Charles Hallworth: 1785-1853

Charles Hallworth SENIOR was born in 1785 in Pulloxhill, and you can read more about his parents & half-siblings here. His mother was the second wife of a dairyman, Thomas Hallworth, and she had 3 boys altogether.  Charles was the eldest, and his younger brother Philip was to become the publican at the Maulden pub, Dog & Badger (more on him here).  The third brother was named Jonathan, more on him as yet unwritten.


Thanks very much to the delightfully curious Charlotte for getting me started with this family! She found the first record that I couldn't find (because I was looking only for folk with the "correct" spelling, rather than an Alsworth as our Philip is entered).

The parish records quoted below are held on the IGI FamilySearch database. I've typed the names as they occur in the parish records' transcriptions. (Interesting info on Maulden's Wiki page about the church, St. Mary's.)
In 1810, on 17th December, in Maulden, Maria Pennyfather married Chas Halworth.

Their first child, Thomas Halworth was baptised on the 19th of April 1812, in Maulden. Our Philip Alsworth was next (8th May 1814), followed by Samuel Hallworth (baptised Jan 1816, died Feb 1816), Martha Hallsworth (Dec 1816 - a busy year), George Halworth (March 1819), Hannah Maria Hallworth (1821), Maria Taylor Hallworth (1823), Charles Hallworth (1825), Isaac Haleworth (1831).


You can read a little more about what may have been a 'disagreement' between the sons George and Thomas: here, and more about the sons George & Isaac as old millers: here. More on our ancestor, Philip Hallworth: here. And a little more below on some of the others, including speculation & some old documents about disputes over the will after Charles died.

Pennyfathers - a sweet name!
Maria Pennyfather was baptised in Maulden in 1784; born to parents Isaac Pennyfather & Martha Taylor, who married in Maulden in 1779. Maria died (aged ~85) in October 1871, and was buried at Pulloxhill St James church.

Some interesting material on Bedfordshire Archive (newer catalogue) for Pennyfather:

• William Breed. St. Luke Middx. to Maulden. Wm. Breed. In 1809, then unmarried and childless, hired as a yearly servant by Mr Pennefather of Maulden Mill at 3½gns. Served 1yr, Michelmas to Michelmas. (from BLARS PUAV 41/32; 23 Apr 1866)
• Isaac Pennyfather, a miller of Maulden in 1815.  Can write to sign his name. 
• Isaac Pennyfather (Surviving Trustees and Feoffees of the Charity lands in Maulden & Flitton) - named as one of those involved in setting up a charity for relief of the poor of Maulden. (from BLARS P31/25/43-4  21 August 1813)
• Certainly an old Maulden family - 1709 record of "Wm Pennyfather apprentice to Robt Quait, Maulden, Tailor." Also some shoemaker Pennyfathers are mentioned.
• The Bedfordshire Pollbook, dated 1784, shows us that Isaac Pennyfather was a voter living in Maulden.

Patti has the name recorded as Pennyfeather, and has found baptism records for the Pennyfeather male line going right back to John Pennyfeather born ~ 1558. The generations were found living in Millbrook, Maulden, then Clophill and finally Isaac Pennyfeather who was born in Flitton (in 1753, but he moved to run the Maulden Mill by 1815). Thanks for sharing!

In an 1822 License document for the nearby Maulden pub (Dog & Badger), run by Charles' brother Philip Hallworth, we can see that our Charles Hallworth was already a Miller of Maulden, and was confident enough in his finances to put up the surety of £30 for his brother's license.  {Note - I am making an assumption here, I can't be sure it's this Charles.  It could be another relative.}

The 1841 Census
In the 1841 census of Maulden we see a Miller, Charles Hallworth (55) living at Mill Lane. His wife is Maria, and also in the house are Martha (20), George (20), Hannah (20), Mary (20), Charles (15) and Isaac (9).  All of the household was born in Bedfordshire. {N.B. the ages aren't accurate as they were rounded to the nearest 5 in the 1841 census.}

His neighbour is a 25-year-old Miller, Thomas Hallworth and his wife Hannah - Charles' oldest son.
His other son Philip has already moved out by the year 1841 (see his page: here).

This Charles & Maria, then, are the parents of our Philip Hallworth (living in Toddington). I can be more certain of the link now that I have searched for a person in the area named Charles Alsworth who has a similar story - and found none. So that reassures me that Charles' name was simply recorded 'incorrectly' again {more on the name here}.


What happens next to Charles & Maria?
In the 1851 census, we find Charles Hallworth (66, born Pulloxhill) at Mill House, Maulden. He is described as a Miller and farmer of 40 acres (employing 3 men). His wife is Marria, aged 64 in 1851 was born in Maulden. Their sons George & Isaac remain in the household (Farm labourer and Miller).
Next to them (in Mill Lane) is still Thomas Hallworth, farmer of 30 acres.

So then - we could work out that Charles was born in around 1785, which means he would've been around 29 when his son Phillip was born. His wife Maria was born in 1787.
I had the death of a Charles Hallworth in the Ampthill area in either 1853 or 1862. In the 1861 census for Maulden I find Maria is a Retired Miller's widow, so now we can be sure - he was the man who died in 1853.

