Romford 1848 Whites Directory
ROMFORD, the capital of the Liberty of Havering atte Bower,
and the head of a large
Romford had its name from an ancient ford which crossed the
Bourne brook, or small river Rom, where there is now a good bridge.
Dr. Stukeley considered it of Roman origin, and on the authority of
Richard of Cirencester, called it the Durolitum of Antonius.
Lethieullies supposes its present name to be a contraction of Romanford,
but Lyson says it is pure Saxon, signifying broad-ford.
The ford was no doubt used by the Romans, but there is no evidence of
their ever having a station here.
The parish was formerly one of the wards of Hornchurch parish, but by an
act of parliament for regulating the poor, in 1786, it is recognised as a
separate parish for the maintenance of its poor, under 30 guardians, who built a
workhouse at the cost of £4,000, for this and other parishes.
The town consists chiefly of one wide and long street, well paved, and
lighted with gas, and the houses are generally well built.
The market, for which a charter was granted by Henry III., in 1247, is
held on Wednesday, and is one of the largest in the county, for corn, cattle,
sheep, swine, calves, poultry, etc.
Here is also a large fair, for cattle, etc. on the 24th June.
The Corn Exchange was a bank, but was purchased and altered for its
present use, in 1845. It has
54 stands, and is lighted from the roof.
The town was formerly famous for the manufacture of leather breeches,
whence arose the common saying, "go to Romford to be new bottomed".
The two iron foundries and machine works at Hornchurch, are in the
vicinity of the town, and on market days there is usually a large auction of
horses, carriages, etc. The market
place and tolls were purchased of the Crown, some years ago, by H Mackintosh,
Esq. The Town Hall and Market House
were repaired at the expense of the Crown, in 1763; but the former was rebuilt
during the present century, at the cost of about £4,000.
In this hall are held the quarter and petty sessions, the court of
ancient demesne, and the other courts of the Liberty of Havering atte Bower.
Under it is the liberty goal, consisting only of four cells, now used
only for the temporary confinement of prisoners, who, if sentenced to hard
labour, etc., are sent to the county goal at
The Church, dedicated to the Virgin Mary and St Edward the
Confessor, is a spacious building of stone and flint, with a nave, chancel,
north aisle, and a tower at the west end, containing six bells and a clock.
It is commonly called the Chapel, and appears to have been built about
the year 1407, when a Pope's bull was obtained, empowering the inhabitants to
bury their dead in the cemetery here, instead of carrying them a distance of
five miles, to the ancient mother church, at Hornchurch. In the east window is a
representation of Edward the Confessor, in painted glass, which was renewed in
1707. Against the south wall is an
alabaster monument to the memory of Sir Geo Hervey, Kt, and his lady, whose
effigies are represented kneeling.
On the north side of the aisle is the monument of Sir Anthony Cooke, of
Gidea Hall, with effigies of himself and lady in kneeling attitudes, and several
Latin inscriptions, supposed to have been written by his daughters.
A verbose epitaph, in 42 lines of English rhyme, records the virtues of
the "Right Worshipful Sir Anthony Cooke, Kt", who died in 1576.
Another handsome monument, is in memory of Alex. Black, Esq, who died at
Gidea Hall, in 1835. In catholic
times, a Guild and Chantry were founded in this church; the former valued at £4
10s 2d., and the latter at £13 per annum, at the Dissolution.
Before the erection of the present church, there was a small chapel at
Noke hill, built about 1323, nearly half a mile south of the town.
When the Warden and Fellows of New College, Oxford, as appropriators and
patrons of the Liberty of Havering atte Bower, granted parochial rights to
Romford, in 1407, they reserved to themselves all the tithes, and their peculiar
jurisdiction, throughout the whole liberty; but from time to time, and entirely
at their opinion, they grant to the perpetual curate, a lease of the vicarial
tithes of this parish; the benefice having no ecclesiastical endowment, and
being valued in 1831, at only £54, arising from Easter offerings and surplice
fees. The living is now styled
Romford Vicarage with Noke hill Curacy, and valued at £540.
It is held by the Ven. Anthony Grant, DCL, archdeacon of
Romford Charity School is of unknown origin, but in 1727 it had acquired several hundred pounds, from savings of contributions and legacies. In that year, the trustees gave £150 for a piece of land, upon which they built a school house, for the reception and education of 45 boys and 20 girls, and for the residence of the master and mistress. In 1730, Joseph Bosworth bequeathed to the school a freehold messuage in Romford, now consisting of two cottages, let for £20, and a plot of ground, let on a building lease for £12 per annum. The charity also possesses £1,027 1s 6d, three per cent Consols, and £50 new 3½ per cents, derived from gifts and legacies at various periods. There are about 60 annual subscribers of one guinea each; and the charity also derives about £50 a year, from collections after two sermons at the parish church, swelling the total yearly income to about £170. Pursuant to a decree of the Court of Chancery, new trustees were appointed in 1833, and a new scheme was established for the future regulation of the charity; whereby it is provided "that the governors should have power to admit an additional number of children, residing in or belonging to the parishes of Hornchurch, Romford, and Havering, for the purpose of education in the principles of the Christian religion, as taught and professed in the Church of England;"-"that the number of trustees should not exceed 18, and that they should be chosen from the governors; that every annual subscriber of one guinea, or upwards, should be a governor, as well as the vicar and curate for the time being; and that the surplus income might be applied in enlarging the school house, etc." The present Boy's School is a large room, built in 1835, and attended by about 140 boys,- the old charity school having been combined with a National School, to which the national scholars pay 1d each per week. The benefits of the charity have been extended to 60 boys, who are gratuitously educated, and 45 of whom are also clothed by the governors. The Girl's School is the room formerly used as the boy's school, and is attended by 80 girls, 30 of whom are on the foundation, and 20 of that number are clad by the charity. The present Boys' school was built at a cost of £550, raised by subscription, except £230, granted by Government and the National School Society. The master has a yearly salary of £70, and three tons of coals yearly. The schoolmistress has an annual salary of £40, and a yearly allowance of two tons of coals. They both reside in the school house, rent and tax free. About one-fifth of the charity scholars are sent from Havering, and the remainder from Romford and Hornchurch parishes. For apprenticing, yearly, from this charity school, two poor boys of Hornchurch and one of Romford, Mary Hide, in 1714, left £200, which was vested in a yearly rent charge of £10, out of a house and land at the Gores. In consequence of the non-appropriation of this charity, for many years, there is now belonging to it £425 three per cent. Consols. The rent charge and the dividends of the stock are given in apprentice fees of £10 each. Mr T Mashiter and others, are the trustees. A National School was built in Collier Row Ward, in 1848, and an Infant School at New Romford, in 1842.
