From Photographs in the fosseision of Mr. Peter Astill THE REV. JOHN BABINGTON GEORGE ...

50 Pages·2011·5.55 MB·English

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POST-MEDIEVAL COSSINGTON
BY FLORENCE E. SKILLINGTON
Post-Medieval Cossington
By Florence E. Skillington
VII
"AT Leicester", wrote John Byng in 1790, "begins the now
overspread, prosperous cotton trade, which, populates and enriches
all the neighbouring counties : thanks to the Reciprocal Treaty.
This village [Castle Donington] increases in buildings and
possesses the comfort of coals at 6d. per hundred."1 But his
pounce was hardly returned to its box when the tide of agricul­
tural prosperity ceased to flow, and men left the land for canal-
building and other work.
The canalising of the Soar and the Wreak, which was effected
between 1790 and 1794, made a number of practical differences to
Cossington. The course of the Wreak was considerably adjusted
between Syston mill and Cossington mill, and the Soar was im­
proved in one place, Raynes's island. Three locks, those at Sileby
mill, Cossington mill and "the lock on the Wreak in Cossington
meadow", now called "Walton's lock", modified the natural
drainage of the parish; and the cut from Thurmaston to the Wreak
brought a greater flow of water through the last reach of that river.
The canal was cut through Turnwater close and Turnwater nook,
and the trustees of William Staveley received £80 in compen­
sation; they spent the money on enlarging a house belonging to
Staveley's charity.2
The survey for this undertaking was made by Mr. Christopher
Staveley, Junr., in 1790, and in 1791 an Act of Parliament, author­
ising the undertaking, was passed. This Act stipulated that the
charge for wharfage should be l£d. a ton for stone, brick, lime
or manure for any period less than six hours. For any number
of days up to six the charge was 3d. a ton, and 2d. a ton for
every additional day. But no more than 2d. a ton might be
charged for the wharfage of coal or the use of weighing machines.
Freights were to be charged at the rate of 2s. 6d. a ton from
Loughborough to Leicester, 2d. a ton for any one mile, and Is. 3d.
a ton from Loughborough to the Melton canal; coal cost Is. 2d.,
Id. and 7d. for the same distances; building and road materials
were carried for half the price of coals; and dung, soil, marl, ashes
and other manure (except lime) were exempt from tolls provided
i-Torrington Diaries, 8th June, 1790.
^Report of the Charity Commissioners, p. 475.
POST-MEDIEVAL COSSINGTON 205
that they did not pass a lock, and were used only in the parishes
through which the navigation passed. Certain men of means and
position were appointed commissioners for settling any disputes
between the Canal Company and private persons. A com­
missioner was required to have an annual income of at least £100
from real estate (not mortgage) in his own right or that of his
wife, or else personal property worth £.2,000. He might not
adjudicate in any matter in which he had a private interest.
Among the numerous commissioners appointed were Thomas
Babington, esquire, Matthew Babington, clerk, William Babing­
ton, clerk, Mr. Joseph Babington, John Fisher, clerk, and Mr.
Henry Marshall Goude. The company had a capital of £46,000
to which Messrs. Thomas Babington, Matthew Babington, John
Fisher and Fisher Hulse had, with many others, subscribed.3 On
Saturday, 22nd February, 1794, the first two boats laden with
merchandise arrived at Leicester.4
Mr. Babington had supported this scheme from the first, and
had been one of the promoters of an earlier bill, which was thrown
out of parliament in 1786.5
At about this time agitation for the abolition of slavery was
initiated in Leicestershire. Mr. Thomas Babington and his
brother, Matthew, were among the ten gentlemen who petitioned
the High Sherrif of the County to call a meeting to discuss the
matter. The meeting was held on 7th February, 1788, in Leicester
castle, and strong resolutions, condemning the slave trade and
calling for remedies, were adopted.6 Another public meeting
was held on 1st February, 1792, "to consider the propriety of
petitioning Parliament for the abolition of the slave trade. The
business of the meeting was opened by Thomas Babington, Esq.,
in a speech of considerable length., in which he exposed the horrid
means employed in carrying on the iniquitous traffic, and urged
in a very forcible manner the necessity of making national exer­
tions to procure the overthrow of the system. Mr. Neal, the
Mayor, was in the chair, and the meeting was addressed by several
gentlemen. Among the resolutions adopted was one of warm
thanks to Mr. Wilberforce, who had moved the abolition of the
slave trade in the House of Commons, and those gentlemen who
ably supported him by their convincing eloquence. The late Mr.
3 The Act.
4J. Thompson—History of Leicester in the Eighteenth Century, p. 210.
p. 181. 6/jnd., p. 190.
