John Runyard's, Runyard Family Genealogy

 EXTRACTS FROM THE DIARY OF HENRY ROLLS, SHOEMAKER, OF EAST LULWORTH
(BORN 5TH APRIL, 1803), COMMENTS IN PARENTHESES ARE BY LEN RUNYARD.

 

1824 Cottages built at Burngate and St. Andrews.  Carpenter, John Runyard. (born 1782). Rats more numerous than they had been known in the memory of men in the year 1824.  Houses and fields and hedges  was full of them. The Duke of Gloucester (younger brother of King George IV) left Lulworth Castle (which he was renting) for Bagshot, Surrey, to spend Christmas with his relatives. 1825 A cure for the sting of the wasp: rub onion on it! Henry Rolls first went to the R.C. chapel on the 9th October, 1825, with Richard Runyard, to obtain instruction and to attend Mass. Henry Lanlue succeeded Richard Runyard as Schoolmaster at the Protestant School in East Lulworth on 14.8.1825 (note: This was because Richard had decided to become a Catholic.  It is also remarkable, and an indication of Richard's ability, that he resigned as Headmaster at the age of 20!) 1826 The Duke of Gloucester came to Lulworth Castle, with others, on the 16.1.1826, for shooting.  The Band of Winfrith Newburgh came to the castle on the 18.9.1826 to play for the Duke. Lewis the 18th (Louis), King of France, died on 16.9.1825.  (Louis had previously lived at Lulworth Castle as a guest, after being exiled after the Revolution in France.) 1825 Joseph White of E.L. left for Newhaven, on 6.10.1825, to join His Majesty's ship called 'The Black Cade'.  He had five shillings a day. (I doubt it!)  He died in Ireland. 1823 On the 17.5.1823, 40 houses were burnt down in Wool. 1820 Mr. William Bearing and Mr. Beane were drowned at Arishmell on 4.7.1820.(Mr. Bearing was a friend of the Duke of Gloucester.)   1825 H.R.H. the Duke of Gloucester came to the castle on 25.11.1825 with a party of gentlemen at 10 o'clock at night.  He gave a couple of rabbits to every family in E.L. (He was a most popular gentleman and a favourite visitor). A ship was wrecked a little to the West of Lulworth Cove on 11.12.1825, laden with barley for Africa (probably involved in the slave trade); 7 men and a boy on board - only one man saved - the rest drowned.  The man saved was hauled up the cliff with a rope. 1824 On 23.11.1824, a terrible hurricane, or gale of wind, caused a great deal of damage; the sea rose high along the coast.  The gale nearly washed down Samuel Miller's house at Warebarrow, and blew down two of the pinnacles of St. Andrew's Church, E.L., on the west side of the tower; it also rolled over one of the monument stones at Arishmell - and they used boats in the streets at the port of Poole. It also did great damage at Weymouth, near Portland - and nearly everywhere. 1825 On the morning of 24.7.1825, there was said to be a little frost - a singular thing. The North-East winds cause headaches and colds. A cure for warts:  take a snail and prick it with a pin and rub the warts with the juice of it. 1825 Father Mutardiare and Father Pullman opened a burrow on  Combe Heath on 6.7.1825. They found some pieces of urn in a small barrow - a Celtic one (a barrow was a burial ground). 1824 Mr. Robert Peel (the Prime Minister and the founder of the Police Force, known officially as Peelers) left Lulworth Castle on 6.4.1824 - and the Duke of Gloucester moved in (the Castle was rented, furnished). 1826 Vaccination carried out in the village during February, 1826 by Doctor Cope, at the expense of Mr. Weld. 1825 Elizabeth Galton, wife of John Galton, died on 27.1.1825 aged 80 (the Galtons were cousins, descended from John Galton, our d.a., Vicar of E.L. (1609-1662). When the weather is dry on the 19th, 20th, 21st and 22nd days of March, we have a very dry summer ahead. 1825 James Slade, carpenter at Shags, died on 11.5.1825, aged 69 years.  (James was the father of Sarah Slade (b.1781), wife of John Runyard, (b.1782).  (James, whose wife was Mary Pierce, from Wool, is our great, great, great grandfather). 1829 On the 8.6.1829 a very white frost - the heath was as white as if it had snowed. In August, 1829, the first steam coach ran from London to Bath in 12  hours 84 miles at a rate of 7 miles an hour. This was the first steam trial by coach.  (It was expected that the steam coach, which ran on the road, would outlast the train and would be popular: but it was not to be.) On the 27th August, 1829, Miriam Roberts of East Lulworth married Robert Runyard (b.1806) of Wool at St. Andrew's Church, East Lulworth. (Robert was the grandson of John Runyard, born 1752 and was the ancestor of the Wool Runyards.) 1829 Mr. Joseph Weld and family came to the Castle from Pyewell, Lymington, with a great part of their goods; on 7.9.1829, to settle at the Castle  (Thomas Weld the owner of Lulworth Castle, by now a Cardinal in the Catholic Church, handed over, in his lifetime, the castle and Estate to his younger brother.)            1826 Richard Runyard left his father's home (John Runyard) at Shags and moved into the school house on the common on 29.4.1826.  He lodged with the Rev. Fr. Mutardiare, the Jesuit Chaplain at the Castle.  He, later, lodged with his cousin, Joseph Slade at Shags.  His father turned him out of doors for attending Mass at the Catholic Chapel.  (To be fair to his father, the anti-Catholic attitude of the family can obviously be traced back to the period when Jean Runnier, and family had to flee from France to escape Catholic persecution; although with the family's experience of working for a Catholic landlord (indirectly for 90 years - and directly for 50 years) it probably wasn't very wise to make such a display of anti-Catholic feeling.   John Runyard (b.1782) Richard's father, had also married into a Catholic family, his wife being Sarah Slade (b.1781) who was the daughter of James Slade, a family which, through their descent from the Turberville family, had remained Catholic since the Reformation (with all the penalties which this involved).  (It may well be that the reason for the temporary upset was partly, personal: the father and son syndrome.  Since 1821, when Sarah, Richard's wife died, life couldn't have been easy, either for the widower and eldest child.  Richard was 15 years old when his mother died and had helped bring up his four younger brothers and only sister.) 1826 On 6.6.1826, Peter Slade, son of Bernard Slade, died aged 18 years (Bernard was Sarah Slade's brother). 1826 On the 23rd May, 1826, Henry Rolls, and Richard Runyard, had a day's journey on Sunday in the Isle of Purbeck; they went from Wareham to Saint Albans, then Kingston and, finally, Corfe Castle.  (Henry doesn't say how they traveled: I imagine they hired horses for such a long journey, for the first train service, locally, wasn't completed until 1847.) 1826 Joseph Slade, carpenter, of Shags, died aged 64 years of dropsy. (Born 1762 he was brother of James and uncle of Sarah Slade.)   1826 H.R.H. the Duke of Gloucester took his luncheons at the New Lodge(s), East Lulworth, after a shooting expedition.  George Slade (cousin of Richard Runyard) in attendance. (New Lodge is probably what is now called "Park Lodge" ;which is located west of Shaggs and the Manor Yard. per Bob Runyard B.1922.)        James Slade of E.L. kept two gulls brought from the Cliffs in 1817 and kept them 'till 1823 when they were killed.  They were very tame, although they did ramble for miles at a time. 1827 5.1.27, H.R.H. the Duke of York (second son of King George III and brother of King George IV) died today aged 58 years.  (He was the grand old Duke of York who marched his men to the top of a hill and then marched them back again!) 1827 Thomas Slade left Hunts (?) and went to be a gamekeeper in the New Forest. 1826 Henry Rolls and Richard Runyard were taken into the Catholic Church.  They both went to the Rev. Fr. Mutardiare, (S.J.) for instruction, 45 times. 1827 Two men were put in the stocks at East Lulworth on Easter Sunday; one was Robert Archer of Winfrith and the other Manuel.  They went to Dorchester prison for a month for fighting by the chapel. Potatoes began to be planted in fields about the year 1797 - the dearness of bread was the cause of it.  Bread was 4 shillings (20 cents) per 8 pound loaf but soon dropped lower again.  (Wages were about 6 shillings a week for a labourer at this time.) 1827 Old women in the village of E.L. had the May money today (1.5.1827)  May Day; it amounted to £4.11.8p each (this money had to last them for a year). 