Thanks to Barbara for the tips and help here -
A will was made for Charles Senior in 1853 and proved on July 13th 1854 on the oaths of Thomas Hallworth and Charles Hallworth.  The estate's value was under £600, to be shared amongst his children after his wife's death.
According to the calculator on this page, then - it was worth about £41,500 in today's money. The estate seems to have caused some problems in the family - but not (presumably) until after their mother Maria had died, almost 20 years later. Value of the estate by then is not known. See below for details on this.

1861 census
At the Corn Mill, Maulden, Maria was a Retired Miller's widow (72), with her sons George (Cow Man) and Isaac (Miller). Also in the house is her grandson Charles R. Chandler (18, born Barton; Miller) {a familiar name from entries in Rowland Hallworth's post}.

• Charles' son Thomas & Hannah are still next door, at Water End. (Doing rather well - he's described as a Miller & Farmer of 76 acres, employing 3 men & 1 boy. Also have a Gentleman Lodger. In the 1851 Census, Thomas had 30 acres & his father had 40 acres - so Thomas seems to have taken on his late father's lands since 1853.)
• Charles' son Charles married Martha Ann (nee Lock, born in Biggleswade, married him in 1847) and living in Pulloxhill?  They had 4 children: Mary, Maria, Martha, Charles (unusual to see both those names, Maria & Mary!). In the 1911 census, Martha Ann was counted in Pulloxhill, aged 91, a widow living with her single daughter Mary (57, born Pulloxhill).  Martha had 4 children, but 2 of those had died by 1911.
• Charles' son Philip was farming at Toddington.
• Charles' daughter Hannah Maria Hallworth married William Chandler at Barton in the Clay, in 1841. They had 4 children (one of whom seems to be a Groom at his Uncle Thomas' place, though he was described as Servant, not nephew.).

1871 census
By now, the Maulden Mill is occupied instead by widower Thomas Hallworth (59, Farmer & Miller, born Maulden), with his daughter Hannah Hallworth (30, born Maulden) & nephew Willm Chandler (24).
(Thomas' wife Hannah had died in 1862.)

Maria is aged 84, living 'next door' at Water End with her sons George & Isaac, as well as 2 granddaughters Mary (20) & Maria (17) who were both born in Pulloxhill.


Maria Hallworth (Pennyfather) dies

Charles's wife Maria didn't appear in the next census. It appears she died (aged ~85) in October 1871 (just a few months after the Census), and was buried at Pulloxhill St James church.

According to her husband's will, the estate was not to be divided amongst his many children until after his wife's death.  One wonders how the considerable passage of time (1853-1871) affected the family.  Presumably the business upon which the estate was based (the mill & farm) either increased or decreased in value in the intervening years.  The Miller in that period - Thomas Hallworth & his family - would have had a difficult discussion with his siblings over who should get what. Particularly as he seems to have combined his father's farmlands with his own, and worked them for many years.

Certainly, the estate of Charles Hallworth Senior was still not settled by the end of 1873. An article here in the London Gazette of 1873 asks for interested parties (creditors) to come forward. It names the executors as Thomas & Charles Hallworth - two of his sons, as we already knew from our reading of his will of 1853. It tells us Charles Senior was a miller of Maulden who died on 8/12/1853.

The National Archives hold some papers about this issue, (notes about it here and I have a copy now) - and the date given is October 1873. The paper is an Administration Summons, in which Philip Hallworth has asked that he should have a part in his father's legacy. The executors (Philip's brothers Thomas & Charles) were summoned to appear at the Middlesex Chancery Court ("at half past 11 of the Clock in the forenoon" on Saturday the 8th of November, 1873) to explain why an order can't be made for Administration of their father's estate.

Next question - did they turn up? What was said?

What happened after that?
According to the Harrod's Trade Directory of 1876 Thomas Hallworth was a farmer & miller of Maulden. But, after only a short while as "Head Miller" he too died in 1877, leaving his mill to his younger son Arthur Charles.
Philip Hallworth died in 1880.

Thomas's son Arthur Charles was recorded as the Miller in Maulden in the 1881 Census, but soon passed the mill &/or farm onto one of his wider family, Samuel Brightman.  (See more on this from a notebook held at BLARS & reproduced on this Mills post: here. Ref. SF39/119 - 1882).

Isaac Hallworth died in 1894, aged 65. George had died in 1897, aged 78. Certainly the other sons were all dead by 1882.

Also not yet sure if the Mill or Farm did pass to their in-laws Samuel Brightman & so remain in the wider family after 1882, but a note from 1911 suggests the Mill is disused. It remained a Farm.



Maulden Local Information, Maps etc.
You can see some wonderful photos & read much more about the watermill at Maulden in this TrunkCalls post: here.
Photos of towns, villages, churches in Bedfordshire are here. Great shot of St Mary's church at Maulden: here.
Old photos of Bedfordshire: here, and a map also is there for 19th C Maulden. Alternatively try Cassini Maps.
If you use a modern OS map, you'll see that we are just a little East of the Millbrook Vehicle Testing Grounds.


Next, move on to read more about Charles' son Philip Hallworth, his grandson John Hallworth, and his great-grandson Charles Hallworth.