Samuel Nix (1805-1883)

Continuing my research into the people connected to my late father-in-law’s farm in Pilsley, Derbyshire. According to the Tithe Maps of 1841¹, Samuel Nix was the tenant of the farmhouse and field immediately behind it.

Samuel was born c1805 in Pilsley, Derbyshire, one of possibly thirteen children born to parents Brian and Ann (née Wallis). He was baptised on the 21st April 1805 at North Wingfield church.² Sadly, Samuel’s father, Brian, died on 31st October 1814³ leaving Ann, Brian’s widow, to put out a call for creditors in 1818, to help settle the estate.⁴

Samuel married Mary Caseldine of Ault Hucknall on the 9th July 1836⁵ and their first child, a daughter, Ann was born c1837 and was baptised at North Wingfield on the 13th August 1837⁶. A son, Brian, was born c1840 and was baptised at North Wingfield on the 22nd March. Samuel’s occupation was noted as a farmer.⁷

The Tithe Survey of May 1841 shows Samuel as a tenant of four of Edward Sampson Snr’s plots, two of which are related to the farm; Plot 254 is the farmhouse, outbuildings, yard and garden. Plot 252, Croft, is pasture land. The two other plots are elsewhere in the village.

At the beginning of May 1841, a break in occurs at the house, which is also being used as a shop.

ROBBERY AT PILSLEY. – A few nights ago, the house of Mr. Samuel Nix, farmer and shopkeeper, of Pilsley was broken into, and a quantity of flour, bacon, and various other eatables and effects stolen therefrom. The robbers obtained an entrance into the house by picking the lock of the door; and after proceeding through the different rooms into the shop, made their exit with the plunder in the same way as they entered. Having found the key, they locked the house door and took the key away with them. Mrs. Nix and her mother were the only persons in the house, and were not disturbed by the intruders.⁸

In the 1841 census in June, Mary was living at the farm with children Ann and Brian and her mother Ann Caseldine. I’ve as yet been unable to find Samuel Nix in the 1841 census with any certainty; the most likely candidate was living in Staveley, Derbyshire and working as a horsekeeper.⁹

In 1851 the family were at the farm; Samuel was 46 and a farmer/shopkeeper. Mary was 41, Ann 14 and Brian 11. Mary gave her birthplace as Cuckney in Nottinghamshire. Also in the house were Thomas Furness an agricultural labourer aged 23 and John Wholey aged 8, described as a servant’s illegitimate son.¹⁰

Ann Nix married Joseph Cutts at North Wingfield church in 1856. Joseph was the son of Aaron Cutts, also a Pilsley farmer. They had two sons, Joseph (1859) and Samuel (1862), but Ann died in 1869 at the age of 31.¹¹

By 1861 Samuel and Mary are at the farm in Pilsley. Samuel was a farmer and Brian is now 21 and a butcher. They have a servant in the household, Ann Brown, who is 14 and their niece.¹² In the Harrod’s Directory of 1870, Samuel is recorded as a farmer and his son Brian as a butcher.¹³

On Whit Monday 1868, Samuel lent a field out to the children of the local Wesleyan chapel for tea and plum cake. Later there was a public tea there for upwards of 100 people. It was noted that the edibles were ‘first class’.¹⁴

In 1871, Samuel and Mary were 65 and 60 respectively. Brian was still at home with them and working as a butcher. They had a grandson (Ann & Joseph’s son) living with them; Joseph N Cutts, aged 11 and born in Pilsley.¹⁵

Mary died in 1878 at the age of 68.¹⁶

In the 1881 census, Samuel is 76, a widower and a farmer of 15 acres. Brian is 41 and a butcher. There was a farm servant in the house; John Marriott, aged 15 from Woolley Moor. Also in the house was Rebecca Way, a widow, sister of Mary, who was 65 and working as a dressmaker.¹⁷

Both Samuel and Brian are listed as farmers in Kelly’s 1881 Directory.¹⁸

Samuel made an appearance in the Derbyshire Times of January 1882, when he sued a neighbour, Benjamin Rooth, for damage to grass and the death of a sheep. Samuel won his case and was awarded 30s for the sheep and 15s for the grass. It was noted that there was a fair amount of ill-feeling between the two farmers.¹⁹

Samuel died in February 1883 and was buried in the Wesleyan Chapel graveyard in Pilsley.²⁰

Sources

1. Tithe Apportionments, 1836-1929 [database online]. TheGenealogist.co.uk 2020
2. Derbyshire Record Office; Matlock, Derbyshire, England; Diocese: Diocese of Derby; Reference Number: D 1434 A/PI 3
3. Diocese of Lichfield and Coventry, England, Indexes of Wills and Probate, 1518-1858 [database on-line].
4. Derby Mercury 22 January 1818 via Find My Past
5. Derbyshire Record Office; Matlock, Derbyshire, England; Diocese: Diocese of Derby
6. “England Births and Christenings, 1538-1975”, database, FamilySearch (https://www.familysearch.org/ark:/61903/1:1:JQRN-ZZ6 : 10 April 2021), Ann Nix, 1837.
7. Derbyshire Record Office; Matlock, Derbyshire, England; Derbyshire Church of England Parish Registers; Diocese: Diocese of Derby; Reference Number: D 1434 A/PI 5
8. Derbyshire Courier 08 May 1841 via Find My Past
9. 1841 Census: The National Archives; Kew, London, England; Class: HO107; Piece: 196; Book: 14; Civil Parish: North Wingfield; County: Derbyshire; Enumeration District: 10; Folio: 6; Page: 6; Line: 20; GSU roll: 241298
10. 1851 Census: The National Archives; Kew, London, England; Class: HO107; Piece: 2147; Folio: 268; Page: 7; GSU roll: 87779-87780
11. Derbyshire Record Office; Matlock, Derbyshire, England; Diocese: Diocese of Derby; Reference Number: D 1434 A/PI 18
12. 1861 Census: The National Archives; Kew, London, England; Class: RG 9; Piece: 2526; Folio: 62; Page: 3; GSU roll: 542984
13. Harrod’s Directory 1870
14. Derbyshire Times and Chesterfield Herald 06 June 1868 Via Find My Past
15. 1871 Census: The National Archives; Kew, London, England; 1871 England Census; Class: RG10; Piece: 3607; Folio: 20; Page: 33; GSU roll: 839780
16. FreeBMD. England & Wales, Civil Registration Death Index, 1837-1915 [database on-line].
17. 1881 Census: The National Archives; Kew, London, England; Class: RG11; Piece: 3428; Folio: 135; Page: 9; GSU roll: 1341820
18. Kelly’s Directory 1884
19. Alfreton County Court: Derbyshire Times and Chesterfield Herald 21 January 1882 Via Find My Past
20. Derbyshire Courier 10 February 1883 Via Find My Past