1827 The number of people in E.L. amounted to 369, but only 327 belonged to the village - the rest lived elsewhere.   1827 Thomas Weld, Bishop (later Cardinal) Weld came to Lulworth on 4.5.1827, and gave confirmation at the Chapel on Sunday, 6th May.  About 30 people confirmed by him, including Henry Rolls and Richard Runyard.  The Bishop was, later, taken ill and the doctor attended him and he got better and left E.L. for Chideock, Dorset (where a junior branch of the Weld family lived).  He went with his son-in-law, Mr. Clifford. 1827 Tony Slade married ? White on 30.7.1827 at the Catholic Chapel.  (In 1840, Tony Slade was Godfather to my Grandfather, Ambrose, brother of Austin.) 1827 An arched bridge was made over the run of water at Tyneham at the beginning of the year 1827.  A large stepping stone was there before and people had to walk over it.  (Tyneham is the deserted village now taken over by the Army.) 1825 John Bonney began his school on the 17.1.1825 at West Lulworth.  It was the charity of the Duke of Gloucester. 1827 The village school, and all the dwellings belonging to it, was burned down in May 1827, and later rebuilt.  Richard Champ's house (he was the schoolmaster) was also burned down at the same time.  The school was rebuilt in 1827, a little larger than before. 1828 The Duke of Gloucester came to Lulworth late at night and was nearly drowned coming from Holm Bridge, as the river overflowed due to heavy rain.  Local people brought lanterns to them, as the night was so dark.  They were obliged to leave the farmers' horses at Holm to help them, as the carriage had left the road and was stuck in the mud in the flowing water.   Eventually they all got safe home at Lulworth Castle - but this was the last time that the Royal Duke came to Lulworth.  He was very charitable to all that knew him - and that was a great many from all parts of the area. On the 25th February, 1827, a sale was made of all his effects (the reason the Duke was living at Lulworth Castle, was because Thomas Weld (a widower) had become a priest and, later, a Bishop, and no longer needed the Castle; he rented it out).  Mr. Joseph Weld, from Pylewell, Lymington, came to see the state of things on the 7th Feb., after the Rev. Fr. Mutardiare had moved into the Castle to look after it on a temporary basis. On the 20th February, 1828, Mr. Joseph Weld came from Pylewell Manor, Lymington, and moved into the Castle. 1828 Only six old maids had the May money on May Day at E.L. which was £4.11.6d each. 1828 On the 11th May, 1828, three dwellings and two barns were burned down at West Lulworth.  One house was saved by using wet blankets. 1829 In the spring of 1829, it was calculated that there were 12,000 gypsies tramping about England. 1827 On 13.6.1827, there were great celebrations at East Lulworth; beef and bread given to the people.  Two bullocks from Dorchester, costing £40 were killed.  Three hogshead of beer were given by Bishop Weld before he gave up the Estate to his brother Joseph, whose eldest son, Edward, was 21 years of age at the same time. Recipe to cure the mumps: make a strong mixture of nettles - boil them well and drink three half-pints a day for some time.  Boil a quart of it till reduced to a pint. 1830 Spring 1830, Doctor Weld (Bishop) made a Cardinal by the Pope (the first Cardinal in England since the Reformation - a period of 300 years).  The Pope was Pius the 8th who was made Pope in 1829, being the 257th Pope since St. Peter. 1830 Richard Runyard took Bowers House for £6 a year (the reason for this was because Richard had married Jane Meaden,of West Lulworth, that year.)  1830 6.4.1830 - The number of English people living in France amounts to    35,695 people! 1838 3.5.1838, Ambrose Runyard (b.1818), younger brother of Richard, married Mary Gill of West Lulworth (the Gills were an old established local family, mentioned in Church records back in the 17th century).   1838 Queen Victoria crowned on the 28.6.1838.  Great doings all over England; at E.L. we had bread and cheese and beer given by Mr. Weld at New Barn.  There was dancing and all merrily enjoyed themselves. 