Embedded Files
The Sheppard Family
The Sheppard Family
The Sheppard family has long been associated with Wymeswold and particularly farming.
Originally a village would have had a hierarchy, often with the squire being the local landowner. The tenant farmer was socially somewhere between a labourer and a landowner, the humble labourer being at the lower end of the social scale. The majority of farmers would be tenants, land being owned by such absentee landlords as Trinity College, the Church, and some of the local estates.
Farmers began to experience a lot of change during the 19th century. Tools changed from being simple wooden implements to iron tools. Mechanisation dramatically reduced the need for a large workforce. Improved strains of seeds increased the harvest and the use of steam power led to the introduction of farm machinery which was far more efficient than using the traditional horses and hand tools.
The enclosure of land led to bigger fields and crop rotation was used to increase the yields. Before the enclosures in England, a portion of the land was categorized as either common or waste. The open-field system was administered by manorial courts which exercised collective control, a modern single field would have been divided under this system among the lord and his tenants. The parish of Wymeswold or Wimeswould was enclosed in 1759, as a result of this enclosure farmhouses were constructed away from the village in positions more convenient to the new fields. Several farmhouses date from this period and some are still in use as farms, such as Wymeswold Lodge, once farmed by the Sheppard family.
Enclosure Details
The Sheppard name appears with several different spellings according to official records. My particular family tree does eventually land on the spelling Sheppard but can appear going back in time as Shepherd, Shephard, Sheppard etc. The same person can vary also across documentation according to the official noting the name. As we go back in time my research into the Sheppard Family tree has been plagued by the number of common names, particularly the common name of John Shepherd. The are several John's in Wymeswold and they are also found in nearby villages such as Walton on the Wolds. In fact you only need to look at the ancestry web site to see the number of people who have interpreted the Sheppard tree records in different ways. I am fairly confident of the Sheppard Tree up to my 3rd Great Grandfather John Shepherd, born in 1796 and going further back the picture is becoming clearer.
What i can be 100% sure of is my Grandfather was Ronald Sheppard of Church Farm, Wymeswold. born in 1909, he married Mona Hallam, born in 1915 in Elston, Nottinghamshire. His Father was Harry Sheppard, born in 1872, he married Sarah Ann Wootton (1872), another well known Wymeswold family. Harry bought Church Farm after being a tenant for many years. His Father is William Sheppard, born in 1836, he married Betsy Follows, born in 1845 in East Leake. They are both buried at the Chapel on Wysall Lane, Wymeswold.
It is from this point that the John Shepherd name appears in my direct descendant line. I believe William's Father is John Shephard , born in Walton on the Wolds in 1796. He married a Sarah Hill, born in 1805 in Packington. Later Census returns document her birth place of Packington and their children's marriage records prove her previous surname of Hill. John lived and farmed next door to his Brother William in Brook Street Wymeswold.
I believe John and William's parents are John Shepherd born 1765 and Hannah Armstrong, born around 1769. At this point the line is still being researched but I have included them on this web site, it may be subject to change according to further research.
This website contains a detailed page for each person or couple. A person's main page is usually made up of their general story, record details & then photos.
Please click on any of the direct Sheppard descendants below to see their details or go to the 'People Index' page to see other families .
Sheppard Direct Descendants
Sheppard Direct Descendants
*Adapted from original sources -
https://www.aboutbritain.com/articles/life-on-a-victorian-farm.asp
A Portrait of Wymeswold 1991.
Copyright Wolds Historical Organisation.
To read more on the Enclosure Act and Wymeswold
check out the Wolds Historical Organisation page below -
https://www.hoap.co.uk/who/pow16.htm
Page updated
Google Sites
Report abuse