2O6 LEICESTERSHIRE ARCHAEOLOGICAL SOCIETY
Wm. Gardiner relates in his Music and Friends that 'The great
champion, Mr. Wilberforce, found an ardent fellow labourer in
Mr. Babington. It was in the groves of Rothley Temple that these
philanthropists drew up a statement, extending to two thousand
pages, of the cruelties practised in the inhuman traffic'."7
Meanwhile, the clergy had not been idle. Certain of
them, including William Babington, rector of Cossington,
Matthew Babington, vicar of Rothley, and their relative
Aulay Macaulay, curate of Claybrook, asked the Archdeacon of
Leicester, Dr. Burnaby, to call a meeting of protest for the clergy
of the archdeaconry. This was duly held in the Three Crowns
Inn at Leicester on 13th March, 1788; and a petition, much
stronger than the one prepared by Dr. Burnaby, was adopted,
signed by those present, and taken round the county for further
signatures. In due course, it was presented at Westminster. In
1792 the same reverend gentlemen again called upon their arch­
deacon to preside over a meeting of protest; this, at some length,
he refused to do. The clergy, however, held their meeting with­
out him, and presently dispatched another petition to parliament.
In all these manoeuvres Mr. William Babington, Mr. Matthew
Babington and Mr. Aulay Macaulav took active parts, Matthew
with such zeal that he particularly annoyed Dr. Burnaby.8
His public work led Mr. Babington into politics and in 1800
he contested, in more senses than one, the borough of Leicester,
his opponent being the champion of the old Corporation. "The
two candidates were Thomas Babington, of Rothley Temple in
the county of Leicester, esq., and John Manners of Buckminster
in the same county, esq. The poll proceeded by tallies, and was
continued during fifteen days — the utmost period allowed by law.
At its close 2,990 voters had polled, and Mr. Babington had a
majority of 154, with a respectable body of friends unpolled."
Mr. Babington 's supporters maintained that Mr. Manners tried
to take advantage of the misery of the poor at that time. "The
year 1800 was a season of scarcity; and during the Winter, Spring
and Summer preceding the election, the wants of the poor of
Leicester had been relieved by the wealthy inhabitants with
persevering and unexampled liberality." It was undoubtedly an
expensive campaign. The following Cossington men, who had
p. 202. The reference to Gardiner is Vol. Ill, p. 70.
aContemporary pamphlet, Dr. Burnaby's Conduct, written by himself.
POST-MEDIEVAL COSSINGTON 2O7
qualifications in Leicester, voted for Mr. Babington:—George
Doubleday, farmer; the Rev. John Fisher; Francis Goode,
grazier; John Goode, grazier; William Goode, grazier; Hugh King,
gentleman; William King, esquire; John Kirk, miller; and Thomas
Simpkin, blacksmith. The great Daniel Lambert, of Blue Boar
Lane, Leicester, gentleman, also voted for Mr. Babington.9
Several of these Cossington voters were Mr. Babington's tenants;
it is hardly speculative to suggest that they had done well out
of the land; to vote meant property and property requires cash,
and the land tax assessment for the same year shows that the
Babingtons paid 58 per cent, of the land tax of the parish,
and that owner-occupiers played but a small part in the agrarian
economy of the village.
Cossington Land Tax Assessment, 1801.
Proprietor Occupier Tax
Thos. Babington, esq. Sundry Tenants £45 5 li
The Rev. Wm- Babington Geo. Doubleday 21 0 10|
Jno. Chamberlain, esq. Thos. Wild 1 1 4
Thos. Church Himself 1 12 8
Brewin's Charity Robt. Simons 4 1
Melton Company Wm- Ferneley 3 2
Wm- Dickins Jos. Robinson 8 11
The Rev. Mr. Dudley Jno. & F. Goudes 2 6 3
The Rev. Jno. Fisher Himself 5 12 4
Henry Green,, esq. Henry M. Goude 11 1 1
Henry Goude Himself 3 18 6
Thos. Gilbert Himself 13 0
Wm- Goodacre Himself 1 1
Wm- F. Hulse Himself 10
James Hudson Himself 8
Thos. King, esq. John Goude & others 11 6
Proprietors of lands
in Cossington Thos. King, esq. 1 14 3
Moley Wm. F. Hulse 1 14 3
Jno. Noon, esq. George Doubleday 2 12 11
Woodhouse Poor 3 5
Wm- Southernwood Himself 6 8
Jno. Soars, etc. Fox Cover 5 11
Leicester Company Land taken from the
Rev. Mr. Green's Estate 13 0
£113 18 2
G. Doubleday, Assessor and Collector.10
9Poll book lent to the writer by Mr. Bernard Clarke. Daniel Lambert
weighed 52 stones 10 pounds.
"Transcribed from the original in Leicester castle by Dr. W. G. Hoskins.
2O8 LEICESTERSHIRE ARCHAEOLOGICAL SOCIETY
Mr. Babington retained his seat until 1818, when Messrs.
John Mansfield and Thomas Pares were elected. He "happened
to be occupying the chair of the House of Commons at the moment
when Percival, First Lord of the Treasury and Chancellor of the
Exchequer, was murdered. On Monday, May llth, 1812, the
Commons had just resolved themselves into a committee of the
whole House, and Mr. Babington had taken the chair, when Mr.
