I Old Farm Cottages
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Page 1 (torn) Page
3 (Hazel see Page
99) |
Cooper Cooper |
Mary James Elizabeth Anne Emily Alfred John |
32 33 1.2.60 12.3.62 1.1.64 17.10.66 |
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Both parts of this building
were occupied in 1870 by members of the Cooper family.
Firstly, there was
Mary Cooper, aged 66, the widow of James who had died in the autumn of the
previous year aged 64 and who now lies buried with his wife in Chelsworth
churchyard, close to the tombs of the Pooles (of The
Summer House).
The erasure marked in the ledger indicates that the
initial entry was corrected. Mary moved in 1871 to the cottage we call
"Goslings" - later the site of "Bueno Vista" - and died in
Bildeston in 1876.
Mary was born Mary Bumstead in Nedging,
the daughter of William and Martha, and married James senior in 1832 in
Bildeston. He was an agricultural labourer and they lived here from at least
1841. He was the son of James and Priscilla Cooper and, although born in
Chelsworth, was christened at the Baptist Meeting House in Wattisham in 1803.
Secondly, in the east end of the house, there was James
her son, with his wife Elizabeth and their four children. It is not known where
James junior went, right after the survey was taken, but the 1871 census only
shows three Cooper brothers from Combs living in these premises - Simon
(64), Michael (67) and John (65) - all described as "farmers out of
business". They too were christened at the Baptist Meeting House, and were
the sons of Jonathan and Frances Cooper - so were probably young James’
cousins.
By 1881, James and Elizabeth, with five children,
were at Parsonage Farm in Long Melford, where James was the farm bailiff.
The pencilled note indicates that the Hazell family
moved here soon after the 1871 census was taken.
(Note therefore that there were at least three stages in the completion of this survey - in 1869, when James senior was alive, and 1870, when he had recently died, and some time later, probably after 1873, when the Coopers had moved out). The Hazells had previously lived at Lower Common Farmhouse.
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