William Hunter RANDELL 1800
William Hunter Randell was born 5 July 1800 and appears in the 1841 census aged 40, as a Journeyman Carpenter. He is living in Cock Street, North Walsham with his wife Elizabeth ? and their four children. By 1851 they have moved to Chapel Street and have five children, with John their youngest child being born in the years between the census.
The term 'journeyman' comes not from the concept of itinerant or travelling craftsmen but from the French word 'journée', meaning the period of one day. The medieval concept of journeyman, simply enshrined the right of the craftsman to charge for a days labour. As originally practiced a journeyman was a skilled craftsman who would almost invariably be employed by a master craftsman but would live apart and might have a family of his own. A journeyman could not employ others. By the Victorian era many of rigid restrictions of the system had gone.
In contrast, an apprentice would be bound to a master, usually for a fixed term of seven years, and lived with the master as a member of the household. By Victorian times, serfs and freemen were long consigned to history and most of the more rigid constraints were relaxing but the name and loose structure lingered on.
A journeyman or “jack” was fully skilled in his chosen field but was not considered appropriate to set up his own workshop as a master. Hence “Jack of all trades, master of none”.
William Hunter Randell died in the first months of 1860, in North Walsham, Norfolk.
ANCESTRY ~ James / John / William Hunter
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Elizabeth MOORE 1805
Elizabeth Moore was the wife of William Hunter Randell. She was born in 1805 in Aylesham, Norfolk and is recorded marrying William 16 Jan 1827 in Marsham, Norfolk. Together William and Elizabeth had five children who appear in the census of 1851. Following the death of her husband William in 1860, she was found living in Reeves Road, North Walsham with her son Christmas. He, like his late father, was a carpenter.
Ten years later in 1871, 66 year old Elizabeth is sharing her home in with boarder, Harriett Self. Harriett is five years younger than Elizabeth and born in North Walsham. Harriett, like Elizabeth, is a widow.
By 1871 Elizabeth must have been suffering failing eyesight, as in each subsequent census she is recorded as blind. The 1891 census notes she is “blind about twenty years”. Despite her disability, the 1881 census shows her to be living alone.
Not until 1891 do we find her circumstances significantly changed. By then she was living as a boarder with the slightly younger Maria Dixon. Together they share a humble two roomed residence and are both recorded as paupers.
Elizabeth Randell died in North Walsham in January 1893.
William and Elizabeth had the following children:
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