William and Jane Goodridge - research by Betty Denham

Research notes on the life of William Goodridge by his great granddaughter, Betty Denham.

Born 20th August 1020 in Chalfont St. Peter Bucks He was the second son of John Goodridge and Elizabeth nee Northcroft of Old Windsor Berkshire. At the Age of 16 he was apprenticed to Joseph Elliot, Butcher of Two Waters in the parish of Hemel Hempstead, Herts. The term of the apprenticeship was 3 years. At some time after that date, he to supposed to have gone to live in Surrey, with his sisters Aunts Goodridge and Gardener or as he would have known them Elizabeth and Sarah. As far as is known he continued working as a butcher at that time, also as for as is known it way here he met his future wife Jane Anne Browning of Horsham.

What is not erectly clear is which town this happened in John Povey Goodridge said Ewell, Lily Streeter said Epsom and I have also been told Redhill. At some future date this must be clarified, after all we are only talking about 1845 of thereabouts.

On 19th February 1848 William and Jane Anne were married in the General Baptist Chapel Horsham Sussex.  Her parents set them up in a dairy business at Bowling Green in Horsham.

This was not a dairy business as today namely a bottling plant getting its supply of milk from cows living probably 200 miles away. That milk would have been pasteurised at some stage either to the collecting factory before being pumped into the large, motorized tanker or at the bottling plant on arrival in the densely populated area that this plant serves. From there the milk is mainly delivered to the housewife on her doorstep, though it is becoming more and more common tor folk to buy their milk by the carton from a supermarket.

In my childhood back in the 1930 a dairy meant a shop selling butter, cream, eggs and of course milk in bottles. The owner would also deliver milk to the doorstep twice a day. Remember this was before hot treatment and before most homes had refrigerator. The crates containing the bottles of milk would be carried on the delivery rounds either by pony and trap or by electric milk float. The latter remains in use in the late 1980s.

Back In the 1930. and for many years after milk was sent to the big cities by train, special trains made up entirely of milk tankers travelled during the night when it was cool from country stations to for Instance London so that the city could have fresh milk for their breakfast.

To return to William and Jane, their dairy was a smallholding where they looked after their own cows and milked them by hand. We know William could milk as he was brought up on a farm at Gold Hill, Chalfont St. Peter. Then having milked the cows he delivered the milk, to the houses on his round either carrying it in two pails suspended from a yoke on his shoulders or actually carrying the milk in a trap or cart pulled by a horse. The milk may still have been in pails but was more likely in churns. William would also have had measures made of metal with crooked handles to make it possible to hang them Inside the churn when not to use. These measures would contain either a pint or half a pint and would be used to deliver the milk straight into the customer’s jug. This method was still used in country areas when I was a child. The cows had to be milked twice a day, so milk was delivered twice a day, almost6 a necessity in hot weather. It would be interesting to know if they made butter or cheese with their surplus milk.

The only other facts I know about William are:

1)    1) He made a will and after his wife Jane Anne died In 1901 their second son William was extremely reluctant to pay the other 5 children their shares of their fathers estate. If the eldest son John had not engaged a solicitor, it appears it would have never been settled.

2)    2) I do know the counts of his death though at present I do not know when he died. My father, John Povey me his grandfather, William died of a rectal fistula because he would not have it operated on. He was told this by his father, John.

As in recorded previously William married Jane Anne Browning, I know little about her unfortunately. She was born In Horsham on 19th March 1821, the daughter of John and his wife Mary.

She and William had six Children:

John born on 10th December 1848

Elizabeth born 1850

William born 1852

Janey born 1855

Fanny born 1861

Henry born 1863

One of her great-granddaughters told me she was known in her later years as Gran-gran. But although my father used to visit her fairly often the only fact, I remember him telling me was that she and the old queen (Victoria) lay dying at the same time. She had eight grandchildren and sixteen great grandchildren.