REEDE'S ALMSHOUSES, for six poor men of Romford, Hornchurch, and Dagenham, and the widows of deceased inmates, were founded in 1482, by Roger Reede, who endowed them with several tenements, and 146A 1R 16P of land, in the three above named parishes, now let for about £410 per annum. The founder built the Almshouses, which consist of six tenements for men, and a centre house for widows. Each tenement has a garden; and the almspeople are appointed by the trustees, from among such poor of the three parishes as have seen better days. One of the men is appointed as ruler, and has a yearly salary of £48 15s, including the rent of Ridden Field, which was specifically given by the founder to the "ruler," for his trouble in keeping the accounts, and preserving order in the almshouses. The other men have yearly stipends of £26, and the widows, of whom there are generally 2 or 3, have each £16 per annum. They are all clothed, and supplied with coals and medical aid, at the expense of the charity. A decree of the Court of Chancery was obtained in 1824, for the better regulation of the charity, and the appointment of new trustees, consisting of Sir Thos Neave, Digby Neave, and Messrs Mashiter, Surridge, Cooper, Truston, and others. When there is any surplus, after paying all the expenses of the almshouses, etc., the trustees are required, by the decree, to distribute it in clothes and provisions, among the poor of the above-named parishes.
The parish has £100, left by Lady Burleigh, to be lent, free of interest, to five poor tradesmen. Two houses, given at an early period, by Robt Ballard, for repairing the highways, were let in 1824, for 61 years, at a yearly rent of £20,- the lessee covenanting to lay out £500 in rebuilding the houses. The churchwardens apply the rent in preserving the highways and paths, by the erection of wooden posts and rails, to prevent mischief being done by cattle on market days. In 1669, Lewis Betts left, out of Lyon Mead, a tenement in Collier Row Ward, and Golden Lion farm, three rent charges, viz:- £4 for apprenticing poor boys of Romford; 20s. for repairing the church foot path; and £2 for equal division among eight decayed husbandmen of Collier Row and Town wards. The poor of Romford have distributed among them, at Christmas, £19 13s 6d, arising yearly, as follows:- 40s. out of a farm at Hay Green, left by Wm Armstead; £7 from an acre of land, purchased with the legacy of Robt Palmer; £3 out of two tenements, on the east side of the White Hart Inn, left by Andrew Reynolds, in 1626; £3 13s 6d from Navy five per cent Annuities, left by Hannah Richardson; and £4 from Webster's Tile Kiln, which lets for £8 a year, half of which belongs to the poor of Hornchurch. Several lost charities are mentioned in the parish register.
ROMFORD SAVINGS' BANK, for the Hundreds of Barnstable,
Chafford, and Ongar, and the Liberty of Havering atte Bower, has cashiers at
ROMFORD UNION comprises the ten parishes of Romford,
Barking, Hornchurch, Dagenham, Upminster, Rainham, Great Warley, Havering,
Cranham, and Wennington, which contain an area of 59 square miles, and had
19,521 inhabitants in 1831, and 22,216 in 1841,- consisting of 10,967 males, and
11,249 females. The average annual
expenditure of the district, on the poor, during the three years preceding the
formation of the Union in 1836, was £11,958.
In 1838, the total expenditure was £8,209; in 1840, £9,130; and in 1846,
£15,032, including salaries, county and police rates, etc.
The Workhouse, which stands on five acres of land, half a mile south of
the town, was finished in 1838, at the cost of £9,500, and has room for 460
inmates. The able-bodied paupers are
employed in grinding corn, cultivating the garden ground, etc.
Mr W H Clifton is clerk to the Board of Guardians; Mr Edmund Griffin, of
Great Ilford, is superintendent registrar; Messrs. John Benj Miller and Richd
Parker, relieving officers; Rev Thos Donkin, chaplain; and Mr T and Mrs Sellars
are master and matron of the Workhouse.
Charles Godbold is the miller; Walter Easton, schoolmaster; Martha Howman,
schoolmistress; and Wm Hawes, porter.
Eight surgeons are employed by the Union.
Mr R A Bowers is registrar of births and deaths, for Romford; and Mr R W
Quennell for Hornchurch district. A
Medico-Chirurgical Association, for the Unions of Billericay, Romford, and
Orsett, was formed in 1847, and holds quarterly meetings in the above-named
towns, and at
POST OFFICE, Market place; Wm Henry Attwell, postmaster.
The Box closes for
Railway
Trains, to London, Colchester, etc., 8 times a day. Mr Edw Tolbutt, station
master.
Omnibus
From White Hart to London, daily, at 9 morn, and ½ past 3 aftn
Carriers
From the Sun, and other Inns, on Wednesdays, to surrounding parishes.
To London every Tuesday & Friday, John Chappel and Henry Luxford, from High
Street.
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