1700s 6.

The family almost certainly remained in Crownpits during the boys’ childhood before Abraham passed away there in April 1833 aged 57 7, and Mary in December the following year, also 57 8.

Thomas Woods

Nearly four years after the death of his mother, Thomas, a 23-year-old labourer, married local girl Harriet Grist at the St Peter and St Paul Church on 22nd September 1838 9.  Harriet, born around 1817, was the daughter of labourer John and Sarah Grist née Hurst 10.

The 1841 Census showed 25-year-old Thomas, an agricultural labourer, and Harriet, 22, had remained close to Godalming, living at Busbridge Farm Stables on the Busbridge Manor Estate 11.  They appear to have had no children.

Ten years later, they had moved into the Crown Pits area of Godalming 12.  Both were noted as age 33, with Thomas a farm labourer.   

Their situation remained the same in 1861 13, but by the 1871 Census Harriett was also working, as a ‘rag sorter’ 14.   Now 54, she would have been preparing old clothing to be made into paper at one of the two remaining mills in the Godalming area, in Catteshall and Eashing, both on the River Wey 15, 16.  The Westbrook paper mill had closed in 1842. Harriett’s job would have involved for example cutting off buttons, removing ribbons, ripping seams, sorting rags by type.  Thomas, 56, was still a labourer.  Also with them on the day of the Census was their 9-year-old nephew James Grist.

Thomas was widowed when Harriet passed away at home on 10th April 1877 age 62 from ‘acute bronchitis 4 days’ and ‘exhaustion’ 17.  She was buried four days later at St John the Baptist, Busbridge 18. This church was relatively new, designed by Gilbert Scott, built under the patronage of the Ramsdens of Busbridge Hall and consecrated in 1867 19.

David Woods

David seemed to have led a more solitary life than his younger brother Thomas.  He has not been traced on the 1841 Census, but in 1851 he was an unmarried 35-year-old ‘blacksmith journeyman’, lodging in Chobham with master wheelwright William Bedford 20.  They were probably working together as wooden wheels in the mid-19th Century were often made with solid iron bands to help increase their durability 21.

David never married, and ten years later, had moved 15 miles (24km) north to Post Office Lane, Windlesham 22.  His work situation, though, was much the same, a 50-year-old blacksmith servant for wheelwright James Trigg.

No records other than Censuses have been traced for David during this period, but as a ‘blacksmith journeyman’, it is likely that he would have needed to move home a number of times to find work.  This was shown again by the 1871 Census where David was one of two blacksmiths lodging at Whitmoor Farm, Sutton, Woking, with Mercy West, widow of master blacksmith Stephen who had died the previous year 23, 24.

David and Thomas Woods in the Workhouse

There are no records to show why and when the brothers entered the Guildford Union Workhouse but the 1881 Census showed them both to be inmates 25.  David was listed as an unmarried blacksmith aged 70, while Thomas was a widowed 66-year-old agricultural labourer.

David probably spent the rest of his life there before passing away on 30th January 1884 age 73 from ‘decay of age’ 26.  He was buried at the Nightingale Cemetery, Godalming, on 4th February 27.

The fate of Thomas is less clear.  He was a 76-year-old pauper inmate of the Workhouse at the time of the 1891 Census, but there is no clear record what happened to him after that 28.  There is a death certificate for Thomas Wood sic in the Guildford Union Workhouse dated 27th September 1891, a 66-year-old ‘farm labourer of Godalming’, from ‘gangrene of foot’ and ‘exhaustion’ 29.  Thomas Woods would have been about ten years older than this, but no other person has been traced to fit his details.  The burial at the Nightingale Cemetery four days later recorded the pauper burial (paid for by the Guildford Uniion under Poor Law rules) of Thomas Woods, so it seems probable that an error was made with his age on these records although definitive proof of this may never be found 30, 31.

