Bronwyn's Molecatcher - a trail from an e-mail
(This story was originally published in the Millennium edition of the Walkington Newsletter. A couple of years later Bronwyn and her husband Chris travelled to the UK, met with us and spent some time exploring this area. We remain in contact and in 2009 my daughters and I visited them in Townsville, Queensland. Ed.)
Since its 'birth' late in 1999 the Walkington News website has attracted numerous visitors,
including some from very far afield. One such visitor e-mailed the site from her
home in Australia at the beginning of May 2000. She had enjoyed the photographic
tour of the village, and wondered if anyone could help her to trace her husband's great grandmother who lived here in the 1850s to 1870s. The family name was Conder.
By a happy coincidence we had recently transcribed the census records for Walkington
in 1871 and 1891 for the school, so were rapidly able to find the family, who were
living on Northgate in 1871. Another Conder, Clara J., was living as a servant at one of the farms and was probably from the same family. The father, Richard, was a molecatcher.
This information winged its way to Bronwyn in Queensland and a day later came a
delighted reply. Clara appeared to be the very person she was seeking. Her age was
given as 18, which fitted with Bronwyn's information that she was born in 1853, but
more checking was needed to be sure.
A little publication called the Index to 1851 Census for Beverley District provided
the next link, as it lists all of the entries by surname, with first names, age, place of
birth and folio reference, thus enabling the full records to be found. From that
information it took just an hour or so in Beverley reference library to find two Conder households, one in South Cave and the molecatcher's here in Walkington in 1851.
Checks of the census records for 1841 failed to find any Conders in Walkington,
so they must have moved here between those years.
The 1861 census showed the family on Northgate, probably very close to the Primitive Methodist Chapel (now No.38), and with Clara Jane, age 8, among their number.
An overnight exchange of e-mails followed, bringing the information that Clara Jane
was believed to have married a young policeman, William Cooper, possibly at
Walkington in around 1876. My next port-of-call was therefore the Beverley
archive office, recently relocated to an old chapel on Lord Roberts Road, in search
of the Walkington marriage register. Success! The wedding had indeed taken place
in June of that year. As a bonus, the very next entry in the register (September 1876)
was the marriage of William's brother, Piercy, who had been a witness to the earlier
wedding. Two further weddings of Conder family members were also found in the same volume, which all helped to add to the family tree.
Whilst in the archive I took the opportunity to look at the register of burials, in order
to try to identify the year in which Bronwyn's molecatcher died. The census records
indicated that he had passed on between 1871 and 1881, and it only took a few
minutes to find the information I was seeking: Richard Conder, age 71, was
buried here in Walkington in February 1879. His widow, Isabella, lived on in
the village until February 1889. Also in the same register were records of the
burial of two infant Conders, in 1873 and 1876. Both were girls, and the second
one was called Clara. Had I found a record of an early tragedy in the married
life of Clara Jane and William, who were eventually to have four sons, or were
both babies the children of Clara Jane's elder brother, John? I had to await
Bronwyn's reply and then spend some time looking at the Parish record of
baptisms to find out.
In the space of just a few days I had uncovered a small but fascinating chapter in
the life of our village over a century ago, when villages had molecatchers and beehive
makers and shoemakers. A time when infant mortality was high and the census was
carried out by enumerators who went from house to house recording family
information directly in the record book, because so few people were sufficiently
literate to fill out a census form themselves. By using our modern technology it was
possible to share that story as it unfolded with someone half a world away, who has
in turn been able to share the new family knowledge with Conder descendants
here in the UK.
Bronwyn herself now can't wait to come here to see the place where Richard the
molecatcher worked and raised his large family, and Clara Jane grew up and
married her policeman.
Pam Hardy
Following the publication of this item, Thomas Conder wrote to add a bit more about
the family:
Richard (the molecatcher) was born in Middlehawe, Westmorland in 1808. He was one
of 14 children to John Conder and Esther nee Waterhouse. Richard married Isobella in
Dent in September 1838. They then migrated to the Beverley area.
The earliest record found is the 1841 census for Skidby showing Richard & Isobella
with their young but smaller family. Richard's brother Samuel can be found living in
Beverley during this period. The only son of Richard & Isobella migrated to Liverpool
in the early 1860's and settled to start what is now the Liverpool Conders.
