Notes on Badsey surnames :
Hall

These are a series of notes compiled by Maureen Spinks on families who lived in or near Badsey. Maureen, who has transcribed the Badsey parish and census records up to the beginning of the 20th century, will attempt to answer specific queries from bona fide researchers. Please give as much information as possible in order to make the task easier. Please e-mail any corrections, additions or queries to history@badsey.net. For a full list of the surnames covered see the research interests page.

The name of Hall first appears in Badsey records when Mary Hall married William Hale in 1786. The next mention is not until 1813, when Thomas Hall of Dumbleton, Gloucestershire, married Elizabeth Hartwell of Badsey. Thomas and Elizabeth spent all their married lives in Dumbleton, raising eight children there: Charles (1815-1815), John (1816-1816), Thomas (1817-1907), Mary (1820), Rachel (1822), James (1825-1899), Joseph (1827) and Richard (1830-1913). Thomas and Elizabeth died in 1865 and 1870 respectively.

It was Thomas and Elizabeth’s eldest surviving son, Thomas, who came with his family to live in Badsey (his mother’s birthplace) in the 1840s. Thomas Hall had been born in Dumbleton in 1817. In 1838, he married Martha Miller at Lenchwick, who had been born in Poynington, Somerset around 1814. Martha already had a daughter, Eliza, born when Martha was 19 and still living in Poynington. There is an Eliza Miller mentioned in the 1841 census for Badsey, working as a servant in the home of William and Mary Smith. The age is given as 15, which would make her too old for Martha’s daughter, but her real age could possibly have been nearer 10.

There were no Halls in Badsey at the time of the 1841 census, but in 1845, Theodore James Hall was baptised at Badsey. Theodore was the fourth child of Thomas and Martha Hall. Their eldest children, Charles (1839-1911) and Louisa (1840-1933), were born in Dumbleton, and their third child, Elizabeth (1843-1921), in Aston Somerville. After Theodore James’ birth (1845-1923) at Badsey, there then followed Rachel Whitfield (1847), Owen Joseph (1849-1899) and Thomas (1852-1852). Thomas Hall was a cordwainer (shoemaker) by profession and Martha was a Gloveress. Martha Hall died in childbirth on 17th July 1852, aged 38. Baby Thomas survived his mother by only five months, as he died in October.

In 1851 the Halls were living at Badsey Leys (29-year-old James Hartwell was lodging with them; who was Thomas’ cousin and the son of his Uncle William). By 1861, the Halls were living in Bakers Lane. Theodore and Owen were working with their widowed father as cordwainers, Charles was an agricultural labourer, Louisa and Elizabeth had left home, and Rachel was a scholar.

Thomas Hall is mentioned in Terry Sparrow’s book, A Brief History of Badsey and Aldington: On only two occasions was there a contested election for the office of people’s Churchwarden during the Rev Hunt’s ministry. In 1869, Thomas Hall received 24 votes to John Phipps’ 13, but a formal poll was demanded and duly took place during the following week. There was an exceptionally large turnout for the poll, with each candidate receiving 52 votes, following which Rev Hunt gave his casting vote in favour of Phipps, thus reversing the original vestry decision.

Charles Hall (1839-1911), an agricultural labourer, was living in the family home in 1851 and 1861. But by 1871, he was boarding with the Sallis family in Aldington in 1871. By 1881, Charles was still unmarried and boarding with widowed Mrs Mary Hartwell (she was his aunt, the widow of his mother’s brother, William) and her 53-year-old unmarried son, James, at Sand Pool. By 1891, Charles had married Mary (born around 1852 in Hale, Lancashire) and they were living at Bretforton Road, The Leys. They had no children, and Charles was now described as a Market Gardener. Mary died in 1893 and, in 1895, Charles married widow Elizabeth Ann Rogers. By 1901, they were living at Homeleigh, next-door to Eliza, the widow of his brother Owen Joseph.

Louisa Hall (1840-1933) married William Tomlinson of Wickhamford in 1864 and left the village.

Elizabeth Hall (1843-1921) married William Edenburg in (not in Badsey), but he died, and she married Thomas Moisey in 1870.

Theodore Hall (1845-1923) married Jane Field of Cleeve Prior in the mid-1860s (not in Badsey). They had a daughter, Ellen Elizabeth, born in 1867, but who died the following year; they appear to have remained childless. In 1871 they were living at the Mill. In 1881, Theodore and Jane lived in Aldington, next-door to younger brother, Joseph, with his wife and young son. Theodore, like his brother, was a Market Gardener. In 1891, Theodore (or James as he is listed in the census), was living with his wife and father-in-law at Bredon View, Bully Brook Road, next door to Owen (who had previously been calling himself Joseph) and his family who lived at Auban Villa. Theodore James Hall died at Cotswold Terrace, Badsey, in January 1923. Theodore left Bredon View to his nephew, George Moisey (son of his sister Elizabeth). George (who in 1901 had been living at Cotswold Terrace) was already living at Bredon View, so perhaps they had swapped houses before Theodore’s death.

Rachel Hall (1847-?) married William Teal in 1866. In 1871, she and her husband and young daughter were living with her father Thomas and her brother Owen Joseph. They had left the village by 1881.

