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Chesham Stories

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Frederick and Jane Birch (nee Dell)

My father Frederick was born on 25th September 1864 into the family of William and Ellen Birch, one of the oldest names in Chesham. The name Birch can be traced back in and around Chesham to the early 14th Century. His father, William Birch, was described on Frederick's birth certificate as a farm labourer, although it is known from census entries that he had previously been a pit sawyer. His mother was Ellen Birch (nee Butler) from Hyde Heath, a village 3 miles from Chesham. He was born in the family home, a small cottage in Amy Lane, a part of Chesham known then as Weylands. Frederick was the eldest child of six, two brothers William and Thomas, and three sisters, Fanny, Pearl and Catherine Kate, (who lived to be 92).

My mother Jane was born on the 5th July 1864 in Grimsdells Lane, Amersham Common. Her Father Isaac Dell was born at Hyde Heath in 1826 and as a young boy was hired out to a farmer at Mantles Farm, Hyde Heath. He later became a farm bailiff and was well respected locally. Her Mother, Jane Bedford, was born at Northchurch, Hertfordshire in 1830. As a family they moved from farm to farm in and around the district as their father changed his work place. At one time they were at Flaunden in Hertfordshire as all seven girls were christened on the same day in the local church. Jane and her six sisters had a good living, their mother managed to feed them all very well in spite of what must have been difficult circumstances looking after eight people in a small cottage.

After the local farmers had gathered in the last of the harvest people were allowed by law to go onto the fields and pick up any ears of corn that had been missed. This was known as gleaning, and as long as there was one stook of sheaves still in the field the farmer could claim he had not finished, and people could be kept out. As soon as this last stook was removed however, anyone could legally go in. In this way, with all the girls helping quite a substantial amount of corn could be gathered. This was taken to the local flour mill to be ground into flour by the miller. Enough was usually obtained to make sure there was always a sack or two of flour to bake all their own bread and pastry.

A pig was also kept, and when this was killed it would provide bacon and pork for eating and dripping and lard for cooking etc. When the pig had been killed it would be butchered into joints and then wrapped in paper and cloth and hung in the chimney to be smoked.

Money was always in short supply so anything that could bring some in was welcomed. One way was by the local tradition of straw plaiting, and most of the family would be engaged on this. My mother used to tell me that in the winter they would get very cold while they were sitting plaiting. They could not sit near the fire for fear of setting light to the straw. The way they kept warm was to put some hot coals in a tin box on the floor beneath their long skirts so that the heat would rise and keep them nice and warm. When she was older mother went to work in a farmers house and there learned her skills of cooking and housekeeping that stood her in good stead after she was married.

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