Thomas Gilson
1805–1884
BIRTH 11 FEB 1805 Stodeston, Shropshire, England
DEATH JUL 1884 Ludlow, Shropshire, England
Relationship;- 3rd great-grandfather of wife
Thomas son of Thomas and Sarah Gilson was born 11th February 1805 and Christened on 13th February 1805 at Bitterley Parish Church, St. Mary's, by Rev. John Walcot, Rector.
St Marys Church Bitterley Shropshire by Trevor Rickard
The church was constructed in the 12th and 13th centuries. There were alterations in the 17th century. Littleton Powys was patron of the church, where, in 1707, he set up a gallery at the west end, and in which he was buried after his death in 1732. The church was restored during the later 19th century. On 12 November 1954, the church became a Grade II* listed building, while on the same day, the cross in the churchyard was listed as Grade I.
The same information as the Parish Record above, but from the Bishop's Transcript.
Shropshire LXXIX.NE, Revised: 1902, Published: 1904 NLS OS Six inch Map - Nine Springs Farm and St Marys Church Bitterley.
St Mary's Church, Bitterley, circled in blue, and Nine Springs circled in light blue. The reason for the latter will become apparent.
The church is not located in the centre of the village of Bitterley but adjacent to Bitterley Court.
Thomas Gilson Details
Thomas Gilson
Born on 11th February 1805 and Christened on 13th February 1805 to parents Thomas and Sarah Gilson.
He married Elizabeth
They had eight children together, three boys and five girls.
He worked variously as a Lime Burner, Miner, and latterly as an Agricultural Labourer.
He appears to have lived most of his live in or near Nine Springs Farm, Cleehill, Bitterley, Ludlow, Shropshire, England.
For the time he had a long life of xx years.
Thomas Gilson's Records
Birth and Baptism records
See above
Marriage records
Census records
Below is an extract from the 1851 Census.
This is the reason for making the above assumptions about Nine Springs Farm, helped by the fact that it is still called that according to Google Maps. 9 Springs equates to Nine Springs Farm.
Thomas Gilson, aged 46, lived there with his family, Elizabeth, his wife, 49, son, Thomas, 10, and daughter, also Elizabeth, 1. Thomas Gilson, the head of the family is recorded as being an agricultural labourer. He was born in Stottesdon, about 9 miles to the NE, with the rest of the family having been born in Bitterley, all in the county of Shropshire, aka Salop.
Having found the 1851 Census, it is time to search for the 1841 Census record, which was found on FindmyPast.
The location of this record is Cottage, but on a nearby page is a reference to Nine Springs, with a Mr Thomas Bale, the same name as the 1851 Census. This could be explained by different enumerators recording in slightly different ways, with the 1841 one recording the various cottages associated with a farm as cottage, and the later one recording the cottages as part of the farm. Having said that there are twenty families with location Cottage, between Nine Springs and the Thomas Gilson record, and a further four families before the next location of Coldhampton. The next location was the village of Snitton.
Looking at the density of families between 1841 and 1851, it would appear as if a local employer had collapsed, leading to people moving away for alternative employment. A similar pattern appears to be the case for the Gilson. A large family, with 6 children in 1841, but only one of those left in 1851, and only one additional surviving child in the decade between Census.
Thomas Gilson, aged 35 with his occupation being a Lime Burner. His wife, Elizabeth is stated as being 35, compared to 49 in the 1851 Census.
The oldest child listed is John, aged 10, already working as a Miner in Coal.
Hannah, 8, Sarah, 6, and Jane 3 are their daughters. Their other sons are William aged 5 years and Thomas, 5 months.
The 1841 census was taken on the night of 6 June 1841 and gave the total population as 18,553,124. Given that young Thomas was born on 1st January 1841, he was actually 6 months on the date of the Census.
Census 1861
Thomas Gilson aged 57, head of the household, an agricultural labourer born in Bitterley, Shropshire, living with his wife Elizabeth Gilson aged 60, and born in Stottesden, Shropshire and their daughter also Elizabeth Gilson aged 16, unmarried, born in Bitterley.
Perhaps just there on the night of the census, or maybe longer, there are also two grand-children. Charles Yapp aged 6 and Jane Yapp aged 4, both born in Ludlow, Shropshire.
Census 1871
First note is that Thomas Bate, previously the farmer of 20 acres at Nine Springs Farm is now an Agent with the location recorded as Bedlam. No, he has not been committed to a mental hospital. Bedlam is the nearest hamlet. Horseditch and Horseditch House are closer, but it is only a small collection of buildings, not even a hamlet. This therefore is another case of the granulation of location by the enumerator. Some of them try to give each home a separate location others just refer to a general area.
