Arrival
The Bownass family first moved into Casterton sometime after 1861 -at which time they were recorded in the census as living at Warton, Lancashire- but before 1869. In a newspaper report in 1956 reporting on Martha Bownass’ Golden Wedding anniversary, it is stated that Henry Bownass senior had been a coachman at Casterton School for some 50 years.[1] Given that he died in 1919, this suggests that he had been living in Casterton since before 1869. The family were to remain connected with the house until 1979.
The 1871 census reveals that Ann Bownass, nee Cottam, born 1814 and then aged 55, was a farmer’s widow.
Anne Cottam (1814 – 1878) [2]
Her husband John had died in July 1849 in his early 30s but had left her sufficient funds that she was recorded as an annuitant in the 1851 census and a fund holder in the 1861 census. In 1871 she was living in Casterton with her two sons Henry and Edward, and daughter Mary Alice. In that year her son Henry married Martha Cawson.
Newlands is built
Newlands is not recorded on the 1862 OS Map but is clearly marked on the 1899 OS Map (see extracts below). Furthermore, the Bownass home is not given a name in the 1871 census and so the house that they were living in at that date is most likely not Newlands which, it is thought was built in 1880. It seems reasonable therefore to say that in 1871 the Bownass family were certainly living in Casterton, but not necessarily on the site that is now Newlands although there is a building marked on the next plot of land on the 1862 map. Nor were they living at Holly Bush in 1871 which, as seen later, the family did reside in.
Extracts of the 1862 (bottom) and 1899 OS Maps (top)
Family and Business Life
Ann died in 1878 and so in the 1881 census her son Henry was living at the house now named Newlands, with his wife Martha, and children, Agnes Ann (8), Mary (5), George Cawson (4), Alice (2) and 7 month old Martha who, with the exception of Agnes, were all born in Casterton. Agnes was born in Forton in Lancashire and baptised in Cockerham but her baptism record shows that her abode when baptised was Casterton.
Also living with them was 19 year old William Simpson whose occupation was a groom, giving a clue to the business that was being operated from the house. We know from a later court case (see below) that since at least 1872, the Bownass family had run a coaching business transporting people between Casterton and Kirkby Lonsdale.
Family photograph from around 1880 with Henry and Martha Bownass and their children from left to right, Mary, Alice, George and Agnes Ann [3]
The household in 1891 was much the same as in 1881. Henry was still a carrier but no longer had a groom living in the house, but he did have a new child, nine year old Henry Cottam, Cottam being the maiden name of young Henry’s paternal grandmother.
How much?!
In 1888, Henry found himself in Lancaster County Court as a Defendant, his occupation listed as a carriage proprietor and carrier.[4] He was in dispute with William Gilchrist from Lancaster, a builder of carriages. Henry had bought a second hand wagonette from Gilchrist in 1872 for £48. In 1886 he had returned the, by now very well worn out carriage for repair. It was agreed that the overhaul should take place utilising as much of the old wagonette as was possible. A sum of about £20 was mentioned, but this was before the full scope of work had been agreed. When Henry eventually received the bill, he thought the amount charged, about £47, far too high. He was also dissatisfied with the quality of some of the repairs.
Attempts had been made to identify and agree on a suitable coach builder to act as an arbitrator and advisor to the court, but the two opposing parties could not reach agreement about a suitable person.
Gilchrists’ advertisement in the Lancaster Guardian, 1888
The case was first heard at the High Court but was then referred to the Lancaster County Court for a judgement. The Plaintiff, William Gilchrist presented several witnesses from the trade who had reviewed the work done and the invoice, and found the bill to be reasonable. Bownass on the other hand stated that he had had problems finding an expert witness because, ‘He had been under very great difficulty in getting up his case on account of not being able to get any coach builder at present in business to come forward as a witness, as they told him they could not come against anyone in their own line of business.’ Henry did manage to find somebody who had previously been in the coach building business who considered himself an independent man. This man said that he was, ‘one who would not be likely to say to anyone, “You scratch my back and I’ll scratch yours.” He was [therefore] more reliable as a witness than a man in business.’ He assessed that the maximum that should be paid was just short of £29. Another witness, an innkeeper from Ingleton named Mr Slinger, stated that he thought the work done was only worth £30.
