The Sheppard family have long been associated with the occupation of farming in Wymeswold and local area. I can remember my Grandfather Ronald living at Church Farm and farming within the village. He kept a herd of milking cows, when i was young i sometimes helped to bring the herd back to the farm at milking time, he also grew sugar beet and produced hay over the summer for winter feed.
Farming was an integral part of life in Victorian times. In 1837 when Queen Victoria came to the throne, more than half the population of Great Britain worked in the countryside. Originally each village had a hierarchy 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 landlords as Trinity College, the Church, and some of the local estates.
Ronald's Father Harry Sheppard bought Church Farm and land back in 1926. Harry married a Sarah Ann Wootton, linking another well known Wymeswold surname to our family tree, the Woottons had a long tradition of being in the building trade. Harry's Mother was called Betsy Follows, she married William Sheppard. Betsy's parents lived at Church Farm initially, they were the first ancestors of mine to live at Church Farm, before she moved in herself with her children Harry, Ernest and Fanny Sheppard. William Sheppard's Father was John Sheppard or Shephard, born in 1796, from this point we see a line of John Sheppards, the sheer number of John Sheppard/ Shephard/Shepherd's in Wymeswold and local area has made my research difficult, hopefully it will become clearer over time.
Victorian farmers began to experience a lot of change during the 19th century. Tools changed from being simple wooden implements to iron tools. Mechanization also started to dramatically reduce 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, the parish of Wymeswold or Wimeswould was enclosed in 1759, you can see the details of this in the specific 'Enclosure' page. John Shepherd was a major land owner in the village, he was allocated over 57 acres when the land was converted to private ownership in the enclosure act in Wimeswould.
To find out more on the Sheppard's see the links below.
The Sheppard and other family links can be found on the 'People Index' page.
SHEPPARD, RONALD WOOTTON 1909 & MONA HALLAM 1915
SHEPPARD, HARRY 1872 & SARAH ANN WOOTTON 1872
SHEPPARD, WILLIAM 1836 & BETSY FOLLOWS 1845
SHEPHARD, JOHN 1796 & SARAH HILL 1805
SHEPHERD, JOHN 1765 & HANNAH ARMSTRONG 1770
SHEPHERD, JOHN 1734 & ELIZABETH MOORE GLOVER 1740