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Children of William Foden

I assume that this is the same Cutler family who owned Cutler's Garage which used to stand next to the Hardwick Arms in Streetly. (Next pub along, going south, from the Irish Harp). Too geographically close to be a coincidence, possibly.

Chris
 
ChrisM said:
I assume that this is the same Cutler family who owned Cutler's Garage which used to stand next to the Hardwick Arms in Streetly. (Next pub along, going south, from the Irish Harp). Too geographically close to be a coincidence, possibly.

Chris
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You'll have to wait and see, maybe a connection, who knows?
 
Charles Foden was bailiff of 200 acres on a farm known as Booth’s farm from 1880 to 1894.

Booth’s Farm (demolished in 1974):

“Built of brick, 3 attics on the top floor, 4 bedrooms on the first floor, and on the ground floor 2 sitting rooms, kitchen, dairy and larder. Outside WC. Spring water pumped into the house by hydraulic ram.
Cowhouse for 20, stabling for 8, two barns, 3 pig sties, mixing house, granary, open cart house …. Plus 5 excellent cottages … the whole extending to 246 acres 0 roods 33 poles”.

One day in April 1884, Charles was digging in the orchard and turned up a parcel which had lain buried there for more than 70 years. It contained 2 engraved copper plates for producing £1 & £2 Bank of England banknotes. Other significant finds had earlier been made on the premises around 1871. This farm had taken its name from its most famous tenant, the forger William Booth, who had turned the top floor of the house into a workshop from which he produced skilled forgeries of coins and banknotes. He would instruct his servants to bury the evidence of each night’s production run. Booth was however, eventually convicted for forgery and hanged in 1812.

Another find was made in October 1956 by a workman removing the stump of a wooden post close to the house numbered 117 of the newly named Foden Road, some half a mile from Booth’s farmhouse. A find of 63 forged eighteen-pence Bank of England tokens was made. Today, one of these tokens would surely make in excess of £1000 at auction. Some of them can now be seen in the Birmingham Museum and Art Gallery.

Charles was respected and well known in Perry Barr. Every good cause found him a liberal supporter. Charles went from Booth’s Farm to Park Farm in 1894 and the same year he was elected on the District Council of Perry Barr. He was also active in the District Agricultural and Horticultural Society.

Farms were isolated places, especially so Booth’s Farm, so Charles and Eliza’s children could not have had much social life after their school days and it’s no doubt his sons were hard working farmers. When Charles stopped working, he retired to 18 Holland Street, a seven roomed house in the nearby, pollution free, fashionable town of Sutton Coldfield. He was known there as a Gentleman, retired farmer.
.../...
 
At about the time of his retirement, Charles Foden must have realized that he had no grandchildren to carry on the family name and so urged his 4 sons to marry quickly.

- Frank was the first to take a wife. He was 29 years old when he wed Mary Emily Knight in 1905 - though Mary was already 43 years old.
- Harry wed Mary Oram in 1906; Mary was the daughter of his cousin Ellen Horton Foden. Together they leased Booth’s Farm; in 1913, the rental was £465 per annum.
- Arthur also wed in 1906 to Rosa Frances Wells.
- William was 22 when he married Rosa’s sister Eleanor Catherine Wells in 1908 - just a few months after the death of Charles.
Rosa Frances and Eleanor Catherine were both daughters of Robert Francis Wells of the neighboring Kings Vale Farm, in Handsworth.

Of Charles and Eliza’s three daughters, two married the same farmer called John William Pickering of Brockhurst Farm in Hints, near Tamworth, Sutton Coldfield. Mary had died in 1908, John Pickering then took her sister Jane as his second wife in 1911*.

Just as the Cutlers and Fodens had previously intermarried, in the same way Charles Foden gave daughters to the Pickering family, and sons to the wealthy Wells family.
Certain of the Wells brothers married the daughters of the neighbouring Beauvoisin’s. They were all successful farming families in the region and show how wise and judicious marriages could be arranged.

It is to be noted, by 1911, only Harry and Arthur had given Foden grandchildren to Charles and Eliza.

