Thomas (Handsome) Hanson Snr (1719 - 1801)

Born 2 Feb 1719 in Evenwood, Durham, England

Ancestors

Husband of Hannah (Stanwix) Handsome — married 1 May 1743 in Auckland Saint Helen, Durham, England

Descendants

Died 20 Jul 1801 at age 82 in Bishop Auckland, Durham, England

Biography

Born at Evenwood and baptised in 1719, Thomas was the illegitimate son of Jane Handsome. ^[1][2]

He grew up in Evenwood under the care of his mother and relatives.

In the Halmote Court session at Evenwood on April 17, 1742 he was admitted to a tenancy. It was a furnished apartment, measuring 15 x 15 feet, in a messuage somewhere in Evenwood.^[3] His uncle and aunt retained the right to live there until they died.

To this court came Thomas Handsom of West Auckland in the County of Durham, grandson of John Handsom of Evenwood, and took of the Lord one room called ‘The Parlour’ in the north part of a certain messuage late in the possession of Thomas Hodgson containing in length five yards and in breadth five yards, be the same more of less, with the appurtenances in which John Handsom and Margaret his wife (are) there in having right. She the said Margaret being examined alone and not compelled by force, or through fear of her said husband, but of her own voluntary and free will, (surrender) their whole right Estate Title claim Interest and Demand have surrendred and Quit Claimed into the hands of the Lord.

(The) Lord (gives) to the use and behoof of the said Thomas Handsom the grandson to have To the said Thomas Handsom and his sequels in right According to the Custom of the Court Rendring therefore by the Year at the Usuall Termes as before, was wont to be Rendred, and doing to the Lord and the neighbours the duties and services accustomed by pledges and so forth and thereupon he is thereof admitted tenant.

Be it Remembered that not withstanding the surrender above written it is agreed between the partyes that the said John Handsom and Margaret his wife shall hold and enjoy the above mentioned premises for and during the natural lives of the said John Handsom and Margaret his wife, and the life of the longer liver of them. (Signed M) [In the margin] Demise one halfpenny

Soon afterwards he married Hannah Stanwix from neighbouring Cockfield.^[4]

They lived in West Auckland from that time and all their four healthy boys were born there. For origins and early history of West Auckland see the notes included in the record of his grandfather John Handsome.

West Auckland and St Helen were on the main road from Durham to Barnard Castle so there would have been passing trade. Inhabitants relied mainly on agriculture. Crops included corn, hay, hemp, and flax as demonstrated the dispute by John Vaux relative to tithes growing within the garths and backsides adjoining houses within the chapelry in the early 17th century. By the 18th century when Thomas and Hannah lived there many in West Auckland were linen-weaving outworkers.

Thomas kept The Parlour lease until 1747 when passed it on to Christopher Heigh, wife Elizabeth and son John. They were probably relatives of his step-father, Robert Heighly. Thomas continued to pay the lease of one penny annually until 1766.

But what of Thomas' profession - thatching - that ancient craft of covering roofs of buildings or stacks of hay or grain with vegetable matter? In the early 18th century there would have been few villages without at least one thatcher. He would have learnt his craft over a long period and probably from a relative. For an act of parliament in 1562 decreed: No person shall, under penalty of forty shillings a month, shall use or occupy any art, mystery or manual occupation without seven years apprenticeship.

His work would have followed the distinctive traditional thatching style of Northern England, Scotland and some other areas. It uses the Standard method of thatching, with an angular finish. Mortar, tile, timber and turf, as well as straw, are used as ridging materials. Boarded gables, along with the historical use of the Stobbing method, also sets this area apart. In Northumberland and Durham typically gables are either of stone, or rolled. Ridges often consist of turf, with straw being common in more arable areas. Turf also formed the base for many thatches - which traditionally consisted of heather - or straw of wheat and rye. Heather or 'Black Thack', as it was called thereabouts, was an important resource, especially in areas where cereal crops were in short supply.

