The Thornycrofts of Great Tidnock Farm

10:24am Friday 4th April 2008

BY the middle of the 18th century a John Thornycroft was farming at Little Moreton Hall, just south of Congleton.

About the time of his marriage, he took a lease on the largest farm in Gawsworth, near Macclesfield, known as Great Tidnock Farm, with two adjoining farmsteads. When John died in 1788, his 20-year-old son William came into possession of the leases.

Leases were for three lives, but it seems that, in addition to his father, the other two named on the leases had also died. It was usual to renegotiate for a further life when one of those named died, but at a price, of course, yet this does not seem to have happened. Instead the farmlands were divided and under a new lease, the larger portion of Tidnock suffered a substantial rent increase.

William's son John, named after his grandfather and born in 1791, grew up farming a portion of the land. He married a farmer's daughter from Bosley towards the end of the Napoleonic Wars, and his son, Thomas (as mentioned in my last article), was born in 1815.

Two more sons quickly followed - William in 1818 and Isaac in 1819 - but in 1822 John died suddenly when only 30 years of age. His widow, Ann, was granted the administration of the estate, estimated at under £450, a not inconsequential sum but, with three very young sons to consider, Ann's pride and determination had to take over to ensure a respectable future for the family.

There is little doubt that as the grandfather lived a further 20 years, working the land with great care and attention, he must have given some support to his daughter-in-law and the three grandsons as, side by side, they worked the farmland. The greatest product was cheese from the dairy herd, which Ann sold in the local markets together with other farm produce.

Grandfather died in 1842 aged 74 years and the farm and land passed, not to the eldest grandson, Thomas, but to the second grandson, William. Thomas, destined to be the next farmer in line, had taken an entirely different path.

Initially, of course, it had been expected that Thomas would in time take over the farm, which meant that from an early age he was expected to contribute some of his time and labour to farm duties.

While some effort must have been insisted upon, much to his mother's chagrin, more often than not she found him sitting at the farmhouse table, modelling animals and drawing lines and circles. In despair she took the advice of a friend and sent him off to Congleton Grammar School to receive a good education.

Young William loved the farm, which no doubt pleased his grandfather, but where he was educated is unknown, presumably locally on a part time basis while he served his apprenticeship on the farm. Isaac soon showed promise and followed in the footsteps of Thomas by also going to the grammar school in Congleton.

Ann, now reconciled to the fact that Thomas and Isaac must have careers outside farming, would have realised that, like apprenticeships, articles cost money, unless you had family connections of course.

Times were becoming harder, wars had to be paid for and the Napoleonic War with its consequences had built up a large national debt, increased by the enormous sums which the Government contributed towards redeveloping France, and to other countries, such as Portugal, to stop their slave trading.

Farm prices rose together with unrest, but Ann stubbornly refused to admit defeat. Whose advise she took when she apprenticed Thomas to Mr John Fleet, a surgeon of Mill Street, Macclesfield, is not known, but it was a very unwise decision.

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