When Charles died in 1908, he left effects of £6,916 9s. 4d. Probate was granted to his sons Frank, of Wishaw, Erdington and Harry of Booth’s farm.
His wife Eliza died 7 years after in 1915, and was still able to leave effects amounting to £3,960. Booth’s farm had been kind to Charles’ family, and continued …

* By the Marriage Act of 1907, a man was now allowed to marry his deceased wife’s sister.

.../...
 
The Fodens and the Cutlers, mucky characters, up before the Beak in 1866...

Caleb, a Publican and farmer from Great Barr, and Jeremiah, Publican and Market Gardener from Witton. Both fined for removing manure from the borough of Birmingham and into the Parish of Aston.
 
ChrisM said:
Interesting information, Glennys. Did you pick up at the same time anything on the location of these businesses - especially the pubs? Those with the more unusual names are obvious enough, like the Parson & Clerk and the Irish Harp which, coincidentally, stood/stand on the same road as Mill Green Farm - and with the Irish Harp almost next door. Did the Bush as well? I imagine several of the farms are now buried under 20th c Birmingham - Kingstanding farm, for example.

Chris
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I have John Foden & Ellen Cutler at the Bush Inn in 1891, which was at New Oscot. It later became known as the Beggars Bush.
 
The Bush is the third pub with family links on the same main road, Hill Green Farm makes a fourth link and if Cutler's Garage is a family thing, that'll be five. Didn't they know that there were such things as SIDE ROADS??!!

The College pub is a further suspect.

Chris
 
Glennys Jean said:
Caleb Foden was born in Erdington in 1805, the year of the battle of Trafalgar during the Napoleonic wars. He was the son of John, a hay trusser.

In 1841, Caleb describes himself as a publican and in 1851, as a market gardener and retail brewer. The readily available farm products, such as barley and hops, made beer making an easy and profitable business. It was, in fact, healthier to drink alcohol as at that time water could be quite unclean to drink. In some places in Britain, one in every three houses was licensed to manufacture and sell alcohol. A license was purchased from the Crown. You could then legally make and sell ale, beer or cider. Taverns in the towns sold wine as well and might also have spirits, while inns sold alcoholic drinks and offered rooms for travelers.

When he was 24 years old, he married Elizabeth Wells from the village of Edgbaston which was 7 miles (11 km) away. They may have met at a fair or market in their area, or perhaps they already knew each other through their respective families. He and Elizabeth had 5 boys, William, George, Henry, John and Charles who all followed in their father’s footsteps; they also had 2 girls called Emma and Harriet.

In 1881, all of Caleb’s family is found only a handful of miles from Erdington, in or around Perry Barr and Kingstanding, where the Fodens had become well-known as tenant farmers of the Perry Bar estate.

Daughter Emma married in 1863 with Jeremiah Cutler. The Fodens and the Cutlers, another farming family, knew each other well, so well that Emma’s sister Harriet married Jeremiah’s brother, Linnaeus, in 1871. Both couples also worked as licensed victuallers.
In 1891, Emma and Jeremiah were at the Golden Cross Inn on Shortheath Road in Erdington, while Harriet and Linnaeus Cutler were the tenants of the Old Irish Harp Inn, which still stands to this day on Chester Road, in Aldridge, Walsall.

John, a market gardener, also married into the same Cutler family in 1870. He and Ellen Cutler were the tenants of the Hare & Hounds in Handsworth, then the Bush Inn at New Oscott.

William, Caleb’s eldest son, had 8 children and worked 60 acres on Kingstanding Farm. At 32 years old, he became tenant of the Royal Oak in Perry Barr, also known as the Parson & Clerk, and where he remained for 23 years until his death.

George had 9 children. When Caleb retired to Kettlehouse farm in 1881, George took over the 180 acres of Blakelands farm, Handsworth, from his father.
.../...
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So Caleb, born in 1805, was the son of a hay trusser. At the age of 36 and in 1841 he is a publican and his address is Marsh Lane. This may have been the Hare and Hounds, as it mentioned as early as 1848, and Marsh Lane extended down Marsh Hill to Witton Hall. It seems quite a quick rise in status, was it due to his marriage in 1829 to Elizabeth of Edgbaston?
 