Thomas would likely have been using heather, or long straw thatching. The latter only needs a 'side rake' and some shears for trimming. Long Straw refers to the Standard method of laying thatching material in which the courses are not driven, but laid into their final position, with the ends of the material not lying in any one direction. It also refers to thatching material, ie cereal straw that has been thrashed. At the time it was done by hand with a flail.

In the past, the preparation of straw was frequently done by an assistant, often a woman. Such was the case in 1641 when Henry Best wrote he normally had a few good lusty mayd servants and not maids of a sluggish and sleepie disposition to help with such work and other tasks. The traditional time for thatching was autumn but the farmer liked Spring …for then the days are long …and later in the season it will not gette a man heate in a frosty morninge, sittinge on the toppe of an house wheare the winde commeth to him on every side. Normally food was provided as part of the thatcher’s wages. Henry says that the rate, for a long summer day was 6d; the short winter ones paid 4d. Without food, the rate was 10d a day, but he never paid more than 4d. But he wasn’t a mean employer as he also gave breakfast at eight, dinner at noon and supper at seven. Each meal being of fowre sevices…Butter, milke, cheese, and either egges, pyes, or bacon, and sometimes porridge insteade of milke. Three, four course meals had to be worth a few pennies a day.

Thomas Handsome may have also used the Stobbing method whereby small amounts of thatch are forced into an underlying basecoat. Handfuls of material bent over at the top act like a spring, preventing the material coming loose. Some wooden fixings are often used to hold the edges of the roof - in a long straw manner - and a separate ridge completes the roof. No other fixings are required.

Apart from covering and protecting dwelling houses and barns, thatchers were employed on major medieval building sites covering half completed works from winter's elements. However, Thomas' most important role would have been the annual protection of next year's fodder and grain. Possibly more than half the thatching in Britain until the mid 19th century was this work involving stacks and ricks. All the thatch was laid in a vertical direction. It was used to repair standard thatched roofs, and to cover countless ricks and stacks. The main benefit was provision of a quick covering, but often at the expense of longevity.

Essential though it was, the thatcher's craft is not easy. For as contemporary thatcher 'Hangstraw' reports, The job is just too difficult, uncomfortable and dirty, to attract anyone, who is not in their own way dedicated to their profession… There has to be an easier way of making a living, than swaying at the top of a ladder, in a gale; trying to keep a sheet on a half completed thatch. And having your hands stick to a metal ladder, on a cold and frosty morning, takes a little dedication… All this in the most dangerous section (roofing), of the most risky industry (construction), in Britain…

Thomas would have worked as long as he was able, both as a thatcher and possibly working a small holding rented from a land holder. But perhaps he became like the thatcher who wrote of himself, nearly seventy years of age… rather stiff in the joints perhaps, and with a body bent and twisted for he has met with many accidents- a broken leg never properly set, a broken arm, a fractured collar-bone, his shoulders out of joint several times… all caused by falls. From this it will be seen that the work is dangerous…

Around the time octogenerian Thomas passed away in 1801^[5] the village of West Auckland comprised 53 houses with 206 inhabitants. In addition at St Helens there were the ancient church built in 1182, and St Helen's Hall, a large manor house built post 1622. ^[6][7] Many of the houses and two public houses around the large village green in West Auckland were built during the 18th century when Thomas lived In the area. There was a corn mill as well.

Homes in County Durham were, In general comfortable dwellings of one storey, thatched or tiled… Old thatched cottages were found in the valley of the Tyne and other places, but all the newer buildings were tiled. The end of the craft was already in sight. The easy import of continental pantiles along Northumberland and Durham counties’ extensive coastline proved too much. Reporters noted in 1805, that thatch in Northumberland which used to be the universal covering had fallen into general disuse.

It is no wonder, then, that sons Thomas and George moved to the rapidly growing town of Sunderland to take up other professions. William moved to Carlisle on the west coast. The eldest, John, was the only one who stayed in the countryside. He settled down at the 'Moor House' outside the small village of Middridge, 6 miles to the east of West Auckland.