Tom Conder, Liverpool
Since its 'birth' late in 1999 the Walkington News website has attracted numerous visitors,
including some from very far afield. One such visitor e-mailed the site from her
home in Australia at the beginning of May 2000. She had enjoyed the photographic
tour of the village, and wondered if anyone could help her to trace her husband's great grandmother who lived here in the 1850s to 1870s. The family name was Conder.
By a happy coincidence we had recently transcribed the census records for Walkington
in 1871 and 1891 for the school, so were rapidly able to find the family, who were
living on Northgate in 1871. Another Conder, Clara J., was living as a servant at one of the farms and was probably from the same family. The father, Richard, was a molecatcher.
This information winged its way to Bronwyn in Queensland and a day later came a
delighted reply. Clara appeared to be the very person she was seeking. Her age was
given as 18, which fitted with Bronwyn's information that she was born in 1853, but
more checking was needed to be sure.
A little publication called the Index to 1851 Census for Beverley District provided
the next link, as it lists all of the entries by surname, with first names, age, place of
birth and folio reference, thus enabling the full records to be found. From that
information it took just an hour or so in Beverley reference library to find two Conder households, one in South Cave and the molecatcher's here in Walkington in 1851.
Checks of the census records for 1841 failed to find any Conders in Walkington,
so they must have moved here between those years.
The 1861 census showed the family on Northgate, probably very close to the Primitive Methodist Chapel (now No.38), and with Clara Jane, age 8, among their number.
An overnight exchange of e-mails followed, bringing the information that Clara Jane
was believed to have married a young policeman, William Cooper, possibly at
Walkington in around 1876. My next port-of-call was therefore the Beverley
archive office, recently relocated to an old chapel on Lord Roberts Road, in search
of the Walkington marriage register. Success! The wedding had indeed taken place
in June of that year. As a bonus, the very next entry in the register (September 1876)
was the marriage of William's brother, Piercy, who had been a witness to the earlier
wedding. Two further weddings of Conder family members were also found in the same volume, which all helped to add to the family tree.
Whilst in the archive I took the opportunity to look at the register of burials, in order
to try to identify the year in which Bronwyn's molecatcher died. The census records
indicated that he had passed on between 1871 and 1881, and it only took a few
minutes to find the information I was seeking: Richard Conder, age 71, was
buried here in Walkington in February 1879. His widow, Isabella, lived on in
the village until February 1889. Also in the same register were records of the
burial of two infant Conders, in 1873 and 1876. Both were girls, and the second
one was called Clara. Had I found a record of an early tragedy in the married
life of Clara Jane and William, who were eventually to have four sons, or were
both babies the children of Clara Jane's elder brother, John? I had to await
Bronwyn's reply and then spend some time looking at the Parish record of
baptisms to find out.
In the space of just a few days I had uncovered a small but fascinating chapter in
the life of our village over a century ago, when villages had molecatchers and beehive
makers and shoemakers. A time when infant mortality was high and the census was
carried out by enumerators who went from house to house recording family
information directly in the record book, because so few people were sufficiently
literate to fill out a census form themselves. By using our modern technology it was
possible to share that story as it unfolded with someone half a world away, who has
in turn been able to share the new family knowledge with Conder descendants
here in the UK.
Bronwyn herself now can't wait to come here to see the place where Richard the
molecatcher worked and raised his large family, and Clara Jane grew up and
married her policeman.
Pam Hardy
Following the publication of this item, Thomas Conder wrote to add a bit more about
the family:
Richard (the molecatcher) was born in Middlehawe, Westmorland in 1808. He was one
of 14 children to John Conder and Esther nee Waterhouse. Richard married Isobella in
Dent in September 1838. They then migrated to the Beverley area.
The earliest record found is the 1841 census for Skidby showing Richard & Isobella
with their young but smaller family. Richard's brother Samuel can be found living in
Beverley during this period. The only son of Richard & Isobella migrated to Liverpool
in the early 1860's and settled to start what is now the Liverpool Conders.
Tom Conder, Liverpool