1830 Nathaniel Woodman had an oven built at the beginning of March, 1830 by John Bascombe of Wool.  He began baking bread for East Lulworth on 30.3.1830.  (We are distantly related to the Bascombe family.) 1829 Richard Runyard went to London on the 10th November, 1829 and came back on December 2nd, 1829.  (This is a most intriguing item:  what was Richard Runyard doing in London for three weeks?  He must have travelled by stage coach and, at a guess, I think he must have travelled with Joseph Weld or, alternately, went to London on his behalf.  One can imagine the tales Richard had to tell on his return from the great 'smoke'.  The visit also indicates the trust in which Richard was held; his visit is similar to the one made by his great grandfather, James Slade, who went, with Edward Weld to London nearly eighty years previously.) 1829 Cardinal Weld left Plymouth with his son-in-law, Clifford, for Rome, for the benefit of Mrs. Clifford's health (13.10.1829). 1829 Edward Rolls killed on 13.11.1829 by a horse on the road from Shags to Combe Keynes. The horse set out normally with Edward riding; however, for some reason, Edward fell off but one foot was held fast in the stirrup.  The horse dragged him along the road at speed and he was seriously injured and died.  Edward was brought back to East Lulworth and buried the following Wednesday; he was 13 years and 8 months (Edward  who was probably the younger brother of Henry Rolls, the author, would have been employed by the Estate but it is surprising that, at the age of 13 years,he was expected to be responsible for a horse). 1830 The Blacksmith's yard was built at Shags at the north corner of the Carpenter's yard. 1830 Young James Davis was fined £25 for selling smuggled drink; some beer was upset in his house when officers were searching his premises.  (£25 was equal to a year's wages for a labourer.) 1830 King George the 4th, King of England, died on 26.6.1830, aged 67 years; he had reigned 10 years (but had also been Regent during the madness of his father, King George III). 1830 Old Madam Weld, mother of Colonel Weld, died on Sunday at Pylwell, Lymington.  Brought to E.L., she was buried in the Chapel on 5th August, 1830.  The hearse was followed by two mourning coaches, 3 carriages, while all the tenant farmers rode on horseback to Wareham to meet the hearse.  They all put up their horses at Blacklocks while waiting and then rode, two by two, all the way from Wareham to the Chapel - all thirty of them.  About 300 people were waiting outside the Chapel at the time she was buried.  She was 78 years old and four priests attended to the burial; all the farmers and Estate workers had plenty to eat and drink.  She left her old serving maid, Cooling, one hundred pounds and her manservant £30.  She had £1800 a year income, since her widowhood, from the Lulworth Estate.   1830 Saturday, 28th August, 1830, Richard Runyard married Jane Meaden (secretly) at Lulworth Castle Chapel, and then at West Lulworth Church on Monday 30th August, 1830.   (Until 1837 all marriages had to be performed in a Church of England church.  They married: 1. in the Catholic Church, 2. in the Protestant Church). 1829 Mr Slade took Seabarn Farm in the spring of 1829. 1830 Robert Hunt died on the 22nd of September, 1830, aged 78 years; he had lived at the North Lodge for 33 years.  His wooden leg was buried with him! 1830 Thomas Slade died on October 3rd, 1830, in the New Forest, Hampshire (this was a very sad happening as Thomas, still a young man, had only lived in the New Forest for three years.  If he had lived longer, and had children, I could have traced our cousins living in this area). 1831 George Kelloway married Jane Runyard (sister of Richard) at St. Andrew's Church, E.L.  He came from Cerne Nielsen, Dorchester. 1831 The Bennett family, including six children, left Highwood, E.L. on the 2nd April, 1831, for Poole to go to America.  There were 63 passengers on board.  It cost the Bennetts £4 each to go to Quebec in Canada.  They went to Short Track (?). The winters of 1830 and 1831 were very troublesome in England.  There was burning of corn and people rising up for more wages.  