Upon Thomas' death the Handsome surname disappears from the parish of Auckland St Helen, however it is interesting to note what followed soon afterwards in the 19th century. Coal mining began in the medieval period, and in the fifteenth century there was a mine north of the village. In 1647 there was a 'great colliery' called Carter's Thorne, near Toft Hill. But the collieries of south west Durham did not have easy access to the north east ports, and the development of the industry stalled.It was only with the opening of the Stockton and Darlington Railway in 1825 that the mining industry was able to develop substantially in the area.... At West Auckland the coal mine sunk in 1826 was so close to the village that new miners housing was built just off the village green, marrying the old agricultural community with a new industrial future. Railways grew rapidly in the area over the next 40 years opening up the new collieries. The population of the village and its surrounding farms grew from 978 in 1801, to 1509 in 1831, to 3651 in 1891. ^[8]

Research Notes

1/ If you are interested to read more on the fascinating craft of thatching please visit the informative site ThatchingInfo.com ^[9] for there are gems on every page. This was the source of the notes above and accompanying photographs, under kind permission by it's owner.

2/ 'Hangstraw' notes that the craft of the thatcher has experienced a revival, and there are now around 1,000 practitioners in Britain.

3/ Famous people The construction of the Stocton and Darlington Railway in 1825 brought the great George Stephenson into West Auckland, surveying and engineering a route to the east of the village. His legacy was the Gaunless Bridge, the world's first iron railway bridge, now in the York National Railway Museum.

In a village that once had two lunatic asylums, some strange people came to stay. The mad Jonathon Martin was incarcerated in Fish Hall in 1817. Incapable of being cured he later achieved notoriety by setting fire to York Minster. Mary Ann Cotton, who lived in two houses in the village, vastly exceeded Martin in the extent of her crimes. She poisoned between 14 and 20 people including her own children and husbands. Until recently she was Britain's greatest serial killer. She was hung in Durham Prison in 1873. Finally and perhaps most famously, are the village's sporting heroes, the West Auckland Football Team of 1909 and 1911. Chosen to represent England in the first 'World Cup' the amateur team of mostly miners, travelled to Italy and won against all odds. Two years later they returned and won the cup again outright.^[10]

Sources

1. ↑ "England Births and Christenings, 1538-1975", database, FamilySearch (https://familysearch.org/ark:/61903/1:1:NJ4J-26X : 13 March 2020), Jane Handsome in entry for Thomas Handsome, 1718.
2. ↑ "England Births and Christenings, 1538-1975", database, FamilySearch (https://familysearch.org/ark:/61903/1:1:JWF7-NPV : 14 March 2020), Jane Handsome in entry for Thomas Handsome, 1719.
3. ↑ Messuage. This word is synonymous with dwelling-house; and a grant of a messuage with the appurtenances, will not only pass a house, but all the buildings attached or belonging to it, as also its curtilage, garden and orchard, together with the close on which the house is built. https://legal-dictionary.thefreedictionary.com/Messuage
4. ↑ "England Marriages, 1538–1973 ", database, FamilySearch (https://familysearch.org/ark:/61903/1:1:NLZH-WM3 : 13 March 2020), Hannah Stanwix in entry for Thomas Handsome, 1743.
5. ↑ "England Deaths and Burials, 1538-1991", database, FamilySearch (https://familysearch.org/ark:/61903/1:1:NPVH-G29 : 15 March 2020), Thomas Hanson, 1801.
6. ↑ https://historicengland.org.uk/listing/the-list/list-entry/1297566
7. ↑ https://www.tate.org.uk/art/archive/items/tga-8728-1-11-3/piper-photograph-of-the-west-facade-of-st-helens-hall-in-st-helen-auckland-county-durham
8. ↑ West Auckland Parish Plan c2010
9. ↑ https://thatchinginfo.com/
10. ↑ West Auckland Parish Plan c2010

Acknowledgments

Thank you to Stephen Panitzke for creating WikiTree profile Handsome-10 through the import of grice.ged on Jul 16, 2013. Click to the Changes page for the details of edits by Stephen and others.