A representative picture of Boraston village derived from the 1841 Census records taken on the night of 6th June 1841.
Where possible the dwellings have been identified with current houses in the village.
We start our walk on what is now the A456 Tenbury Wells to Newnham Bridge road. In Hammer Mill house, about one hundred yards from the Peacock Inn, lived Benjamin Bowen (65yrs) with his wife Drusilla (50yrs), Mr Bowen was a cooper. The Bowens had twins, Mary and John, and another son Samuel. John was also a cooper, as was 15 year old William Gwinne, possibly an apprentice to Mr Bowen.
60 year old William Jones was an agricultural labourer who also lived at Hammer Mill House along with his wife Jane aged 65 yrs.
At the Peacock Inn, the publican was Mr Esau Smallman (50yrs) and his wife Mary aged 45yrs.
They had three sons, William, Henry and George along with two daughters, Mary and Louisa.
They had a servant, Sarah Edwards.
In 1841 the Kington, Leominster and Stourport Canal was still in existence and ran along the southern border of the village parallel to what is now the A456, Walking under the canal bridge and up the lane towards the centre of the village we come to Boraston Cottage, the home of Maria Smith (78yrs), a lady of independent means, and her son Richard. They had a domestic servant, Margaret Wellings and a gardener, Richard Wall. This may have been what was subsequently called Old Hill, and is now Hammermill Farm.
Further up the hill we come to five unidentifiable dwellings towards the centre of the village. In the first lived 20 year old William Nott an agricultural labourer, with his 25 year old wife Elizabeth.
The second was the home of William Didlick (50yrs) and his wife Sarah aged 45yrs. William was also an agricultural labourer.
A stonemason, William Howell (30yrs) lived in the third cottage with his wife Sarah aged 24yrs.
In the fourth house lived sisters Mary and Hannah Good. Mary was 50 years old and Hannah was 55yrs. They were both farmers and had a younger sister, Harriet.
The final house of this group was the home of Elizabeth Adams (50yrs), a lady of independent means. Also at this house were Thomas Wheeler, William Woodyat, William Davis and a servant Hannah Preece.
There were no children living in any of these houses.
The next identifiable dwelling was Yew Tree House, the home of 55 year old farmer William Gibbs and his wife Susan aged 50yrs. Mr and Mrs Gibbs had seven children; William, Thomas, Harriet, James, Martha, Eliza and Edmund. James Bowen and Thomas Preece also lived at Yew Tree House, making a total of eleven inhabitants. This may have been the house that is now called Holmside.
Turning right at the junction in the centre of the village towards Tan Hill we come to two cottages, possibly Court Cottages, which were the homes of firstly agricultural labourer Richard Gardner (55yrs) and his wife Margaret (55yrs); they had a daughter Margaret. In the second cottage lived 50 year old bricklayer William Kinnersley and his wife Susan (50yrs). They had two sons, William and John.
Down by the Corn Brook, at Boraston Mill, lived the miller Benjamin Bury (50yrs) with his wife Elizabeth aged 30yrs. They had a manservant, Henry Jones.
Walking back up from the Mill to the centre of the village, we turn right past the church where we come to another group of unidentifiable dwellings.
In the first lived 35 year old farmer William Carter and his wife Catherine aged 30 yrs. Harriotte Carter also lived at this dwelling together with Mary Knight, William Price and Susan Davis. This may have been Boraston Court Farm.
In the next house lived Thomas Bufton (60yrs) and his wife Ann, also 60 years old. Thomas was an agricultural labourer and they had two daughters, Mary and Ann.
The next cottage was the home of another agricultural labourer, James Meyrick aged 45yrs and his wife Elizabeth aged 40yrs. Their son Thomas was also described as an agricultural labourer. James and Elizabeth had three other children; John Susan and George.
Another agricultural labourer lived at the next cottage. This was 20 year old Frederick Wishaw, his wife Mary (20yrs) and their two-month old daughter Paula. These cottages may have been what is now called Brown’s Cottages.
William Bridgewater and his wife Margaret, both aged 40yrs, lived at the next dwelling. William was an agricultural labourer and they had one son, John, and four daughters; Margaret, Mary, Hannah and three year old Ann.
John Humphries, a sixty year old agricultural labourer lived in the next cottage with his wife Ann of the same age. A schoolmaster, Eusebius Kitchen (40yrs) lived at the next house with his thirty five year old wife Mary. They had three children; Mary, Theophilus and Victoria. These may have been Mytton’s Cottages.
The blacksmith William Nott (40yrs) lived with his wife Jane (40yrs) at what may now be Forge Cottage with their two daughters Ann and Jane. Another agricultural labourer, John Smith (35yrs) lived at the next cottage together with his wife Sarah (35yrs) and their ten year old daughter Ann. This may be the cottage now called Whistlewood.
