My Ancestors

It is said, ’tis impossible to be sure of anything but Death and Taxes.’ (Christopher Bullock, The Cobler of Preston, 1716 https://archive.org/details/coblerofprestonf00bull.) But there is one more thing of which we can all be certain. Go back in time to any year in history, and each and every one of us will have ancestors alive at that time. So, my claim that I am descended from cavemen might therefore not seem that surprising: we all are. What is perhaps unusual is that in my case I can trace an unbroken genealogical line from myself all the way back to my cave dwelling ancestors.

Let me introduce my cave dwelling ancestors; my 4 x great grandparents labourer Philip MATTHEWS (1787-1866) and his wife Esther MATTHEWS (nee GROVE) (c.1782-1867). In the 1841 census their place of abode is labelled simply as Rock. The 1851 and 1861 census returns amplify this a little more, describing the location as Astle’s Rock. Look again at the 1841 census and you see that the MATTHEWS’ neighbour is a Joseph Astel (sic). The parish of these records is Kinfare/Kinver in the county of Staffordshire.

These ‘houses’ are on a hillside on the border between Staffordshire and Worcestershire. There, dug into the soft sandstone, were perhaps two or three-dozen cave dwellings. A part of the site is now owned by the National Trust – https://www.nationaltrust.org.uk/visit/shropshire-staffordshire/kinver-edge-and-the-rock-houses. Some of the caves were inhabited right up until the mid twentieth century. They had standard windows and doors, but inside, if you wanted an additional room or a new shelf, excavation was the solution. The caves were in their heyday in the nineteenth century. Oliver (1997) says that during those times employees of the Hyde Ironworks lived in the caves at Astle’s Rock; that rents were around one shilling per week; and that many were owned and occupied by families for several generations.

Sure enough, in 1861 George MATTHEWS is a neighbour, along with his wife and five children all under eight years old. This George turns out to be same George listed as Philip and Esther’s son in 1841… but it turns out that he wasn’t their son, he was their first grandson; the illegitimate child of their daughter and my 3 x great grandmother Sarah MATTHEWS. George worked as a stock taker at the iron works, and the 1881 County Advertiser mentions three of the Matthews family playing cricket for the Hyde Ironworks.

Almost five years after George was born Sarah MATTHEWS married Richard ALLEN (1806-1844) and their first born, Philip Matthews ALLEN (1835-1910), was my 2 x great grandfather.

Bibliography:

1. Oliver, P. (ed.). 1997. Encyclopedia of Vernacular Architecture of the World. Cambridge: CUP. p1294
   
2. 1881, County Advertiser & Herald for Staffordshire and Worcestershire, 16 July, 8a