During The Ashdown Forest Dispute 1876-1882 commoners and land owners were interviewed by the solicitor William Raper. Their comments were recorded in a series of notebooks:
Hobbs, William. About 58. Living on the Forest near Brown's Brook. Was born in the lodge house at Oldlands. My Father was a laborer and worked on Oldlands and Puxty. When I was about 10 years old I went to work and have worked immediately round the neighbourhood all my life.
I believe I first went to work for Mr. Benham at Puxty for 4 or 5 years; my Father was working for him then. I afterwards went as ploughboy to Edward Dadswell at Barnsgate Farm and after 2 or 3 years went to live in the house with him and lived there 4 1/2 years. Then I married and worked for Mr. Dadswell 2 or 3 years, then I worked at times in Mr. Wood's nursery and cut litter in the winter and have worked about ever since. I worked some 20 years ago for Sir John Shelley for about 4 1/2 years and I have worked off and on for Mr. Nesbitt for the last 9 years.
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| James Hobbs | m: c 1730 | Jane | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| b: c 1710 d: Jun 1768 Buxted, Sussex bur: 12th Jun 1768 St. Margaret's Church, Buxted, Sussex | b: c 1710 | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| James | John | William | Ann | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| b: 1728 d: Apr 1806 Maresfield, Sussex bur: 8th Apr 1806 St Bartholomew Parish Church, Maresfield, Sussex | b: 1730 Fletching, Sussex ch: 23rd Jul 1730 St Andrew & St Mary Church d: Nov 1800 Maresfield, Sussex bur: 19th Nov 1800 St Bartholomew Parish Church, Maresfield, Sussex | b: 1733 Fletching, Sussex ch: 27th Feb 1733 St Andrew & St Mary Church d: Jun 1800 Fletching, Sussex bur: 9th Jun 1800 St Andrew & St Mary Church, Fletching, Sussex | b: 1736 Fletching, Sussex ch: 23rd Feb 1736 St Andrew & St Mary Church | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| John Hobbs | m: 29th Dec 1756 St Andrew & St Mary Church, Fletching, Sussex | Martha Gates | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| b: 1730 Fletching, Sussex ch: 23rd Jul 1730 St Andrew & St Mary Church d: Nov 1800 Maresfield, Sussex bur: 19th Nov 1800 St Bartholomew Parish Church, Maresfield, Sussex | b: 1730 d: Jan 1807 Maresfield, Sussex bur: 11th Jan 1807 St Bartholomew Parish Church, Maresfield, Sussex | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Martha | Anne | Hannah | Sarah | John | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| b: 1757 Maresfield, Sussex ch: 28th Oct 1757 St Bartholomew Parish Church | b: 1759 Maresfield, Sussex ch: 23rd Oct 1759 St Bartholomew Parish Church d: 23rd Oct 1759 Maresfield, Sussex bur: 23rd Oct 1759 St Bartholomew Parish Church, Maresfield, Sussex | b: 1763 Maresfield, Sussex ch: 6th Jan 1763 St Bartholomew Parish Church d: Jul 1816 Rotherfield, Sussex bur: 10th Jul 1816 St. Denys Church, Rotherfield, Sussex | b: 1767 Maresfield, Sussex ch: 3rd Apr 1767 St Bartholomew Parish Church | b: 1769 Maresfield, Sussex ch: 4th Jun 1769 St Bartholomew Parish Church d: Sep 1834 Maresfield, Sussex bur: 14th Sep 1834 St Bartholomew Parish Church, Maresfield, Sussex | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| John Hobbs | m: 8th Nov 1806 St Bartholomew Parish Church, Maresfield, Sussex | Sarah Chatfield | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| b: 1769 Maresfield, Sussex ch: 4th Jun 1769 St Bartholomew Parish Church d: Sep 1834 Maresfield, Sussex bur: 14th Sep 1834 St Bartholomew Parish Church, Maresfield, Sussex | b: 1785 Maresfield, Sussex d: Jun 1857 Maresfield, Sussex bur: 8th Jun 1857 St Bartholomew Parish Church, Maresfield, Sussex | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| John | James | Hannah | William | Henry | Caroline Delia | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| b: 1809 Maresfield, Sussex ch: 12th Mar 1809 St Bartholomew Parish Church | b: 1813 Maresfield, Sussex ch: 23rd Jun 1813 St Bartholomew Parish Church | b: 1815 Maresfield, Sussex ch: 23rd Jun 1815 St Bartholomew Parish Church | b: 1817 Maresfield, Sussex ch: 28th Jan 1817 St Bartholomew Parish Church d: Oct 1895 Maresfield, Sussex bur: 25th Oct 1895 St Bartholomew Parish Church, Maresfield, Sussex | b: 1822 Maresfield, Sussex ch: 9th Jun 1822 St Bartholomew Parish Church d: Nov 1885 Frant, Sussex bur: 22nd Nov 1885 St. Alban's Church, Frant, Sussex | b: 1825 Maresfield, Sussex ch: 11th Feb 1825 St Bartholomew Parish Church d: Apr 1841 Maresfield, Sussex bur: 24th Apr 1841 St Bartholomew Parish Church, Maresfield, Sussex | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| William Hobbs farm labourer | m: 12th Oct 1840 St Bartholomew Parish Church, Maresfield, Sussex | Caroline Tester | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| b: 1817 Maresfield, Sussex ch: 28th Jan 1817 St Bartholomew Parish Church d: Oct 1895 Maresfield, Sussex bur: 25th Oct 1895 St Bartholomew Parish Church, Maresfield, Sussex | b: 1819 Buxted, Sussex d: May 1907 Fair Warp, Maresfield, Sussex bur: 28th May 1907 Fair Warp, Maresfield, Sussex | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| William | Harriett | Eliza | Sarah | Henry | John | Mary Jane | Caroline | b: 1841 Maresfield, Sussex ch: 30th Aug 1841 St Bartholomew Parish Church | b: 1845 Maresfield, Sussex ch: 30th Nov 1845 St Bartholomew Parish Church | b: 1847 Maresfield, Sussex ch: 9th May 1847 St Bartholomew Parish Church | b: 1850 Maresfield, Sussex ch: 7th Jan 1850 St Bartholomew Parish Church | b: 1852 Maresfield, Sussex ch: 27th Feb 1852 St Bartholomew Parish Church d: 9th May 1917 43 Bridge Place, Croydon, Surrey | b: 1854 Maresfield, Sussex ch: 1st Oct 1854 St Bartholomew Parish Church d: Jun 1906 Fair Warp, Maresfield, Sussex bur: 6th Jun 1906 Christ Church, Maresfield, Sussex | b: 1857 Maresfield, Sussex ch: 1st Feb 1857 St Bartholomew Parish Church | b: 1859 Maresfield, Sussex ch: 11th Dec 1859 St Bartholomew Parish Church d: Jul 1867 bur: 30th Jul 1867 | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Hannah | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| b: 1843 Maresfield, Sussex ch: 7th Aug 1843 St Bartholomew Parish Church | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
The Weald is at Database version 14.05 which has ongoing updates to the 395,000 people; 9,000 places; 613 maps; 3,308 pictures, engravings and photographs; and 248 books loaded in the previous version