The people of East Lulworth struck work - altogether 43 in number and went to West Lulworth on a Monday at the beginning of December - and then, from West Lulworth they moved on to Winfrith Newburgh.  The people of Winfrith rose up on the same day and opposed the farmers who were gathered together for they knew that people were going to rise. Squire Frampton (we are descended from the Frampton family way back) was there and he kept soldiers to guard his house for some time.  Two men from Winfrith were sent to prison. Our people came home to East Lulworth very quiet.  Mr. Weld gave a pint of beer to every man and their pay was increased from 6/- to 8/- per week (30p to 40p in present day money; equal to, roughly £15 a week to £20 a week!)  For a little while, constables were seen in every Parish and the Cavalry were called up in the spring.  A great deal of corn burned this winter.  The judges were obliged to be out on the circuit at Christmas to try the prisoners. 1831 Mr. Weld ran 'The Alarm' (his yacht) against Belfast and won the King's Cup on 22.8.1831 (this was the yacht built by John Runyard and his carpenters). 1832 Mrs. Reaines done public penance in West Lulworth Church on Monday 9.1.1932, for calling Mrs. Barnes a strumpet.  She put Reaines in the spiritual Court (Church of England court) at Blandford, North Dorset and the case went on, and off, for 12 months.  Reaines would not make it up, so was obliged to pay all the expenses of the law, which amounted to £300 (equal to a labourer's wages for 12 years!).  She done penance in the Church before noon - between 9 and 12 o'clock. 1831 John Galton died on 29.12.1831, aged 92 years at the home of Joseph Roper (born 1739). (John would be our distant relative.) 1831 At the election at Dorchester between Banks (Whig party - liberal) and Calecroft (Tory - conservative) Calecroft got the day.  The effigy of Banks was carried through E.L. and burned near the Public House in the evening on 17.5.1831 (in E.L. it was considered compulsory for those who had the vote - to vote conservative, because the Weld family always did so!) 1832 George Bartlett of E.L. transported for 11 years to Australia at Dorchester assizes for stealing a bridle at Wareham.  Transported Spring 1832. 1832 Richard Runyard left Bower House and went to Aaron Robert's house at Shags on 7th April, 1832.   1832 The Reform Bill of 1832 was passed and the country was very excited. Great rejoicing all over England.  Feasting at Wareham where they roasted a whole cow, while beer was given away. 1832 George Bennet left Highwood on 31.3.1832 and went from Poole in the same vessel that his people went in previously to America, called 'The Progress'.  William Lambert's boy went with him, for his father was obliged to send him for he was such a thief at home.  Mr. Hyde gave him £6 to pay his passage. 1832 Mr. Whitt appointed Vicar of E.L.  He gave every man a pint of beer at the public house, every woman a 3p loaf and all the children a penny cake. 1832 Aaron Roberts left Shaggs on 6.4.1832 for a little farm in the New Forest and died on 28.7.1832.  Age 36, he died of consumption. Brought to E.L. he was buried on August 1st, 1832.  He left all his money to his sister, Fanny.  (He would have been the brother of Miriam Roberts, who married Robert Runyard of Wool.) 1832 Young John Runyard married on 8.4.1832 to a woman from Beer Regis.  He married at East Lulworth (St. Andrew's) and then lived at his father's house for a while, and then went to live at Combe Keynes.  (John, born 1806, the son of John (b.1782), and brother of Richard, born 1805, went to USA in 1857.) 1832 A privey was made for woman servants at the Castle in the spring of 1832.  It was in the Dairy Tower; you go through the dairy to get to it.  (What did they do before this?  The mind boggles!) 1832 Old John Runyard married to Mrs Mary Gill, of West Lulworth, on 11.11.1832 (John, born 1782, had, by this time, been a widower for 11 years - since the death of Sarah Slade, born 1781.  John's son, Ambrose, b. 1818, married the daughter of Mary Gill - she was also named Mary - some years afterwards, so, technically, he married his (step)sister and his (step)mother also became his mother-in-law!) 1832 Joseph Slade, called Bonnie Joe, died on December 3rd, 1832, aged 66 years (he was the uncle of Sarah Slade). The number of settlers in Canada, in the space of four years, 1829-1833, came to 145,945 people. 