THE MARPLES FAMILY
IN BASLOW IN 1848
I am deeply indebted to David Dalrymple-Smith
of Baslow for all his help and assistance in
providing me with maps and data for this page, as well as a lot of other useful
information. David, although not a native of Baslow,
has lived there for over 40 years, for many of which he was a G.P. Following
his retirement he has devoted a lot of his time to researching the
St.
Anne’s parish church, Baslow
The subject of this study is the Baslow Tithe Award for 1848. This was created following the
Tithe Commutation Act of 1836 which replaced the payment of tithes with a
rent-charge apportioned between the landowners in a ‘tithe district’, which was
usually a parish but could also be one or more townships. Originally, tithes
were a tenth of all produce of the land which people had to surrender in order
to produce a living for the incumbent of their parish church. There were two
types of tithe: great or rectorial tithes of corn,
hay, wool and lamb; and small or vicarial tithes of
cows, calves, foals, poultry, bees or anything else which an incumbent could
reasonably claim as titheable.
Under the Tithe Commutation Act, owners of
land and tithes in a parish could voluntarily agree a sum to be paid in lieu of
tithes for the whole parish. Once this agreement was confirmed by the bishop of
the diocese, the patron of the living and the Tithe Commissioners, the
landowners would appoint a valuer to apportion the
agreed rentcharge on each plot of land. This required
the drawing up of detailed maps which showed each individual plot of land,
including buildings where appropriate. These maps were accompanied by a
detailed schedule which showed for each plot of land who owned it, who occupied
it, what the rentcharge was and what tithe commutation
was. David has produced a detailed analysis of the Baslow
tithe award and this has enabled me to identify all the land and buildings
occupied by members of the Marples family in 1848. I have also taken the
opportunity to identify where other members of my family, through female lines,
were living. The results are set out below. The numbers in the discs identify
the head of each household. Number 1 is my 3x great grandfather William
Marples, and the relationship of the other Marples family members are to
William, and not to me . The significance of the
different colours used is:
Red
discs: members of the Marples family
Blue
discs: other members of my family
Red
arrows: buildings leased
Purple
arrows: buildings owned freehold
Green
arrows: land leased
Orange
arrows: land owned freehold
1.
William
Marples, 1799-1869, shoemaker & sexton
2.
Matthew
Marples, 1796-1871, saddler - brother
3.
John
Stroyan, 1816-1894, draper & postmaster - brother
in law
4.
Joseph
Brushfield, 1777-1851, smith - first cousin
5.
6.
John
Marple, 1794-1874, millwright - half second cousin
7.
8.
Hannah, 1772-1850, widow of George Marple, 1768-1846, skinner -
half first cousin, once removed
9.
Mary Marples, 1816-1879, flour dealer & taker in of lodgers - half
second cousin
10.
William
Marples, 1794-1858, master butcher - fifth cousin, once removed
11.
John
Marples, 1804-1888, ostler - fifth cousin, once
removed
Other family members
through my female lines:
1.
Joseph
Barton, 1820-1876, gamekeeper
2.
Joseph
Gregory, 1788-1856, joiner
3.
John
Gregory, 1812-1884, joiner & wheelwright
4.
John
Holmes, 1775-1850, farmer
5.
Isaac
Brown, 1797-1863, stonemason
From the point of view of the villagers the
tithes were just another form of taxation and doubtless viewed by them with the
same enthusiasm that you and I view our tax bills today. I was therefore
amused, but not surprised, to come across a document in the Derbyshire County
Record Office in Matlock which said:
“Summoned for the non-payment of small tythes, offerings, oblations and obventions
becoming due on 16th April last being Easter Day, 1786:” There then
follows a list of names including:
Robert
Marple of Gate [a district of Baslow, yet to be
accurately located]
John
Marple, blacksmith
Robert
Marple, jnr - paid
George
Marple
William
Marple - paid
William
Marple, saddler - paid [my 4x great-grandfather]
Widow
Marple of Curbar & Froggatt
Thomas
Marple
The document did not state what fate awaited
the miscreants!