Percival fell under the attack of the infatuated Billingham."11
In the summer of 1814 Thomas Babington, in partnership
with his son, Matthew, and Thomas Edward Dicey of Claybrook,
opened a bank in Leicester; and on 1st January, 1815, they amal­
gamated with John Mansfield and carried on a banking business
under the name of Mansfield, Babington, Dicey and Babington
in premises in Gallowtree Gate, Leicester. In 1839, when Mans­
field and both the Babingtons had died, the building was
acquired by the Stamford, Spalding and Boston Banking Com­
pany, but the business was transferred to Messrs Clarke and
Philips, later Messrs. Clarke, Mitchell, Philips and Smith. This
firm went into bankruptcy in 1843.
"Matthew Babington was the third son of Thomas Babington,
born on 5th September, 1792. At the time of his joining the
bank, he was not yet 22 years of age, and was then engaged at
Downing Street, perhaps as a political secretary, but shortly after­
wards came to live at Rothley. He became a justice of the peace
for the county, took much interest in the local affairs and politics,
and acted as chairman of the newly-established Midland Counties
Railway...... He died on 12th August, 1836, in his 44th year."12
This railway, which was destined to make a permanent scar
across the parish of Cossington, was sufficiently complete to carry
Thomas Cook's first railway excursion from Leicester to Lough-
borough in 1841. We learn from a draft agreement that land in
the village was sold to the company at the rate of £180 per
acre.13 When the line was first built there was a halt at Cos­
sington; but that was abolished subsequently, when provision
was made for four-way traffic.
HC. J.Billson—Leicester Memoirs, p. 10.
12/bid., pp. 9, 10, 11 and 30.
13S. 12/39. It was proposed that 2 roods 7 poles of the Barn Close should
be sold by Mrs. Fisher Hulse and her trustees to the Midland
Counties Railway Company for £108.
POST-MEDIEVAL COSSINGTON 209
Thomas Babington died on 21st November, 1837. His
services to the community and to humanity at large were very
great, but we cannot rate them higher than those of his prede­
cessors who, for over two hundred years, made two ears of corn
and two blades of grass grow where only one had grown before.
VIII
IN the thirties of the last century a plague of surveyors and com­
missioners descended upon Cossington. The first was Mr. Curtis,
collecting information for his Topographical History, which was
published in 1831. He noted that there were 237 inhabitants
living in 59 houses, and that the expenditure on poor rates was
£229 13s. Od.1 The second was Dr. Bonney, who went through
his archdeaconry of Leicester like the wrath of God. He visited
personally every parish in the county, and no detail of church life
or property was trivial enough to escape his attention. He arrived
at Cossington on 20th July, 1832, and made the following obser­
vations : —
Population : 283
Patron: Thomas Babington, esq.
Rector : Rev. John Babington
Services on Sunday : Two full services
,, in the Week : None
Sacraments: Six in the year
The Fabric
Tower, covered with ivy, appears to be in a good state..
The body of the church consists of three aisles (sic), the
walls of which appear to be good. The chancel is in good
order, well drained and spouted. The porch is in good order
and neatly white-washed. The roofs are apparently in good
order. The windows are good, and there are sufficient case­
ments in church and chancel. The doors are strong.
Interior walls are very neat, and have been white-washed
within the last three weeks. The floors are brick and toler­
ably even. The inner roof appears to be good. The
interior of the chancel is very neat and has been white-
ij. Curtis—Topographical History of Leicestershire, p. 45.
2IO LEICESTERSHIRE ARCHAEOLOGICAL SOCIETY
washed lately. There are sufficient drains and spouts.
The graves are too near the wall; in future not nearer than
6 feet. A little dirt which has accumulated must be
removed.
Furniture
The pews are fair, some neat, some old, some open seats,
but the church upon the whole is not well pewed. The
pulpit is old and painted black. The reading desk is the
same. An old font of stone in a very green state. A good
oak table for the Communion. An iron Register chest.
Four bells, one out of order, to be put right. Ropes good.
A few hassocks are wanted. Handsome mats covered with
carpet for the Communion. Strong oak Communion rails,
lately given. A barrel organ. One stove.
Books
The Bible, dated 1772 and bought in 1783, is in a good
state. The Prayer Book, dated 1799 and bought in 1808,
is very fair. The clerk's Prayer Book is bad. A new
one must be purchased. The ten commandments are hand­
somely painted with half lengths of Moses and Aaron.
Vestments
Two surplices, one good and the other decent. No hood
found by the parish. A very bad Communion Cloth; a new
one must be provided. A very bad linen cloth for the
Sacrament; a new one must be provided. A good napkin. A
handsome crimson Pulpit Cushion with Tassels. A very
good pall.
Vessels
A silver Cup. A silver Paten, date 1704. A silver Plate.
A wooden box to collect the offerings.
Churchyard
The Fence is good. The Gate is almost new. No door.
One ancient Churchway, kept neat. Four elm trees.
The Minister
He is resident at the Glebe House, which is in excellent
order and a beautiful place.
Extra Services
On Ash Wednesday, but not on Ascension Day.
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