July 2022 / April 2023, updated July 2024

References

All references are from Ancestry.co.uk, unless otherwise noted

  1. David Woods 11 Apr 1813 Baptism Surrey History Centre, Woking; Surrey Church of England Parish Registers; Godalming, St Peter and St Paul (1813-1833); ref GOD/4/1; page 4, entry 27.
  2. Thomas Woods 23 Jul 1815 Baptism Surrey History Centre, Woking; Surrey Church of England Parish Registers; Godalming, St Peter and St Paul (1813-1833); ref GOD/4/1; page 34, entry 265.
  3. Abraham Woods and Mary Hampton 11 Nov 1801 Marriage Surrey History Centre, Woking; Surrey Church of England Parish Registers; Godalming, St Peter and St Paul (1754-1812); ref GOD/2/1-2; page 33, entry 130.
  4. James Woods 7 Aug 1803 Baptism Surrey History Centre, Woking; Surrey Church of England Parish Registers; Godalming, St Peter and St Paul (1793-1812); ref GOD/1/5; entry 65.
    Henry Woods 26 Feb 1806 Baptism Surrey History Centre, Woking; Surrey Church of England Parish Registers; Godalming, St Peter and St Paul (1793-1812); ref GOD/1/5; entry 19.
    George Woods 25 Dec 1807 Baptism Surrey History Centre, Woking; Surrey Church of England Parish Registers; Godalming, St Peter and St Paul (1793-1812); ref GOD/1/5; entry 98.
    Charles Woods 15 Jul 1810 Baptism Surrey History Centre, Woking; Surrey Church of England Parish Registers; Godalming, St Peter and St Paul (1793-1812); ref GOD/1/5; entry 53.
    Isaac Woods 31 May 1818 Baptism Surrey History Centre, Woking; Surrey Church of England Parish Registers; Godalming, St Peter and St Paul (1813-1833); ref GOD/4/1; page 76, entry 602.
  5. The Godalming Framework Knitting Industry author Glenys Crocker Surrey History Vol IV No. 1; published by Phillimore for the Surrey Local History Council 1989/90 SurreyArchaeology.org.uk
  6. Abraham Woods 14 Jun 1774 Baptism (son of Perryer & Ann) Surrey History Centre, Woking; Surrey Church of England Parish Registers; Godalming, St Peter and St Paul (1686-1792); ref GOD/1/4
    Peryer Woods 25 May 1758 The National Archives, Kew; UK Register of Duties Paid for Apprentices’ Indentures; Board of Stamps; Apprenticeship Books (Sep 1756-Apr 1759); series IR 1; piece 21
    Peryer Woods 2 Jul 1766 The National Archives, Kew; UK Register of Duties Paid for Apprentices’ Indentures; Board of Stamps; Apprenticeship Books (Dec 1763-Jul 1766); series IR 1; piece 24
  7. Abraham Woods 26 Apr 1833 Burial Surrey History Centre, Woking; Surrey Church of England Parish Registers; Godalming, St Peter and St Paul (1813-1842); ref GOD/5/1; page 191, entry 1528.
  8. Mary Woods 18 Dec 1834 Burial Surrey History Centre, Woking; Surrey Church of England Parish Registers; Godalming, St Peter and St Paul (1813-1842); ref GOD/5/1; page 217, entry 1732.
  9. Thomas Woods and Harriet Grist 22 Sep 1838 Marriage Surrey History Centre, Woking; Surrey Church of England Parish Registers; Godalming, St Peter and St Paul (1837-1851); ref GOD/2/4; page 18, entry 35.
  10. Harriet Grist 20 Apr 1817 Baptism Surrey History Centre, Woking; Surrey Church of England Parish Registers; Godalming, St Peter and St Paul (1813-1833); ref GOD/4/1; page 59, entry 471.
    John Grist and Sarah Hurst 28 Mar 1808 Marriage London Metropolitan Archives, London; London Church of England Parish Registers; Parishes not in a Borough; Godalming St Peter and St Paul (1803); ref DW/T/5123.
  11. Thomas, Harriet Woods 1841 England Census for Busbridge Farm Stables, Godalming, Surrey; class HO107; piece 1073; book 4; page 1
  12. Thomas, Harriett Woods 1851 England Census for Crown Pits, Godalming, Surrey; class HO107; piece 1594; folio 761; page 27
  13. Thomas, Ann sic Woods 1861 England Census for Crown Pits, Godalming, Surrey; class RG9; piece 429; folio 116; page 41
  14. Thomas, Harriett Woods; James Grist 1871 England Census for Crown Pits, Godalming, Surrey; class RG10; piece 815; folio 27; page 48
  15. Rag Sorter Dictionary of Old Occupations, FamilyResearcher.co.uk
  16. The Paper Mills of Surrey author Alan Crocker Surrey History Vol IV No. 1; published by Phillimore for the Surrey Local History Council 1989/90 SurreyArchaeology.org.uk
    The 900 year old history of Eashing Mill Shackleford.org
  17. Harriett Woods 10 Apr 1877 England & Wales Civil Registration Death Index 1837-1915; Apr-May-Jun 1877; Guildford; volume 2a; page 47
    Copy of original death certificate from General Register Office GRO.gov.uk
  18. Harriett Woods 14 Apr 1877 Burial Surrey History Centre, Woking; Surrey Church of England Parish Registers; Busbridge, St John the Baptist (1867-1934); ref BUS/4/1; page 13, entry 101.
  19. History of St. John the Baptist Church, Busbridge GodalmingMinster.org
  20. David Woods 1851 England Census for ‘East of Guildford Road’, Chobham, Surrey; class HO107; piece 1593; folio 448; page 10
  21. Wheelwright Wikipedia.org
  22. David Woods 1861 England Census for Post Office Lane, Windlesham, Surrey; class RG9; piece 423; folio 83; page 6
  23. David Woods 1871 England Census for Whitmoor Farm, Sutton, Woking, Surrey; class RG10; piece 807; folio 41; page 17
  24. Stephen West 4 Feb 1870 Burial Surrey History Centre, Woking; Surrey Church of England Parish Registers; Woking, St Peter (1867-1932); ref WOKP/5/2; page 9, entry 65.
    Stephen, Mary sic West 1861 England Census for Sutton, Woking, Surrey; class RG9; piece 424; folio 153; page 8
  25. David Woods 1881 England Census for Guildford Union Workhouse, Stoke Next Guildford, Surrey; class RG11; piece 778; folio 90; page 2
    Thomas Woods 1881 England Census for Guildford Union Workhouse, Stoke Next Guildford, Surrey; class RG11; piece 778; folio 90; page 3
  26. David Woods 30 Jan 1884 England & Wales Civil Registration Death Index 1837-1915; Jan-Feb-Mar 1884; Guildford; volume 2a; page 52
    Copy of original death certificate from General Register Office GRO.gov.uk
  27. David Woods 4 Feb 1884 Burial Nightingale Cemetery, Godalming; Book N3; Entry 2281; page 13; plot 1391. Godalming-tc.gov.uk/burial-records
  28. Thomas Woods 1891 England Census for Guildford Union Workhouse, Stoke Next Guildford, Surrey; class RG12; piece 560; folio 201; page 5
  29. Thomas Wood 27 Sep 1891 England & Wales Civil Registration Death Index 1837-1915; Oct-Nov-Dec 1891; Guildford; volume 2a; page 59
    Copy of original death certificate from General Register Office GRO.gov.uk
  30. Thomas Woods 1 Oct 1891 Burial Nightingale Cemetery, Godalming; Book N4; Entry 3151; page 1; plot 1703. Godalming-tc.gov.uk/burial-records
  31. Pauper’s Funeral Wikipedia.org