I've been looking at the Foden births and there are a lot of Foden baptisms, children of John & Sarah. However it appears that these are 2 different groups.

There's a John Foden listed in 1841 who is a Hay Trusser but he might possibly be Caleb's brother, son of an older John.

Another elder brother, Joshua, is living on Marsh Lane in 1841 as well, listed as a Gardener, in 1851 he's a farmer.
 
Glennys Jean said:
Caleb Foden was born in Erdington in 1805, the year of the battle of Trafalgar during the Napoleonic wars. He was the son of John, a hay trusser.

In 1841, Caleb describes himself as a publican and in 1851, as a market gardener and retail brewer. The readily available farm products, such as barley and hops, made beer making an easy and profitable business. It was, in fact, healthier to drink alcohol as at that time water could be quite unclean to drink. In some places in Britain, one in every three houses was licensed to manufacture and sell alcohol. A license was purchased from the Crown. You could then legally make and sell ale, beer or cider. Taverns in the towns sold wine as well and might also have spirits, while inns sold alcoholic drinks and offered rooms for travelers.

When he was 24 years old, he married Elizabeth Wells from the village of Edgbaston which was 7 miles (11 km) away. They may have met at a fair or market in their area, or perhaps they already knew each other through their respective families. He and Elizabeth had 5 boys, William, George, Henry, John and Charles who all followed in their father’s footsteps; they also had 2 girls called Emma and Harriet.

In 1881, all of Caleb’s family is found only a handful of miles from Erdington, in or around Perry Barr and Kingstanding, where the Fodens had become well-known as tenant farmers of the Perry Bar estate.

Daughter Emma married in 1863 with Jeremiah Cutler. The Fodens and the Cutlers, another farming family, knew each other well, so well that Emma’s sister Harriet married Jeremiah’s brother, Linnaeus, in 1871. Both couples also worked as licensed victuallers.
In 1891, Emma and Jeremiah were at the Golden Cross Inn on Shortheath Road in Erdington, while Harriet and Linnaeus Cutler were the tenants of the Old Irish Harp Inn, which still stands to this day on Chester Road, in Aldridge, Walsall.

John, a market gardener, also married into the same Cutler family in 1870. He and Ellen Cutler were the tenants of the Hare & Hounds in Handsworth, then the Bush Inn at New Oscott.

William, Caleb’s eldest son, had 8 children and worked 60 acres on Kingstanding Farm. At 32 years old, he became tenant of the Royal Oak in Perry Barr, also known as the Parson & Clerk, and where he remained for 23 years until his death.

George had 9 children. When Caleb retired to Kettlehouse farm in 1881, George took over the 180 acres of Blakelands farm, Handsworth, from his father.
.../...
Click to expand...

By the 1871 census GF is at Blakeland Farm and married to a Sarah. He has 67 acres and employs 2 labs and 1 boy.

In the 1861 census his wife is Elizabeth, and in 1864 he is still at the Hare and Hounds. In 1865 there is a death of an Elizabeth Foden. In 1868 a William Allin goes bankrupt and Blakeland Farm becomes available.

In 1869 there is a transfer of licences for a Handsworth licenced house from Calib to John Foden.

In 1880 Caleb sells the Stock at Blakeland.
 
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MWS said:
I've been looking at the Foden births and there are a lot of Foden baptisms, children of John & Sarah. However it appears that these are 2 different groups.

There's a John Foden listed in 1841 who is a Hay Trusser but he might possibly be Caleb's brother, son of an older John.

Another elder brother, Joshua, is living on Marsh Lane in 1841 as well, listed as a Gardener, in 1851 he's a farmer.
Click to expand...

Looking from the 1841 census at CF's father, John Foden, it suggests he was born in 1767 and in Cheshire. As Caleb was born in Birmingham his father may have died in 1829 and been buried in Aston Parish Church.

