The Hadwen Family of Lancashire

Henry Robert Field Canham was the only child of the Rev. Henry Canham and Sarah Francis Elizabeth Day. He had been born at Sutton vicarage in 1851, being baptised there on October 16th by his grandfather the Rev. Robert Field. The really interesting fact his that Robert Field’s wife, Elizabeth Chilton, came from a long line of Suffolk clergy and their family can be traced back to Sir John Gosnold, Gentleman Usher to Queen Elizabeth 1. From him the line goes directly back to Lionel, Duke of Clarence who was the brother of the Black Prince and son of King Edward III. This takes them back to William the Conqueror and his Viking ancestors.

Henry Robert Field Canham would have left Sutton as a baby when his father went to Bristol in 1852 to continue training for the priesthood. He was back in Suffolk a couple of years later when his grandfather in Sutton gave his newly ordained father the neighbouring parish of Ramsholt. They lived, however, on the opposite side of the River Deben in the village of Waldringfield. His father would be rowed across the estuary to his church on a Sunday and when the warden in the tower saw him coming would ring the bell to alert the congregation. His father was a renowned collector of fossils. Part of his valuable horde was purchased by the great Victorian collector Sir Richard Wallace while the rest went to Ipswich Museum upon his death.

Henry Robert Field Canham was sent to the ‘Bluecoat School’ of Christ’s Hospital in Hertford. This charitable school, founded in 1552 by Edward VI, had originally been sited in Greyfriars for the education of poor children, both boys and girls, within London. It had moved to Hertford in the latter half of the 16th century to avoid the plague rampaging through the capital. It then started taking in pupils of different social backgrounds from across the whole country as long as their parents needed some financial assistance towards their child’s education.

Henry Robert Field Canham entered St. John’s College, Cambridge in 1870 and obtained his BA degree five years later. During this time he also worked as an ‘Assistant Master’ at Yarmouth Grammar School [1874-6]. He then began teaching at Crossley Heath Orphan School in Halifax [1876-8], a large charitable institution founded in 1864 by John, Joseph and Francis Crossby, carpet mill owners who never forgot their humble beginnings and gave at least 1/10th of their profits to good works. During his time there he began training for holy orders, acting as curate to St. Mary’s in Halifax. He was ordained a priest in 1878.

More than likely he met Emma Maria James in Suffolk as both their fathers were members of the clergy there. They were married at St. Mary’s Edge Hill in Liverpool on the 4th January 1877. The following notice is taken from the local paper: -

“Canham/James Jan. 4th. St. Mary’s Edge Hill, Rev. Henry Robert Field Canham BA St. John’s College, Cambridge, Curate St. Mary’s Halifax, only son of Rev. Henry Canham, St Pierre-les-Calais to Emma James 2nd dau. the late Rev. Robert James of Abbeston* Rectory, Suffolk”
Liverpool Journal - 6th January 1877
[*This should have been Ubbeston]

Henry and Emma’s first son, Henry Robert James Canham, was born in Halifax in November 1877. The following year, after his ordination, Henry R. F was assigned the curacy of Barrowby, near Grantham in Lincolnshire. This was a small rural parish of around eight hundred inhabitants, the majority of whom worked on land owned by the Duke of Devonshire. It was here that their second son Edwin was born in 1879 and they appeared in the 1881 census.

1881 census

Henry R.F. CANHAM Head M Male 28 Sutton, Suffolk, England Curate Barrowby
Emma M. CANHAM Wife M Female 28 London Golden Sqr, London, Middlesex, England
Henry R.J. CANHAM Son Male 3 Halifax, York, England
Edwin D. F. CANHAM Son Male 2 Barrowby, Lincoln, England
Arthur B.R. GOODSON Visitor U Male 16 Bottesford, Leicester, England Surgeons Son In Law (No Occ)
Maria A. MURR Serv U Female 20 Grantham, Lincoln, England Cook
Mary J. MURR Serv U Female 17 Grantham, Lincoln, England Nurse

Source Information:
Dwelling 6 Grantham Rd
Census Place Barrowby, Lincoln, England
Family History Library Film 1341771
Public Records Office Reference RG11
Piece / Folio 3234 / 8
Page Number 8

A couple of months later Henry R. F. was appointed Headmaster of Bourne Grammar School and the family moved into this Lincolnshire market town. There had been a school in the town since the 14th century but little is known about it until William Trollope, a local landowner, founded the ‘Free Grammar School of King Charles’ in 1636. He endowed £30 a year to maintain ‘an honest, learned and godly schoolmaster.’

William White’s 1882 ‘History, Gazetteer and Dictionary’ has the following entry: -
“Canham Rev. Henry Robert, BA headmaster grammar school and curate of Dowsby. North house.”

This is the only mention made about his role at the small village of Dowsby, six miles north of Bourne. Maybe it was only a temporary appointment but the little bit of extra income generated must have been very useful to Henry as no house was provided with the teaching post and thus he had to pay for accommodation within the town for his growing family. On a recent visit to Bourne we could not find a building on the busy West Road that had a name anything like ‘Villa Brunnel’ where the family was said to be living in 1891 but we did come across the present day number ‘40’ as recorded in 1901. This was a small terraced cottage, probably nothing more than a simple ‘two up, two down’. Of course the numbering system could have changed between then and now but it may well have been their home considering the financial difficulties they must have been in. Although it was called a Free School traditionally the pupils were only taught Latin free and were charged tuition fees for other subjects. This money was vital in augmenting the master’s income but as the 19th century came to an end the number of pupils in the school dropped from thirty-two to just nine [1897].

1891 census Villa Brunnel?, West Road, Bourne, Lincolnshire

Henry R. F. Canham Head 38 Clerk in Holy Orders Sutton, Suffolk
Emma M. Canham Wife 38 London
Ernest S. Canham Son 9 Bourne, Lincs
Lillian M. Canham Daughter 7 Bourne, Lincs
Charles R. Canham Son 5 Gadesby? Lincs
Cecil Canham Son 2 Bourne, Lincs
Maybell Canham Daughter 1 Bourne, Lincs
Emma Brown Servant 17 Domestic Servant London

Henry was absent himself at the next return [1901] for he was visiting a fellow clergyman in Hackthorn.

After the school closed Henry R.F. went back to Yorkshire. He was curate of Stow-in-Lindsay between 1905-8, Scarborough 1908-10, vicar of Munston 1910-19 and finally rector of Folkton until retiring in 1932. I came across a reference on a web site concerning the division of the Pillagoda Estate in Ceylon where Henry R. F acted as a witness to the signing of certain legal documents and his address was given as 59 Highfield, Scarborough.

1911 census The Vicarage, Munston, Filey, Yorkshire

Henry Robert Field CANHAM Head 59 Male M 33 yrs. Established Church Clergyman Sutton, Suffolk
Emma Maria CANHAM Wife 59 Female M 33yrs. 11 8 3 Middlesex, London
Mary Lilian CANHAM Daur 27 Female Single Bourne, Lincolnshire
Maybell Beatrice Constance CANHAM Daur 21 Female Single Bourne, Lincolnshire
Ellen Mary CANHAM Daur 15 Female Single School Bourne, Lincolnshire
Sophia KEPPLER Servant 27 Female Single General Domestic Servant Russia