• BINGHAM: AN OVERVIEW
• HISTORY OF BINGHAM
  • Introduction
  • Prehistoric times
  • Iron Age
  • Roman Bingham
  • The Anglo-Saxons
  • Medieval Bingham
  • Tudor times
  • Stuart times
  • Georgian times
  • Victorian Bingham
  • 20th Century
  • 21st Century
• ARCHAEOLOGY
  • Project Details
  • Field Walking
    • Summary
    • Field Walking Method
    • Database Design
    • Details about the Parish
    • Protocol
    • Description of Finds
      • Introduction
      • Flints
      • Stone Axes
      • Iron Age
      • Roman
      • Anglo-Saxon
      • Saxo-Norman
      • Medieval
      • Post Medieval
      • Stoneware
      • Clay Pipes
      • Glass
      • 19th-20th C
      • Miscellaneous
    • Analysis of Results
      • Introduction
      • Prehistory
      • Iron Age
      • Roman
      • Anglo-Saxon
      • Medieval
      • Tudor-Stuart
      • 18th Century
      • Modern
    • References
    • Conclusions
  • Crow Close
    • Purpose and location
    • Historical background
    • Topographical survey
    • Geophysical surveys
    • Analysis of results
    • Discussion/conclusions
    • References
    • Acknowledgements
  • Test Pits
    • Market Place Dig
    • Robert Miles Jnr School
    • Archaeological test pits
    • Churchyard
  • Warner's Paddock
• STUDY OF OLD MAPS
  • Bingham in 1586
    • Introduction
    • Interpretation
    • Town Centre
    • Additional Holdings
    • The Open Fields
      • Furlongs/Holdings/Strips
      • South Field
      • East Field
      • West Field
      • North Field
    • Holdings and Strips
      • Reconstructing holdings
      • Analysis of holdings
      • Sizes of holdings
    • Street and road names
  • Bingham in 1776
    • The Estate Terrier
    • Town Map
    • The Fields
    • Homesteads
    • Shared Tenancies
  • Bingham in 1841
    • Apportionment
    • Town Map
    • Life in 1841
    • Analysis
    • 1841-1901
• BUILT HERITAGE
  • Introduction
  • Development of Bingham
  • House Histories
  • Old and New Views
  • Architectural Details
  • Street Names
  • St Mary Church
• CRIME AND PUNISHMENT
• FARMING IN BINGHAM
• BINGHAM AT WAR
  • World War I
  • World War II
• BINGHAM'S RAILWAYS
• CHURCHYARD
  • Introduction
  • Search the Churchyard
  • Churchyard Map
  • Genealogical Charts
  • Inscriptions
  • Species List
• ORAL HISTORY
• NATURAL HISTORY
  • Wildlife and Flora
  • Natural History Surveys
  • Linear Park
• GEOLOGY

The Squires Family

The Squires crop up in relation to two properties in Bingham, Ebenezer House on the Banks and 17 Long Acre. The family can be traced to George Squires, a letter carrier in Cropwell Bishop in 1871. The key parts of the family tree are as follows:

The detailed relevant census entries are:

Family History

The examination of census and other records adds texture to the bare ownership transfers recorded in deeds. Here we have an example of a trade, building, being passed from fathers to sons over at least three generations with brothers and cousins taking up the trade. Stephen initially followed his father’s second occupation of letter carrying and then somehow became a monumental mason, with his son Oliver following him onto that trade. Albert was clearly following family tradition!

There are many headstones carved by Stephen in Cropwell Bishop, where he first carried out his trade, and other local church yards, including one partly carved by him and partly by George. Perhaps one of the Georges carved occasionally. Sometimes only the mason’s name appears at the foot of a stone; sometimes the village in which they worked is carved too. Many Squires’ headstones occur of course in Bingham churchyard and in the town cemetery. The earliest we have seen so far to mention Bingham is 1883; the deeds of 15 Long Acre suggest this was probably the date he moved to Long Acre from Cropwell Bishop. The extensive range of outbuildings was probably built specifically for Stephen’s trade – the deeds to number15 have a plan show the land was already leased to Squires in 1885. A watchword of Stephen’s was ‘catch them with a tear in the eye and you’ll get the business’ – he made a habit of attending funerals in pursuit of his trade!

Examples of the Squires’ work can be seen in a number of local churchyards and in Bingham cemetery. The old church at Colston Bassett has a large group, Granby, Scarrington, Hawksworth …and even Epperston (across the Trent).. also have a few examples.

Directories for Bingham after 1901 show Oliver to have followed in his father’s trade, which he operated from 17 Long Acre until the mid 1950s. The 1911 electoral rolls show him as a boarder with his father, and later he seems to have gone to live with Albert and Clara at Ebenezer House (1921). Then he married Annie and lived elsewhere on the Banks. Kate stayed at home, a lifelong spinster, and taught music from 17 Long Acre until the 1960s. Her brothers and sister were also accomplished musicians and often played together. There is a record of the family performing a concert in aid of the chapel at Cropwell Bishop in the early 1900s.

Son Stephen was a pupil teacher in 1901 and went on to be headmaster of a school in West Bridgford. George was killed in action in the First World War. Margaret married John Walker, the saddler, and went to live at 6 Porchester Villas.

There is a strong chance George (b 1817) and John (b1808) were brothers. George’s eldest son was called John, which might have been after his brother or possibly his father (after whom his elder brother could well have been called). Interestingly John and his Sarah had only four children.

Size of families in the nineteenth century is often of interest. George and Sarah had 10 children, all of whom seem to have survived (the census loses track of John between 1851 and 1861, by which year he would have been 19, so may have left home or he might have died in his teens). Sarah bore children from age 21 to 44. She may have had even more, as there are two gaps of five years between children where mostly the gap between the other children is only two years.

The second George had seven children with Miriam; she bore children between the ages of 21 and 39. If there were more they did not survive a census interval of ten years and would therefore not be recorded.

Family Christian names are repeated and skip between branches of the family. Commonest are John, George and Henry.