A Country Tale - Images of Rural Life

Looking at this week’s prompt it seems appropriate to write about dogs, shepherds, sheep, views, and/or gates. Why then have I chosen to write about countrymen with beards? Simply because the Sepia Saturday photograph (left) reminds me of my great-great grandfather Benjamin Stopps. The two men don’t look particularly alike. The similarity has more to do with them both being men of the land.

My father was also a 'man of the land', a farm worker through and through.  He judged the weather by the feel of the wind and the smell of the air. Clouds don’t only have silver linings they also have a myriad of different colours and hues, each with a different meaning. Did you know a yellow tinge to the clouds is a forewarning of snow?  It may not be true in other parts of the world, but it certainly is in England.   

Farming is a recurring theme in my family. My great-great grandfather Benjamin Stopps (1845-1928) lived and worked at Little Kimble in Buckinghamshire, England. According to the 1881 census, he farmed one hundred and thirty seven acres with the help of two men and a boy. An aunt of mine described him as a witty, handsome fellow with shining flashing eyes. I have to say he looks very dashing in this, the only photograph I have of him. Dressed in his best (or perhaps only) suit Benjamin is pictured at the wedding of his daughter Clara Ann Stopps to Edwin Thomas Bonham in the summer of 1906.

Images of rural life (the title of this post) suggests more than one photograph, not wishing to disappoint I'm going to share a few unrelated images of English country folk.  I hope you enjoy them.

This is James Minns c1901, reputed to be the oldest woodcutter in England. Born in Ditchingham, Norfolk in 1826, he was seventy-five when the photograph was taken. Suffering from failing eyesight the authorities decided James would be better of in the workhouse. James disagreed declaring he would sooner lie down and die by the side of the road. When the local squire heard this he offered him a free cottage and a shilling a week for the rest of his life.

Can you guess the occupation of 'Brusher' Mills?  In this photograph taken c1895 he is holding a two-pronged fork and has a large pair of tweezers hanging from the front of his waistcoat.  Both useful items when you spend your days catching snakes. Once caught the snakes were exhibited and sold at fairs and horse sales.

The falconer; Major C. Hawkins Fisher, of Stroud, Gloucestershire. November, 1901. 

This photograph taken in the North Riding of Yorkshire c1900 shows Kit Metcalfe knitting stockings. Kit knitted the fancy tops while his wife Betty did the rest.   

A forester on the South Ormsby estate, Lincolnshire enjoying a clay pipe after his midday meal. 

The following image shows a carter carrying the sign of his trade, a whip, he is wearing a carter’s smock and a crowned felt hat. The male 'smoke frock' or smock, evolved in the mid 1700s and continued to be worn until after the First World War. Roomy, long-sleeved and extending to the knees, smocks were worn to protect workers from the elements, and to keep their clothes clean.  

This fine looking chap with his flock of Hampshire Downs Sheep was photographed somewhere near Stonehenge, Wiltshire c1900. It's likely he and his sheep were on the way to the Marlborough sheep fair.

A report of the Marlborough Sheep Fair in the Swindon Advertiser August, 1902.

Thanks for visiting. Let me now guide you over to Sepia Saturday where you will be able to see what the rest of the flock are up to.

The Sepia Saturday photograph taken by Colonel Joseph Gale in 1890 is titled Ninety and Nine a Biblical reference to the parable of The Lost Sheep (A shepherd with one hundred sheep goes out to look for the missing one). 

With thanks to Alan Smith/Louise Janes-Stopps for the photograph of Benjamin Stopps
All other photographs Country Life, London.