William Phillips and family
The shoemaker of Old House
William Phillips was our 3rd great-grandfather; he was the son of farmer Henry Phillips and Ann Phillips. He was born in 1806 and baptised in Nash on 5th October of that year. We are fortunate that the baptism record exists and gives us the name of William’s father. Nash is a small village that lies about two miles to the south of Newport, on the Caldicot levels. The levels are a large area of land reclaimed from the sea and crossed by drainage channels and reens. It is traditional farming area and both of the family farms mentioned in this story still exist today.
William grew up with his family on a farm in Nash where he learnt the family trade of farming, but he also acquired the skills of a Cordwainer. This is a shoemaker who makes new shoes from new leather. The cordwainer’s trade can be contrasted with that of a cobbler, who according to a British tradition are restricted to only repairing shoes.
On 1st October 1834 William married Rebecca Ashfield at St Mary’s Church in Nash, the witnesses were Samual Morgan and Hannah Ashfield. Rebecca was from Ty-Du Farm (originally spelt Tydee Farm) in Nash and was born in 1812 the daughter of William Ashfield and Mary Wall, who had married in 1804. Rebecca had grown up on the farm with siblings including Maria, Martha, Job, and Hannah. The Ashfields lived on the property next to the Phillips family, so William and Rebecca would have known each other as children.
After their marriage William and Rebecca settled at the Phillips farm, they are recorded as living there on the first national census in 1841. The document shows they have had three children, John, William and Mary. The census also reveals that William’s father has died but his widowed mother Ann is still living on the farm at the age of 73. The census lists William as the head of household and his occupation as a Cordwainer.
By the 1851 census Ann had died and William now lists his occupations as a Farmer and Cordwainer, they have five children living at home. William divided his time between shoe making for the local community and farming the modest 35-acre property. None of the census returns included a name for the property, but as they were neighbours of Burnt House Farm and Ty-Du Farm, we believe it was probably Old House Farm on Nash Road.
The couple had nine children and all were baptised in the local church: John 1836, William 1838, Mary 1840, Hannah 1841, Edwin 1844, Ebenezar 1846, Eliza Anne 1849, Rebecca 1852, and Emily 1854. Of the children it was Ebenezer, our 2nd great-grandfather, who continued our family line.
John Phillips was first born in 1836 and baptised 1st May 1836. He was living at home on the 1851 census at the age of 15. From here there is no further trace of John. Next was William born in 1838. On the 1851 census we find 13-year-old William living with his uncle Meriah Ashfield, a farmer in Caerleon, where he was helping on the farm. Third born Mary was baptised 23rd February 1840 and was with her parents on the 1851 census. She then left home in her teens and moved to the village of Llanvihangel to work in a guest house for the Poaker family.
Fourth child Hannah was born in 1841 and grew up on the farm before moving to Woolaston in the Forest of Dean for work. Here she married a local labourer called William Croome in 1865, with brother Ebenezer acting as a witness. They lived in various places in Gloucestershire and raised a large family. Hannah died in Nuneaton and Bedworth, Warwickshire in 1936. Living to the age of 95 she had outlived her husband and all of her siblings.
Edwin Phillips was born in 1844, the 5th child. After an early brush with the law saw him convictd for assault on the highway, Edwin worked hard on the family farm. He lived with his mother helping her to run her small farm until her retirement in the 1880s. He then lived at a Model Lodging House in Newport, a large dwelling house for poorer workers, and worked in Newport as a labourer. Edwin died unmarried in 1891, at the age of only 47.
Edwin was followed by Ebenezer in 1846, our 2nd great-grandfather. Ebenezer continued the family tradition of farming and after marrying he successfully ran Brangwyn Farm on Nash Road. Ebenezer lifted himself from his working-class background and acquired wealth and influence. You can read all about his eventful life and the continuation of our family line here.
The final three children born to William and Rebecca were all girls. Eliza Ann was born in 1849 and baptised 21st October 1849. Information on Eliza is scarce, but we believe she married in Newport 1879. Next born was Rebecca in 1852, she married David Barrell on 16th February 1871 and moved to his family farm at Great House in Nash. Tragically David died just a year after the marriage, but Rebecca remained at Great House. On the 1881 census she was working there as a housekeeper. When her former father-in-law died in 1899, he left his estate to her brother Ebenezer Phillips, causing a dispute over the will. Rebecca remarried in 1890 to Thomas Rees a farmer from Marshfield and they lived together at a farm in Peterstone and later in Raglan, Rebecca died in 1920.
Emily was the youngest child of William and Rebecca. She married Lewis Williams, a mason, in Nash during 1884 and had six children. They remained living locally at Ash Cotttage and later provided a home to her mother. In 1911 the family were still together in Nash. Lewis outlived his wife and died aged 98 in Caerleon.
William Phillips last appeared on a census in 1861 where he was listed as a farmer. William died in June 1866 at the aged of 60, he had spent his spent his whole life at Old House. His youngest child Emily was only 12 when he died. Rebecca then left the farm and returned to her childhood home, Ty-Du Farm.
It was just a short walk from the house she had shared with William and with the help of her son Edwin and daughter Emily, she farmed the 12 acres until her retirement. By the 1891 census Rebecca was retired and living at Ash Cottage in Nash with her daughter Emily, son-in-law Lewis, and their young children. Rebecca died in 1892 and was buried on 17th April in Nash.