Walking towards Milson, the next group of seven dwellings is identified as Boraston Dale. Presumably this is the area around the current Dale House and surrounding cottages. In the first dwelling lived 70 year old agricultural labourer Thomas Amphlett and his 65 year old wife Sarah. This is probably what is now Dale Cottage, on the left of the Cleobury Road.
The next cottage was the home of Charlotte Griffiths (55yrs) a lady of independent means and 16 year old James Griffiths an agricultural labourer.
Blacksmith Francis Shephard (25yrs) and his 20 year old wife, Dessemer, lived in the next cottage with their daughter, Mary, aged one year.
Another schoolmaster, 45 year old William Price lived at the next dwelling with his wife Elizabeth (40yrs) and their four children; George, Alexander, Mary and Arthur. They had one servant, Mary Hartland.
Four other agricultural labourers lived at the remaining dwellings in this group. These were: 40 year old Thomas Hotchkiss, his wife Elizabeth (40yrs) and their four children, William, Thomas, Edmund and Rosanna; John Preece (40yrs), his 30 year old wife Sophia and their children Edward, Charles, Jane and William and visitor Elizabeth Hinton; Forty year olds Benjamin and Ann Price with their children Mary and Benjamin and, finally, Thomas Mytton (40yrs) with his wife Phoebe (45yrs) and their children Sarah, John, Thomas and Elizabeth.
Crossing the Corn Brook and heading towards Milson we come to the next dwelling Dinthill Farm on the right, the home of farmer William Beddows (70yrs) and his wife Martha (60yrs). Also living at this address were farm servants William Jolly, Ann Millichap, together with farmer Ann Adams aged 40 years (possibly their daughter) and a baby Mary Adams aged 13 months. At another dwelling on the farm lived Mary Barnbrook (75yrs) and 70 year old agricultural labourer John Edwards.
Further on, at May Hill lived 18 year old farmer James Bint and his wife Ann (20yrs), together with farm servant John Gittons. Also at another dwelling, May Hill Farm, lived Mary Wilkes (60yrs) a lady of independent means and farmer Edward Wooton aged 30yrs. Also at this address were farm servants Benjamin Rawls, George Juckes, William Berry, Elizabeth Brown and Martha Brown.
There were four other cottages around Mayhill Farm. In the first lived 40 year old agricultural labourer William Vaughan with his wife Susan (27yrs) and their three children Ann, Eliza and William. Twelve year old Caroline Berry also lived with them at this time. Another labourer, John Griffiths (40yrs) lived in the second house with his wife Eliza (45yrs) and children Hester, Edmund, Emma and James. In the third dwelling was carpenter Samuel Griffiths (40yrs) and his wife Hannah (40yrs) and their children Mary, William, Jemima and Samuel. Forty year old labourer Samuel Berry lived alone in the fourth house.
At Wall House, 25 year old farmer Ann Haycox lived with her three children Amelia, Thomas and Harriott, together with two servants Harriott Weaver (20yrs) and 15 year old George Price.
Walking back along the Cleobury road, past the lane to the main village, and continuing towards Tenbury Wells we come to a large house on the right, Boraston Rectory. Built in 1836 and situated roughly half way between the churches of Boraston and Nash, this was a new building and the home of 35 year old cleric Hubert McLaughlin, the rector of Nash and Boraston. Hubert lived here with his wife, Frederica (25yrs) and their children Louisa, Edward, William and Frederick ranging from 4years old to 8 months. Also living at the Rectory were two gentlemen of independent means, Thomas McLaughlin (39yrs) and Adolphus Chichester (16yrs). There was one male servant, Edward Clayton and five female servants, Sarah Stone, Mary Anthony, Mary Bonner, Ann Juson and Kate Kennedy also living at the Rectory. All together there were fourteen people living at the Rectory.
The final three properties on our walk are at Spurtree, close to the boundary between Boraston and Burford. In the first property on the left lived Farmer John Bishop (60yrs), with his wife Hannah (55yrs), Elizabeth Marks appeared to live alone in an adjacent property; in the third, Canal Cottage on the towpath of the Kington, Leominster and Stourport canal, lived agricultural labourer Thomas Brown (30yrs) with his wife Elizabeth (25yrs) with their four children Ann, Thomas, Samuel and Ellen (7months).
That completes our imaginary walk around Boraston in 1841. In summary, we can see that Boraston was a predominantly agricultural village with 40 dwellings, 199 inhabitants and one pub. The predominant occupation was agricultural work on the farms in the village, but there were also two blacksmiths, three coopers, a couple of carpenters, a stonemason and a bricklayer. Several inhabitants were of independent means, but most earned their living from the farms in the village.
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