After both parties presented their expert witnesses and the Judge had inspected the vehicle in question, he concluded that because no formal quote had been given for the work, Henry was obliged to pay the full amount. The judge felt that Gilchrist was an honest man and that, ‘the bill had not been shaken at all in a single item.’
A painting of Newlands showing perhaps the carriage that was part of the dispute
Misfortune
Several years later, Henry has some more bad luck, he lost a mare and foal. It was discovered post mortem that they were poisoned by Hemlock which, it was thought, had been in the hay that they had been eating.[5]
Libel & Slander
Startling headlines in the Lancaster Guardian in 1900
Henry found himself in court again in 1900 in a very curious case and one which had potentially more serious consequences than his previous appearance in court. Joseph Applegarth was the Casterton Vicar’s warden. He was living and farming at the Old Manor House in Casterton (referred to as Old Hall in the newspaper report), just down the road from Newlands. He was seeking to recover the sum of £500 from Henry (about £65,000 in 2022 money).
It appears that Henry had written some letters and made some statements about Applegarth that he had taken exception to.[6] In court, Henry had stated that at the time he wrote the letters, he honestly believed his statements to be correct and that before the case came to court he had corresponded with Applegarth and his solicitor to try to reach an agreement about a term of settlement. Henry had already acknowledged that, ‘There was no foundation for them [the statements] and he had made a mistake, as he was led by information which was evidently not correct.’ And that he now, ‘unreservedly withdrew everything he had said both in the letters and postcards.’ He told the court that, if he had in any way affected the plaintiff’s character by the accusations he regretted it.
Applegarth’s solicitor stated that, ‘The libel and slander were of the very worst nature’, and that, ‘There was absolutely no proof, so far as they knew, that the defendant had been misled by information from any body.’ He added that he was willing, ‘to accept judgment for £75 because they thought it would be sufficiently large to make people in the neighbourhood believe that there was no foundation whatever for these charges,’ The judge agreed that the ‘substantial sum of £75’ would be sufficient to clear Applegarth’s name and agreed to the settlement.
Daughter or Granddaughter?
In the 1901 census, Henry Bownass senior was listed as a farmer and cab proprietor, still living at Newlands with his wife and children with the exception of Alice, who had moved away, but with the addition of a granddaughter named Annie May Bownass who was aged 3.
Intriguingly, in the 1911 census, Annie May was listed as the daughter of Henry senior, not the granddaughter. If this were the case, it is highly unlikely that Henry’s wife Martha was the mother, she would have been 54 at the time of the birth, more likely, Annie May was either the daughter of one of Henry’s daughter’s, in which case who was the father, or of Henry himself in which case who was the mother. Perhaps –and this is purely hypothetical- the reason that Applegarth was so agitated and went to court was that he had been incorrectly accused of being the father…
Henry Bownass’ daughters, photo on top, with Mary Bownass (1875 – 1949) standing and Agnes Ann Bownass (1873 – 1917), and photo on the bottom, Alice Bownass (1879 – 1963) [7]
Musical Houses
In the 1911 census, there were more changes in the Bownass household. Henry and his wife Martha had moved house from Newlands to the nearby Holly Bush Farm located opposite the church. The new head of the Newlands household was now Henry Cottam Bownass, Henry senior’s youngest son, who was living with his wife Amelia Jane nee Bivens.
Amelia Jane Bivens (1884 – 1951), wife of Henry Cottam Bownass [8]
With them were six daughters, Marjorie Alice (8), Edith May (5), Annie Isabell (5), Margaret Agnes (4), Martha Amelia (2), Nancy aged 5 months and a son, 3 year old William Henry. Henry Cottam’s occupation was listed as a farmer’s son, indicating that he was working for his father.