Owen Hall (1849-1899), or Joseph, as he was tending to call himself in young adulthood, married Eliza Keen in 1879; he had gone away from his father’s profession of cordwainer and was now a Market Gardener. In 1881, he was living in Aldington. Owen Joseph and Eliza had seven sons and three daughters in total: Thomas Henry (1880), John Percy (1882), Theodore James (1884), Joseph Owen (1885-1888), William Charles (1887), Arthur Richard (1889), Ellen Mary (1891), Walter (1893), Elizabeth Frances (1896) and Rosa Annie (1898). In 1891, Owen and Eliza were living at Auban Villa and by now had seven children: Thomas Henry, John Percy, Theodore James, William Charles, Arthur Richard and Ellen Mary. Their son, Joseph Owen had died in 1888, aged two and a half. Owen died in October 1899 at the age of 50. In 1901, Eliza Hall had the support of her brothers-in-law: Charles who lived one side of her and Theodore James who lived the other side; her brother Henry Keen lived a little further along the road at Rose Villa.

By 1871, Thomas Hall was living at The Alley, where he was to remain for the rest of his life. His son, Owen Joseph, and his daughter, Rachel Teal and her husband and young daughter lived there, too. In 1881, 1891 and 1901 Thomas lived alone at The Alley. He died in 1907 aged 90. An Indenture has recently come to light which gives a fascinating picture of where Thomas lived:

This Indenture made the 6th day of December 1883 between Thomas Byrd of Badsey in the County of Worcester Gentleman of the one part and Thomas Hall of the same place Yeoman of the other part Witnesseth that in consideration of services rendered by him the said Thomas Hall for many years as an overlooker for the said Thomas Byrd on his estates in Badsey and Aldington and in pursuance of a verbal agreement in this behalf He the said Thomas Byrd hath granted and by these presents doth grant and convey unto the said Thomas Hall All that or those the Cottage or Tenement Garden Pigsty Hovel and Privy adjoining thereto situate in the Village of Badsey in the County of Worcester now and for some years past in the possession of the said Thomas Hall and which said premises measure 33 feet from North to South and 27 feet from East to West or thereabouts and are bounded on the North by a garden belonging to Mr Phipps on the East partly by a Building used as a Reading Room and partly by an Orchard both belonging to the said Thomas Byrd on the West by a Cottage also belonging to the said Thomas Byrd in the occupation of George Hunt and on the south by the road leading to the said Reading Room To hold the said Cottage hereditaments and premises with the appurtenances unto the said Thomas Hall and his assigns for and during the natural life of the said Thomas Byrd if he the said Thomas Hall shall so long live In witness whereof the said parties to these presents have hereunto set their hands and seals the day and year first above written

Around 1880, Thomas Hall’s youngest brother, Richard (1830-1913) moved to Aldington from Dumbleton. He and his family lived at the second of a row of four terraces called "Half Acre" (now converted into one house) and were still there at the time of the 1881, 1891 and 1901 census. The family consisted of Selina (née Halford), and children, Thomas (abt 1871-1896), Rose (abt 1873), Fred (abt 1876) and Mary (1879).

 

Hall Strays

Ann Hall, daughter of William Hall, married John Watkins at Badsey. It is not known who Ann and her father, William Hall, were, and whether they somehow fit in with the Dumbleton Halls. However, there is a possibility that the Ann Watkins living in Evesham on Bewdley Street (just down the road from where Elizabeth Hall was living), was the same Ann Watkins; she had someone lodging with her who was from Dumbleton.

In 1861, there was also a Hannah Hall working as a house servant in Aldington, but it is not believed she is from the same family, as she was from Broadway.

An Emily Hall was a governess at the Vicarage in 1871, but as she had been born in Cheapgate, Middlesex, about 1809, she is not thought to be part of the family.

In 1891, there was also a Hall family in the village, not thought to be connected: 65-year-old Thomas (born at Cropthorne about 1826), his wife, Elizabeth (born about 1829 at Birlingham), and their daughter, Elizabeth, aged 32 (born at Wickhamford in 1858), described as an imbecile. In 1881, they had been living in South Littleton, their other daughter, Mary Jane, also being there, and Thomas’ elderly father, John. Thomas Hall died in March 1892, and his daughter, Elizabeth, in 1896. In June 1897, Mary Jane Hall married Alfred Grove. In 1901, widow Elizabeth Hall, aged 71, was living at The Green, with two boarders.

In 1891, there was also a Lillian Hall staying at Bowers Hill with her aunt and uncle, but again, she seems to be unconnected.

Mrs Emma Hall - Emma had been born in Aldington, the daughter of Obadiah and Mary Brooks, and whilst still a teenager, had two illegitimate sons, Obadiah and Alfred, born in Hampton Workhouse. In 1873, Emma married Henry Hall at Bretforton. They had a daughter, Agnes, baptised at Badsey in 1878. In 1881, Emma was living at Silk Mill Cottages with the younger of her sons, Alfred, and her daughter (Obadiah, the elder son, was with his grandparents in Aldington). Emma was described as Wife (Head) and it is not known where Henry was. In the baptism records for October 1881, Ada Mary Maria Hall was baptised, and was described as the illegitimate child of Emma Hall, but when the children entered school, Harry Hall was given as the parent. Henry Hall remains shrouded in mystery, as his whereabouts in 1891 are also unknown. 37-year-old Emma (a gloveress), was still living at The Mill with her children Agnes (12), Ada (9) and Charles (7), all scholars. By 1901, Emma and her children had left the village.

See also:
Research interests:surnames and other topics in Badsey and Aldington
Alphabetical index of surnames


Updated 5 September 2003. Contact email: History@badsey.net