How do we know that Caleb’s father was a Hay Trusser?
 
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Pedrocut said:
Looking from the 1841 census at CF's father, John Foden, it suggests he was born in 1767 and in Cheshire. As Caleb was born in Birmingham his father may have died in 1829 and been buried in Aston Parish Church.

How do we know that Caleb’s father was a Hay Trusser?
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I'm afraid I haven't kept the record of where I found that, Pedrocut. At the time of my research, some time ago, it was the only link I could see for his father. (When I wrote this story, I never thought it be seen by other eyes than my very close family :) ).
 
Pedrocut said:
By the 1871 census GF is at Blakeland Farm and married to a Sarah. He has 67 acres and employs 2 labs and 1 boy.

In the 1861 census his wife is Elizabeth, and in 1864 he is still at the Hare and Hounds. In 1865 there is a death of an Elizabeth Foden. In 1868 a William Allin goes bankrupt and Blakeland Farm becomes available.

In 1869 there is a transfer of licences for a Handsworth licenced house from Calib to John Foden.

In 1880 Caleb sells the Stock at Blakeland.
Click to expand...
Would be interested to know how you found the info about the pub licences, bankruptcy and selling the stock at Blakelands pls.
 
A mass of information now seems to have emerged. I have attempted to jot down what I think is the line of Glennys and its links to Pedrocut and the Cutler family. But got confused and have given up on it! Too many Calebs, Williams and others!

Have either of you yet pulled everything in this thread together and started to put it into tree form? Would it be possible to see a simple manuscript summary of where things have got to?

Chris
 
ChrisM said:
A mass of information now seems to have emerged. I have attempted to jot down what I think is the line of Glennys and its links to Pedrocut and the Cutler family. But got confused and have given up on it! Too many Calebs, Williams and others!

Have either of you yet pulled everything in this thread together and started to put it into tree form? Would it be possible to see a simple manuscript summary of where things have got to?

Chris
Click to expand...
You going too fast Chris! :) My story hasn't yet got to Henry, son of Caleb, who is my direct line. Will do my best to simply the connection asap. Have you an email?
 
1592814279843.png

Arthur Foden - Charles and Eliza’s third son - came back from the Boer war and in 1911 farmed Park Farm. He then took over some land from Harry on the same Booth’s farm from 1916–1925.
When Arthur died in Great Barr in 1934 he left personal possessions of £16,479 19s. 2d.

In Arthur’s lineage we find Giles Foden who is an author and especially known for his book “The Last King of Scotland” which was made into a film in 2006 starring Forest Whitaker.

Arthur’s elder brother, Harry, passed away 4 years later in 1938 at Shenstone Hall, near Sutton Coldfield, and he also left handsome resources worth £18,437 2s 4d.

Did their fortunes come from indemnities on the 1921 Birmingham sale of the farms and land destined for housing purposes in the early 1930’s?
The lease of Perry Barr Common Farm - to their nephew Isaac Foden* in 1916 - contains a covenant as follows: The Lessee shall give up at any time, on receiving 21 days notice, any lands that may be required by the Lessor for building or development purposes of any description … and to make the Lessee reasonable compensation for any growing crops or unexhausted improvement in the land so taken.

*Isaac Foden, 1860 – 1923, left assets of £20,519 8s 7d (worth about £1 million in today’s money?).

.../...
 
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Henry Foden was Caleb’s third child, born in Erdington in 1836.
He grew up on the farm and began work as an agricultural pupil. Soon after his marriage with Maria Humphries in 1857, he became the bailiff of College farm in New Oscott which was next to St Mary’s Roman Catholic College (the now Oscott College on Chester Road) bordering Sutton park.
The first 5 of his children were born on the farm; alas 2 of them died as tiny babies and also one little girl at the age of 4.
1592814944859.png
Henry and Maria, with Charles Henry born 1862, Martha Emma (1864 – 1868), and on the lap of their joyful grandmother, James Ignatius born in 1866.
(Boys wore dresses until they were about 5 or old enough to handle their breeches alone).

