The Hampshire Family Historian | Volume 50 No.1 | June 2023

Local Group Programmes

previous occupiers were, whether they were owners or tenants and the amount of rates to be paid. The letter books provided an amusing moment when John was able to read out a letter of complaint from the Borough Surveyor to his family firm about the poor standard of workmanship. If you'd like to visit or if you'd just like to know more, the website address is: https://www.eastleighhistory.org.uk There was a discussion on John C's father's missing military records. Suggestions were that he may have been underage when he enlisted and so used a different name. Often in such cases, the given names are retained but a different surname is registered (perhaps the mother's maiden name), and the birth year is altered, but not normally the birth date. Several examples were given of relatives who were known by different names rather than the ones they were baptised with. There was also a discussion about divorces and how rare they were even a hundred years ago, and the number of bigamous marriages (most of us have found one!). (April) Chandlers Ford Brickworks – Jim Beckett Jim Beckett is involved with Bursledon Brickworks Museum, but this talk was about the people who were involved with the Chandlers Ford brickworks which existed from 1870 to 1914. The clay in the Hampshire basin was ideal for brickmaking and there were 150 brickmakers listed in the 1895 Kelly's directory for the area. The brickworks occupied an area south of the Chandlers Ford railway station. Jim’s photographs of the area as it now is demonstrated that the features are still there if you look carefully. The land was owned by the Tankerville and Chamberlayne families and leased to the brickmakers. There were seven names which occupied individual strips running roughly west to east. Jim gave a short history of these families - Aslatt, Crook, Stevens, Macklin, Wren, Carter, and finally Hooper & Ashby. Each brickmaker employed a few men, usually their sons, as the work was paid piecemeal. Jim read out several school reports showing that the children’s education suffered considerably. Samuel Stevens owned Castle Hotel in Southampton and invested in building a railway siding which ran through each yard to help with the transportation of the bricks. His bricks were used to build the main post office in Southampton. Many of the stories showed that the brickmakers were Victorian entrepreneurs and had other interests but most ended with bankruptcy. The exception was the Hooper & Ashby brickmakers who used a machine to make the bricks. Their success was also due to the employment of one Samuel Batley as manager. Eventually the site was too small for Hooper & Ashby and they moved with Samuel Batley to make a success of the Bursledon brickworks. Jim completed the talk with a 1993 audio recording of one Bill Biddlecome who had worked as a 12 year old with his father at Chandlers Ford.

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