Day 43 - James Joss : Untutored in Vice

Today I pulled myself out of bed and headed up to the Archives and was thankfully given a readers ticket without too much trouble.

I only looked at one set of papers which was the precognition papers for James Joss - it seems Mr Joss was a gardener who's employer had sacked him on the spot as he felt he was paying him too much. With a wife and small child James felt that he should at least get some amount of compensation for this sudden termination and went to the house of his employer to ask for this. He was not home and James broke in and took money from his writing desk to the tune of 112 pounds. Alot of money! But in testimony it is said that he did not know how much it was and he is described as "naturally soft and untutored in vice". So I would imagine this was why he would have been transported.

I'll do some more tomorrow but was not feeling up to too much today.

Day 42 - A wee walk

Took a wee walk around Edinburgh - did one of the free walking tours which was quite informative.

Day 41 - Edinburgh

Arrived in Edinburgh unfortunately have succumbed to a cold so am going to relax this evening.

Day 40 - Cockermouth

Just hung around da 'mouth today.

Day 39 - I Always Rely On the Kindness of Strangers

Today the sun was shining and the sky was blue so I decided to head off and check out Brigham where Joseph Head was born in 1836. I hopped on to the Number 36 bus and the driver asked me where in Brigham I wanted to get off and I replied "No idea!" He had a giggle and I explained why I was heading there - so he drove me through the town and pointed out the right road to the church St Bridgets and where to get the bus back.

Brigham is one of those British villages that has declined in its availability of services over the last 20 years. There used be shops and 3 pubs but now there is only one shop and a social centre - all the pubs now closed. The church was being cleaned as I got there so I got to take a look inside.

I headed back for the bus - taking a few photos of the village on the way back. I waited for the bus and as I did a car pulled up and it was the driver of the bus offering me a ride to Lorton where I also wanted to go to but there was no buses to there. Bonus!

We drove to Lorton to the church St Cuthberts and there I found Skelton Head and his wife Catherine's gravestone - Skelton being Joseph's grandfather. I knew that the family had owned Hope Farm and a kindly gent (who was also cleaning the church) told me the directions to the Farm. We drove up there and met a woman who was painting some of the cottages as the Farm is now used for holiday cottages.

From there we took a look around the village of Lorton and the site of the original Jennings Brewery and then Ken drove me all the way through the Lakes District and past the fells - some amazing scenery to which I don't think my pictures do justice.

I'm touched by the kindness of a stranger who is a keen walker and climber so knew much about the area and gave me a terrific guided tour.










Cheers Ken!

Finished off the day with a slow roasted lamb shank at The Bitter End ... tasty

Day 38 - Cockermouth

Today I am in CockermouthIt's a lovely city and 1 it has lots of very good antiques stores.

I'm staying at Six Castlegate which is a fantastic B&B - beautifully decorated and a bit up a hill so missed the floods that hit the town a year ago. I was speaking to a lady in one of the antiques stores about the floods - the store was totally flooded as it is right next to the river - apparently though the whole town got together to clean up the affected shops and residences and it was quite a scene of community spirit.

Had a wander around the town - famous son is one William Wordsworth. Went to a viewing for an auction which is on tomorrow but didn't seen much of interest. Some pics for your enjoyment.

Day 37 - Heads Up

Yesterday I had discovered that the Library in Carlisle does actually hold some of the Parish Records so I thought I should probably spend a few hours seeing what I could uncover.

I was looking into the Head family. Joseph Head was the father of Mary Ann Head - who was the mother of Jessie Theresa Thomas who was the mother of one Keith Morris.

I knew that Joseph Head was born in Brigham in 1836 so it was quite easy to find his baptism record which lists his father John Head as an Innkeeper.

John Head was born in Lorton which is near Cockermouth in 1802 and married Anne Allason - his father was Skelton Head who was born also in Lorton in 1761.

Skelton married Catherine Hewitt in 1786.



Skelton's father was one Richard Head who was born in 1713 and married Sarah Sumpton in 1741. It appears that Richard did quite well for himself as notes this extract from his will (found this on someone's tree on Ancestry)

Richard Head made his will in 1784, 5 years before his death.

He describes himself as a gentleman and owns several farms and two corn mills.

He divides his real estate between his three sons John, Joseph and Skelton and leaves monetary legacies to his other son Oswel and his daughter, Faith. John, the eldest and Skelton, the youngest sons appear to come off best.

His wife is left a house (at Miller Place) for her lifetime together with an annuity of £141 p.a

I tried to find some idea of what Inn John Head may have been Innkeeper of - but no luck with the trade directories of the region.

It goes back further on Ancestry with Richard's parents
John Head 1685 – 1723
and Isabell Skelton 1685 – 1765

John's parents
John Head 1665 – 1704
and Jane H – 1723

So there you go - will go and visit Lorton and Brigham when in Cockermouth. Took some pics of the pretty flowers for Mumsy.


Oh I also checked out the Carlisle Antiques Centre - fyi 1 - really cool inside though not a huge amount of stuff. Each little shop was set up like a house.