Meanwhile, just down the road at Holly Bush, Henry senior, now 65 was with his wife Martha and had added another string to his bow, as well as remaining a farmer and carriage proprietor, he was by now also a post office mail contractor. With him was his unmarried daughter Mary, now aged 35, and his previously listed granddaughter Annie May, who was again recorded as his daughter, suggesting that perhaps she was in fact Mary’s daughter.
Another Horse
In March 1916, a Bownass at Holly Bush placed an advert in the Lancaster Evening Post looking for a horse. It was in no danger of suffering its predecessors’ fate – it was a Rocking Horse that was being looked for.[9]
Life Continues
Come the 1921 census, only Henry seniors’ wife Martha was living at Newlands with her still unmarried daughter Mary. Henry had died in 1919 and was buried in Holy Trinity Church. The administrators of his will were his brother Edward, by now a retired farmer who had returned to the village living with his wife Jane at East View in Norwood Farm a few hundred metres down the road, and his son George Cawson Bownass. The estate valued at £1,209 was shared equally between her surviving children.
Henry Cottam, carriage proprietor, had moved to Holly Bush with Amelia his wife and tribe of children. In the ten years that had passed he had had two more daughters, Florence (5) and Mildred (7) as well as a son named John (4).
Recollections
The Bownass family were remembered by Billy Makinson, he recalled that when he was a child, in the early 1930s, there were only four cars in the village, both the Bickersteths at Casterton Hall and the Stackhouses at Casterton Grange had a car with a chauffeur. Canon Burton the local vicar also owned a car and the Bownass family had their taxi. They ferried the staff and students at the school and also locals who needed to travel further afield. He also remembered that they had a telephone too, one of only a few in the village at that time.[10]
Mystery Solved
The mystery of whether Annie May was Henry’s daughter or granddaughter was finally resolved. Local historian Jean Hamlett obtained a bullet point history of Newlands from Sue Turner, the holder of the Bownass archive which, as noted below, refers to Annie May’s mother as being Mary. [11] Annie May’s birth certificate also confirms that Mary was her mother and that she was born at Newlands, no father was listed. In the family note, it was recorded amongst other things that Newlands was built in 1880, and that when Henry Bownass died in 1919 he left a life interest in the property to his wife Martha. When Martha died in 1927, the house was bought for £800 by two of Annie May’s relatives, her Auntie Alice and her MOTHER. She further recorded that the house was let from 1928 to 1947. The 1939 War census documented that a retired police inspector named Sam Bowler, his wife Nora and daughter Betty were living there.
In 1945, several news paper advertisements show that a N. Bradshaw lived at the property. He or she was breeding pedigree dogs including breeds such as Fox Terriers and Labradors and selling them on.[12]
Annie May noted that in 1947, she and her husband Claude Ainsworth spent £1,000 refurbishing the house and that she had bought her Aunt Alice’s share for £400. When Annie May’s mother Mary died in April 1949, Annie inherited her share of the property. After Annie May’s death in 1979, Newlands was sold to Frank and Joan Livesey ending the Bownass family’s 99 year association with the house.
Claude Ainsworth and his wife Annie May Bownass (1897 – 1979) [13]
Simon Drakeford
Sketch 1
August 2022
References
[1] Lancaster Guardian, 20 April 1956, p8
[2] Photograph courtesy of the Bownass archivist, Susan Turner
[3] Photograph courtesy of the Bownass archivist, Susan Turner
[4] Lancashire Gazette, 18 Apr 1888, p3
[5] Fleetwood Chronicle, 13 Mar 1891, p8
[6] Lancaster Standard, 13 July 1900, p6
[7] Photograph courtesy of the Bownass archivist, Susan Turner
[8] Photograph courtesy of the Bownass archivist, Susan Turner
[9] Lancashire Evening Post, 24 Mar 1916, p8
[10] Reminiscences by William Makinson, dictated to Margaret Pilkington, 23 August 1993, published on Casterton Parish Website, 1993
[11] Copy held by the author
[12] Lancashire Evening Post, 28 Nov 1945, p3
[13] Photograph courtesy of the Bownass archivist, Susan Turner