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During The Ashdown Forest Dispute 1876-1882 commoners and land owners were interviewed by the solicitor William Raper. Their comments were recorded in a series of notebooks:
Edwards, George. Living at the Furnace Farm, formerly called the Yew Tree and part of the Hartfield Grove Estate. Farmer and carpenter.
I was born on 15 November 1814 on the Forest close by Coleman's Hatch in the house now occupied by James Wheatley (stone digger - witness). My Father (now dead) told me that he enclosed the land and built the house and I believe he always paid 2/6 a year to Lord De La Warr's predecessors for it. He sold it before his death to Wheatley's father. At 1'/2 years old we removed to the Lodge at the South end of the Five Hundred, where my father lived as a sort of caretaker for Lord Whitworth and at the same time worked regularly as sawyer till his death for Lord Whitworth and George John, Lord De La Warr. I lived with him till I was 17. When I was about 11 years old I went as carter boy on Fisher's Gate Farm in Withyham which was farmed by Lord Whitworth and afterwards by George John, Lord De La Warr. As soon as I was big enough I worked as a sawyer for Lord Whitworth at Fishers Gate sawyard. When I was 17 I went to Uckfield and was apprenticed to a carpenter and worked there 8 years, coming home once in every 5 or 6 weeks. When I was 24 I married and came to work for Lord De La Warr as a carpenter and worked for him for 19 years. During this time I, with my brother Joseph Edwards, first lived at the Pest House for 2 or 3 years. Then had a cottage and field near the 500 roughs for several years and when I had worked for Lord De La Warr about 11 years I took Little Bassetts Farm, a field of Neave's Farm adjoining both in Hartfield close to Chuck Hatch and belonging to Lord De La Warr and farmed it for 16 years. The last 8 years I left off working for Lord De La Warr and worked about with my own team. In 1866 I moved to Furnace Farm which I have had ever since.
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William Edwards | m: 4th Aug 1802 St. Denys Church, Rotherfield, Sussex | Ann Daniel | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
b: c 1780 | b: c 1780 | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
William | Joseph | Elizabeth | Martha | George | Susanna | Mary Anne | Robert | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
b: 1804 Hartfield, Sussex ch: 10th Jun 1804 St. Mary's Church | b: 1806 Hartfield, Sussex ch: 21st Dec 1806 St. Mary's Church | b: 1809 Hartfield, Sussex ch: 26th Mar 1809 St. Mary's Church | b: 1811 Hartfield, Sussex ch: 28th Jul 1811 St. Mary's Church | b: 15th Nov 1814 Hartfield, Sussex ch: 27th Nov 1814 St. Mary's Church | b: 1817 Withyham, Sussex ch: 20th Apr 1817 St. Michael's Church | b: 1819 Withyham, Sussex ch: 7th Nov 1819 St. Michael's Church | b: 1822 Withyham, Sussex ch: 10th Mar 1822 St. Michael's Church | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
George Edwards carpenter | m: 15th Jan 1839 St Bartholomew Parish Church, Maresfield, Sussex | Elizabeth Best | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
b: 15th Nov 1814 Hartfield, Sussex ch: 27th Nov 1814 St. Mary's Church | b: c 1815 Hartfield, Sussex | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
Edwin | Eleanor Jane | Henry | Robert John | William | Joseph | Percy | Annie Elizabeth | b: 1839 Hartfield, Sussex ch: 2nd Feb 1839 St. Mary's Church | b: 1845 Hartfield, Sussex ch: 27th Apr 1845 St. Mary's Church | b: 1849 Hartfield, Sussex ch: 2nd Dec 1849 St. Mary's Church | b: 1852 Hartfield, Sussex ch: 29th Feb 1852 St. Mary's Church | b: 1854 Hartfield, Sussex ch: 24th Sep 1854 St. Mary's Church | b: 1856 Hartfield, Sussex ch: 23rd Nov 1856 St. Mary's Church | b: 1859 Hartfield, Sussex ch: 27th Feb 1859 St. Mary's Church | b: 1861 Hartfield, Sussex ch: 7th Apr 1861 St. Mary's Church | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
Caroline | George | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
b: 1843 Hartfield, Sussex ch: 27th Aug 1843 St. Mary's Church | b: 1847 Hartfield, Sussex ch: 30th May 1847 St. Mary's Church | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
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