By 1871, Henry and Maria had left the farm and were working as licensed victuallers at the Old Sun Inn, Coleshill Street, in Sutton Coldfield. The Inn’s most busy time was Sunday as it was the worker’s only day off and was also the nearest pub to the parish church. They employed a young male butler, a domestic servant, and a nurse to help with their youngest children.
Unfortunately, Henry died suddenly on 10th July 1872 when he was only 36 years old. An inquest was held on the same day and the Deputy coroner of Sutton Coldfield certified the cause of death as “disease of the heart”.
.../...
 
1592815219648.png
Maria wife of Henry Foden

Henry left 38 year old Maria with 5 young children; Charles Henry was 10, James Ignatius 6, Agnes Maria 3, Catherine 1, baby Louisa was just a few months old. His effects were worth less than £300. Administration of his affairs was granted to Maria in February 1873 but she found herself unable to continue running the Inn alone, probably unable to pay the debts that were left and so decided to declare herself bankrupt.
She then had to find another way of supporting herself and her children; the best way was to marry again. In January 1874, before the end of the customary 2 years of mourning which was considered normal in Victoria’s reign, she wed Charles Kent in Birmingham. Charles took the place of Henry at the Old Sun Inn.
However, just a few months later Maria suffered an epileptic fit and passed away on 23rd September 1874.
Henry’s personal estate had been left unadministered by Maria, and a new administration was granted on 13th December 1878, to Caleb Foden of Perry Barr in the county of Stafford, farmer and grandfather and guardian of Henry’s and Maria’s children and only next of kin. The estate was now under £100. Caleb was now their lawful guardian and had most probably stopped his grandchildren from being put into the pauper’s workhouse by their stepfather! He was then a respectable 73 years old and after the death of his wife Elizabeth in 1868, he had married again to Sarah Smith. It was therefore with Caleb’s accord that the children went to live with their maternal grandmother, Maria Humphries, who lived and took in boarders at the Fox Inn, a beerhouse in Holly Lane, Handsworth.
Caleb died soon after in January 1885. He left £466 4s. 4d. in his will.
 
Pedrocut said:
Looking from the 1841 census at CF's father, John Foden, it suggests he was born in 1767 and in Cheshire. As Caleb was born in Birmingham his father may have died in 1829 and been buried in Aston Parish Church.

How do we know that Caleb’s father was a Hay Trusser?
Click to expand...

There is a John Foden, son of John & Elizabeth, baptised Walsall 1766.
 
When Caleb married Elizabeth in 1829, the marriage was witnessed by a Joshua and Sarah Foden. There are candidates in the 1841 census for Joshua and Sarah, both 35 and living in Marsh Lane. Joshua is marked as a gardener.
Caleb is a Publican in Marsh Lane and he has an Agricultural Labourer by the name of Charles Wells living there. Could this be a brother of Elizabeth (formerly Wells) ?

Is Joshua a brother of Caleb ?

Well Joshua was also married in July 1829 in Edgbaston and the witnesses were Elizabeth and Caleb Foden.

In 1851 Sale of freehold residence and cottage house with large productive gardens etc. Marsh Lane in the occupation of Joshua Fedon and Thomas Reynolds.

There are also others of the name Wells in Marsh Lane.
 
Joshua is Caleb's brother and Charles is Elizabeth's. Charles appears to spend his whole life with the Fodens, Caleb in 1841 and 1851, and John (his nephew) in 1871 and 1881.
 
Pedrocut & MWS, - that is fantastic news! Thks so much. I myself never got that far and I always wondered what Charles Wells was doing there all the time.
Maybe Elizabeth & Charles had something to do with the grand Wells farming family of Warren farm and Pool farm in Erdington. In fact, Louisa Foden b1872 (daughter of Henry Foden b 1836 -see thread #82) married into that family in 1892.
 
Quick look and it appears that Thomas Joseph Wells' mother was Mary Goowin, the sister of Louisa's aunt Sarah Goodwin, the wife of George Foden.
 
Thomas was the son of George Augustine Wells who is listed as a Farmer in 1871, as was his father George in 1851.
 
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