The Sandford Years

Sandford was a hamlet in the Tithing of Bisterne-and-Crow, in the parish of Ringwood, located a few kilometres to the south east of Ringwood town.

(Crown Copyright)

Old Parish Records

The first record of a Kendall at Sandford in the parish registers was the baptism of Alfred, son of Stephen and Sarah, on 29 July 1835.

I checked the parish register, and discovered that the practice of including where people were from in the baptism, marriage and burial registers began on January 1st 1812. It wasn't until 1835 that the name of the hamlet was recorded, rather than the name of the parish, and then only for baptisms and burials; not marriages.

Sandford burial records of that time included:

• Elisabeth Kendale, on 23 August 1835, age 56 (i.e., born about 1779).
• Emma Kendale, on 16 March 1837, age 76 (i.e., born about 1761).
• Keturah Kendall , on 13 Jan 1839, aged 25 (i.e., born about 1814).

The 1841 Census

The 1841 census recorded a total of 25 households in Sandford. It asked people their occupation, and if they were from the county. Two households were headed by farmers, one by a carpenter, one by a publican, and 16 by "Agricultural Labourers". The rest were "of independent means".

Included in the 1841 census were two "Kindle" homes. All the Kindle men were Agricultural Labourers. One household was headed by Stephen; the other by Thomas, aged 60 (i.e., born 1781). I believe his age was recorded incorrectly, and that he was Stephen’s father.

Living with Thomas was James, his wife Martha (née Cox) and their family. James was a son of Charles and his wife Lucy (née Wiseman). Charles was a son of George and his wife Mary (née Peckham).

Also in Sandford in 1841 were John Harder and his family. John’s mother was Mary Kindle, the daughter of George and Mary. Three years later, John’s daughter Mary Ann would marry Thomas Kendall, the son of Stephen and Sarah.

Looking Back

The parish baptism record shows that James had a sister, Kitty, who was baptised in 1813. Kitty was probably Keturah, buried in Sandford in 1839. Her mother Lucy died in 1818 when Kitty was 5, and her father Charles died in 1829 when Kitty was 16. It’s likely she went to live with her brother James and his family.

Elisabeth, buried in Sandford in 1835, was likely Elizabeth Jennings, widow of James, who died in 1819. James was also a son of George and Mary, and a brother of Charles.

If the Thomas with whom James and his family were living was indeed Stephen’s father, then it’s possible that Emma, buried in Sandford in 1837, was in fact Thomas’s wife Amy. There’s no other record of Emma or, for that matter, of Amy.

Scottish Mary

Another interesting household in Sandford was that of Robert Brewer and his wife Mary, who married in Ringwood in 1838. Mary's father was James Kindle.

In the 1841 census, Mary said she was born in Scotland. In later censuses, she provided more detail, saying she was born about 1814 in Musselburg, Scotland, “of English parents”.

Mary was the right age to have been the daughter of the aforementioned James Kindle and Elizabeth Jennings, who married in 1803. No children of James and Elizabeth were baptised in Ringwood Parish. It appears they were in Scotland!

The Bisterne Chapel

In 1843, Bisterne Church (St. Paul) was built as a "chapel of ease", to spare the inhabitants of the tithing the long walk to the parish church in Ringwood. It's probably safe to assume that baptism, marriage or burial at the Bisterne Chapel meant the person resided in the tithing.

The 1851 Census

The 1851 census recorded a total of 30 households in Sandford, of which 20 had arrived during the preceding ten years. The majority of Sandford households were still headed by Agricultural Labourers. The new households included:

• William Kendall and his wife Mary (née Mist).
• Henry Kendall, eldest son of Stephen and Sarah, and his wife Harriet (née Day).
• Caleb Minty and his wife Selina Kendall, daughter of James and Martha.
• Charles Rogers and his wife Jane Kendall, daughter of Stephen and Sarah.
• James Barnes, whose daughter Elizabeth married George Kendall, a son of William and Mary.

Missing from the 1851 census was Thomas Kindle, who died in Sandford in 1847. He was 86 (i.e., born 1761). Present at his death was one Mary Kendall.

The 1861 Census

By 1861 the population of Sandford had shrunk to 24 households, of which 10 were new. Most households were still Agricultural Labourers.

The new households included John Kendall, a son of Stephen and Sarah and twin brother of Jane, and his wife Elizabeth (née Rogers), who was the sister of Charles.

Stephen died in 1867. Present at his death was his daughter-in-law, John's wife Elizabeth. John, his sister Jane, and their families moved to Crowe about that time. Henry went to join his brother Thomas, who had already moved to Avon. Stephen Jr. and James went to Southampton. Widow Sarah went to live with her son John in Crowe. Alfred stayed in Sandford.

William and Mary left Sandford before the next census in 1871. They moved to Strouds Lane, in Ringwood.

Robert Brewer died just before the census in 1871. His widow Mary (née Kindle) moved to Crowe and lived next-door to John and his family until sometime after 1881, when she moved to Ripley to live with her son Edwin and his family.

The Twentieth Century

By 1901 there were only 17 families in Sandford. A new arrival was Eli Mintey, son of Selena and Caleb, and his family. He was the farmer at Brixey’s Farm.

Charles Rogers (widower of Stephen’s Jane and brother of John’s wife Elizabeth) had moved back to Sandford by 1901, and probably lived there until he died in 1911. He was a “Cow keeper”.

Stephen’s son Alfred was the last Kendall in Sandford. By 1911 he was a widower and a Railway Carpenter, and lived with his son George and daughter Agnes. He probably stayed in Sandford until he died in 1919.

The Twenty-First Century

I visited Sandford in September 2009. There's nothing there anymore. I was told by a local gentleman that, back in the nineteenth century, the farm labourers would have lived in mud/thatch cottages. They are long gone.