Thomas Gilson head of the family, aged 66 and still and agricultural labourer, and still recorded as born in Bitterly. His wife was Elizabeth Gilson aged 69, born in Farlow, which was previously recorded as Stottesden or Stottesdon. They are about 3 miles apart. It is therefore likely that Farlow is the more accurate of the two. Farlow is about 6 miles walk, or 2 hours away from Nine Springs, but only 3.4 miles in a straight line.
Their daughter, Jane Gilson is now married with the surname Davis, aged 34. She is recorded as born in Bitterley.
Her son, their grandson, Ebenezer, aged 6, was recorded as born in Dudley, Worcestershire.
Is it just a coincidence that the next entry is also a Davis.
Census 1881
Census 1891
Thomas Gilson's Work and location
From the records, it would seem that Thomas Gilson and family lived in the area of the Nine Springs Farm, through most of his life.
Shropshire LXXIX.3, Revised: 1902, Published: 1940 - NLS OS 25 Map Nine Springs Farm, Clee Hill, Bitterley, Ludlow
From the Tithe Map and Apportionment we can get even more detail. The date of the Bitterley Tithe Apportionment was 14th February 1839.
There are records for Thomas Gilson Junior and Senior.
Thomas Gilson Senior is farming the land with the light blue colour wash and his home is circled.
Thomas Gilson Junior is farming the land with the light yellow colour wash and his home is circled.
The green circle is the Nine Springs Farm occupied by Thomas Bate.
The land is owned Honourable Robert Henry Clive. He owned the majority of the land in the parish.
The same map as above but zoomed out to show the locational relationship between Nine Springs Farm, Cleehill, Bitterley, and Ludlow, just off the map. Walking distance between Nine Springs Farm and Cleehill is about 1 1/2 miles, about 30 minutes.
Industries in the area.
There are a number of quarries and collieries in the area including;
- Titterstone Quarry, served by the Titterstone Incline. Coal, roadstone and dark “dhu stone,” a carboniferous dolerite.
- Quarries and mines in the vicinity of Horseditch and Horseditch House, including coal.
- Old earthworks South of Hoar Edge.
- Colliery near Whatsill x 3
- Catherton Colliery near Magpie Hill, 1880 to 1914
- Quarries near Whatsill
- Cutley Colliery at Doddington
- Gibbet Colliery north of Shetfields
- Cornbrook Colliery near Cornbrook, 1880 to 1885
- Trout's Pit Colliery near Cornbrook, 1890 to 1895
- Quarries at Cornbrook
- Belfry Colliery near Cornbrook
- Cleehill Works, granite quarry
- Dhu Stone Quarries near Cleehill
- Old Furnace near Cleehill
- Old Limekilns, just south of Old Furnace
- Brickworks in the vicinity of the Old Furnace
The area is peppered with quarries and collieries with more opening after both the 1841 and 1851 Census.
The area around the Clee Hills, (a few miles east of Ludlow) is famous for its quarrying industry, which still works the very hard basaltic dhu-stone for road building. Brick making, iron working and coal mining were also once important to the local economy. In the 19th Century an iron furnace was built in Knowbury using the local iron ore, fired by local coal.
NLS Old OS Map Land Utilisation Survey 1931 - 1938 - Clee Hill
OS Land Utilisation Survey 1931 -1938 with Nine Springs circled in light blue, the aforesaid Acient Monument marked and circled in orange, and towards the bottom edge, an old Furnace, circled in red. There is a brickworks near the old Furnace according to another map. It is not necessirlarily where Thomas Gilson worked as a Lime Burner.
NLS OS 10 Mile Coal and Iron Map 1945 ( based on 1940 report) - Clee Hill area
OS Map of Coal and Iron showing the coal fields in the vicinity of Nine Springs with the marker remaining at the Coal mining remains immediately north east of Horseditch House on Clee Hill, Bitterley, Shropshire (ancientmonuments.uk)
Thomas Gilson's Wife
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Thomas Gilson's Parents
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Thomas Gilson's Children
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Nancy Gilson
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John Gilson
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Hannah Susannah Gilson
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Sarah Gilson
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William Gilson
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Jane Gilson
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Thomas John Gilson
Thomas Gilson
Relationship;- 2nd great-grandfather of wife.
Thomas Gilson was born on 1st January 1841, in Bitterley, Shropshire, England according to his birth certificate. From subsequent information his birth could have been in Nine Springs Farm, Clee Hill, Bitterley, Shropshire, England.
The locations mentioned, Ludlow, Cainham, or Caynham, and Bitterley are all in the same area and are easily considered to be of increasing granularity.
