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"The
Shrimpton Family Group" crest
by Valda Shrimpton
SHRIMPTON
FAMILY TREE
gggggreat grandfather
to ggreat grandfather
John =
Katherine Fryer
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John =
Elizabeth Preston
bapt. 1718 - b. 1787
Long Crendon
needle maker
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Thomas =
Sarah Deane
bapt. 1749 - b. 1818
needle maker
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Mathew -
Eliz. Burnard
bapt. 1794 - b. 1860
needle maker
needle manufacturer
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Needle stamping at
Shrimpton and Fletcher Ltd, Redditch in 1927
My
thanks to Valda Shrimpton for her research into the Shrimpton
family history and for the details of the family connection
with needle making. Her family group
crest is shown at the top of the page. |
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| Felmersham
Local History Book |
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I have written 2 books on the local history
of Felmersham and Radwell they are entitled "Felmersham - The
History of a Riverside Parish" and "Bygone Felmersham and
Radwell". They are both available from: Milton Ernest Garden Centre; Sharnbrook Post
Office and Town and County Books, High Street, Bedford. Click below
for details:
Felmersham - The
History of a Riverside Parish
Bygone Felmersham and Radwell |
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The Shrimpton Family
and
The Needle Makers of Long Crendon
Needle
making was a cottage industry with each household contributing towards
the manufacture of the needles. There were drawers,
cutters, pointers, piercers and
polishers, after each operation the part finished needles were passed
through a hole in the cottage wall to the next door
neighbour who would
continue with the manufacturing process.
By 1560, needles were being made in Long Crendon, Bucks.
John Shrimpton (bapt. 1718 - b. 1787) my great, great, great, great
grandfather was, by 1738, working in Long
Crendon as a needle maker. He had 6 sons all of whom worked in the
industry and 25 grandsons, 17 of
whom were also needle makers. 201
Shrimptons were baptised in the parish, according to the Anglican rite,
between 1754 and 1835. There were a comparable number of non-conformist Shrimptons,
through conversion and birth, as the 19C
progressed. By the early 1800's the
Shrimptons dominated the village and the local needle industry. Gradually the industry became mechanised
and moved to Redditch and there was a very
large rate of emigration from the 1820's onwards,
particularly of the non-conformist needle
makers, to Redditch. |
Long Crendon circa 1900 |
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The last
three Shrimpton needle makers in Long Crendon were
"Sylvannus"
Shrimpton who made surgical needles and died in 1887, David
Shrimpton (1817-1888) and finally Mathew Shrimpton who died in 1896. |
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Jerome
Shrimpton who lived in Cripplegate St. Giles in the city of
London was the first known Shrimpton needle
maker. He also
doubled as a tailor and an Elizabethan minstrel in his
spare time. He was around at the end of the C16th and the
beginning of the 17th centuries. |
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North
Bedfordshire Turret Clocks
In 1984 Chris Pickford and myself started researching the history of all
the turret clocks in North Bedfordshire. By 1990 the research work was
completed and the results were written up. We intend to publish our
research under the title Turret Clocks of North Bedfordshire. The
book will be self published so watch this space! |
Sharnbrook wooden framed
turret clock,
circa 1680.
Restored by KFS and on display in St Mary's, Felmersham. |
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What is a
turret clock?
A turret clock is any clock which displays the time on a dial or sounds
the hours by sticking a bell and is so positioned that it can be seen or
heard outside the building in which it is located. They are generally
installed in public buildings such as churches or railway stations, however some
can be seen on private properties.
Our
study involved photographing, recording and researching all the turret clocks in North Bedfordshire.
Many of the clocks are very old and one or two predate
the pendulum invented in 1656.
The survey also included public sun dials and medieval scratch dials. A
scratch dial can be found on the south face of some churches. They are
very primitive and they are not very good time markers,
sometimes they
are referred to as mass dials. |
Scratch dial from St Mary's Church, Felmersham |
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