Lodsworth, gateway to the Carver family

The history of the Carver family has its roots in the agricultural 19^th Century county of West Sussex. The small village of Lodsworth lies between Petworth and Midhurst, just above the South Downs. The views from Google street view suggest that the village was an idyllic place to have lived in, although I suspect that working in the Agricultural industries during the latter part of the 19^th Century would have been hard and poorly paid.

The 1881 Census entry for my ancestors show James, my Great Great Grandfather and his family who, apart from his wife and my Great Great Aunt Emma, are all Agricultural Workers living in  Woolhouse.

The Carver family are listed as living in ‘Woolhouse’ and that could mean a number of things. Either the name of a farm with a tied cottage, or an actual property, or estate, with accommodation for its workers. There are two other families living at the same place, an Agricultural worker and a Gardener. A family of five would need to have some space and so I am thinking that it may have been a tied cottage. The families above the Carver’s in this census return live in a place called Trasters Heath and are a family of Sawyers and another where the head of the house is a Fruiterer. I can find no mention of either Woolhouse or Trasters Heath on any of the maps that I have been looking at.

For most of my life I have only ever known of two generations of Carver’s. My Father, Bill Carver and my Grandfather, Clarence Carver. Now I can start hunting information for Great Grandfather William Carver who was aged 24 in 1881, my Great Great Grandfather James Carver, aged 53 and his wife Mary also 53. William had a younger brother, George, aged 17 and also an Agricultural worker. Their sister, Emma, aged 12, was at school.

Clarence, my Grandfather, was not born until 1886.

I have yet to do any research in Lodsworth and can only record what I am reading in the available records. However, I have joined the Lodsworth Heritage Society and have made contact with a member who may be able to assist me with additional information in the future.