On 24th January 1841 Thomas, son of Thomas and Elizabeth Gilson, whose recorded abode was Clee Hill, also near Bitterley, was baptised. His father's occupation is stated as Labourer.
Shropshire LXXIX.3, Revised: 1902, Published: 1940 - NLS OS 25 Map Nine Springs Farm, Clee Hill, Bitterley, Ludlow
The same map as above but zoomed out to show the locational relationship between Nine Springs Farm, Cleehill, Bitterley, and Ludlow, just off the map. Walking distance between Nine Springs Farm and Cleehill is about 1 1/2 miles, about 30 minutes.
Below is an extract from the 1851 Census.
This is the reason for making the above assumptions about Nine Springs Farm, helped by the fact that it is still called that according to Google Maps. 9 Springs equates to Nine Springs Farm.
Thomas Gilson, aged 46, lived there with his family, Elizabeth, his wife, 49, son, Thomas, 10, and daughter, also Elizabeth, 1. Thomas Gilson, the head of the family is recorded as being an agricultural labourer. He was born in Stottesdon, about 9 miles to the NE, with the rest of the family having been born in Bitterley, all in the county of Shropshire, aka Salop.
Having found the 1851 Census, it is time to search for the 1841 Census record, which was found on FindmyPast.
The location of this record is Cottage, but on a nearby page is a reference to Nine Springs, with a Mr Thomas Bale, the same name as the 1851 Census. This could be explained by different enumerators recording in slightly different ways, with the 1841 one recording the various cottages associated with a farm as cottage, and the later one recording the cottages as part of the farm. Having said that there are twenty families with location Cottage, between Nine Springs and the Thomas Gilson record, and a further four families before the next location of Coldhampton. The next location was the village of Snitton.
Looking at the density of families between 1841 and 1851, it would appear as if a local employer had collapsed, leading to people moving away for alternative employment. A similar pattern appears to be the case for the Gilson. A large family, with 6 children in 1841, but only one of those left in 1851, and only one additional surviving child in the decade between Census.
Thomas Gilson, aged 35 with his occupation being a Lime Burner. His wife, Elizabeth is stated as being 35, compared to 49 in the 1851 Census.
The oldest child listed is John, aged 10, already working as a Miner in Coal.
Hannah, 8, Sarah, 6, and Jane 3 are their daughters. Their other sons are William aged 5 years and Thomas, 5 months.
The 1841 census was taken on the night of 6 June 1841 and gave the total population as 18,553,124. Given that young Thomas was born on 1st January 1841, he was actually 6 months on the date of the Census.
Industries in the area.
There are a number of quarries and collieries in the area including;
- Titterstone Quarry, served by the Titterstone Incline. Coal, roadstone and dark “dhu stone,” a carboniferous dolerite.
- Quarries and mines in the vicinity of Horseditch and Horseditch House, including coal.
- Old earthworks South of Hoar Edge.
- Colliery near Whatsill x 3
- Catherton Colliery near Magpie Hill, 1880 to 1914
- Quarries near Whatsill
- Cutley Colliery at Doddington
- Gibbet Colliery north of Shetfields
- Cornbrook Colliery near Cornbrook, 1880 to 1885
- Trout's Pit Colliery near Cornbrook, 1890 to 1895
- Quarries at Cornbrook
- Belfry Colliery near Cornbrook
- Cleehill Works, granite quarry
- Dhu Stone Quarries near Cleehill
- Old Furnace near Cleehill
- Old Limekilns, just south of Old Furnace
- Brickworks in the vicinity of the Old Furnace
The area is peppered with quarries and collieries with more opening after both the 1841 and 1851 Census.
The area around the Clee Hills, (a few miles east of Ludlow) is famous for its quarrying industry, which still works the very hard basaltic dhu-stone for road building. Brick making, iron working and coal mining were also once important to the local economy. In the 19th Century an iron furnace was built in Knowbury using the local iron ore, fired by local coal.
NLS Old OS Map Land Utilisation Survey 1931 - 1938 - Clee Hill
OS Land Utilisation Survey 1931 -1938 with Nine Springs circled in light blue, the aforesaid Acient Monument marked and circled in orange, and towards the bottom edge, an old Furnace, circled in red. There is a brickworks near the old Furnace according to another map. It is not necessirlarily where Thomas Gilson worked as a Lime Burner.
NLS OS 10 Mile Coal and Iron Map 1945 ( based on 1940 report) - Clee Hill area
OS Map of Coal and Iron showing the coal fields in the vicinity of Nine Springs with the marker remaining at the Coal mining remains immediately north east of Horseditch House on Clee Hill, Bitterley, Shropshire (ancientmonuments.uk)
Elizabeth Gilson
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Thomas Gilson's Summary
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