1833 We made a bank and planted a hedge before our shop, in February, 1833 (it was a shoemaker's shop). The first poor man that kept a pig or swine on the Common was Joseph Itdenes about the year 1763.  He was a Clark of the Church. 1833 William Lambert and his wife and seven children, and Peter Lucas and his sister, Rebecca, and William Farneage, twelve people in number, all of East Lulworth, and George and Stephen Barnes of Combe Keynes, all left E.L. on the 1.4.1833.  Mr. Weld paid all their passages.  They left Poole on 7.4.1833.  They were the first that ever left East Lulworth to go to America (the previous group went to Canada). 1833 There was cock fighting at E.L. on Easter Monday, April 8, 1833. 1833 All the children of E.L. were vaccinated on August 18th, 1833. 1836 Mary Slade died on February 6th, 1836, aged 77 years (born 1758). (The mother of Sarah Slade and our direct ancestor, her maiden name was Mary Pierce.  Her daughter sold all her goods and went to live at her sister's house near Warder, leaving the family house at Shaggs.) 1836 A terrible thunderstorm in the evening; stones fell as large as marbles.  It lightened all the night and all the day; it did a great deal of damage - the worst ever remembered.   1836 The Poor Law Commissioners came here at East Lulworth on 31.3.1836 and other Parishes too (a new law had been passed changing the system of looking after the destitute; previously it was the parish poor rate which paid for aid given; from 1836 a new system of area workhouses were built; a type of prison where husbands and wives were not allowed to remain together.) 1836 Mr. Weld looked after his own poor - giving them a little money until the beginning of May.  The people had bread and jam and money; old people were given money. 1837 The Union or Poor House began to be built at Wareham and it was finished on 11.10.1837.  By the beginning of 1838, there were more than a hundred people living there. 1837 All the boatmen came and searched the premises of James Davis on 6.3.1837.  They took 28 tubs and a flagon from John Cooling's cowhouse.  (It is surprising that the boatmen from West Lulworth were doing the work of the Customs and Exise men; perhaps James Davis had tried to take over the smuggling from the fishermen regularly carried out by them). 1836 Several houses burnt down at Wareham, on 12.11.1836 at the upper part of West St. 1837 The chapel broken into.  Someone took out a pane of glass on the  west side.   William Clark taken to prison on suspicion and had his trial at the midsummer assizes but it could not be proved against him.  All the things stolen were recovered, except a little silver bell.   1837 On 10.4.1837 Cardinal Weld died in Rome and buried there; he was 64 years old.  His complaint was water in the chest.  He had been a Cardinal for 9 years.  Lulworth Estate fell to his brother, Joseph.  The funeral Mass, with a sermon, was held in the Chapel on May 2, 1837.  Many priests officiated and the Chapel was crowded. 1837 Four houses burnt down at Wool on the night of May 17th 1837; believed to be arson. 1837 Mrs. Fitzherbert died at Brighton on the 4th of April, 1837 from influenza and was buried in Brighton in her 87th year.  She had £800 a year from the Lulworth Estate; also £7,000 a year from the Government and £1,000 a year from her relatives.  (Her first husband was Edward Weld and, after Edward's death, she then married the Prince Regent, who, in 1820 became King George IV, but the marriage wasn't officially recognized because she was a Catholic.) 1837 Thomas Lucas and his family came back from America in 1837 to East Lulworth. 1837 In the spring of 1837 there was an invasion of mice.  Henry Rolls caught 70 of them.   Every house swarmed with them. 1838 Tom Willson sent to prison, on 7.3.1838 for breaking into Mary Penny's house and stealing £7.  He was given 12 months hard labour in prison. 1838 Henry Rolls heard the nightingale on 28.3.1838. 1837 William Clark took to Dorchester Prison for horse stealing on 1.8.1837 . 1829 Henry Rolls's guinea pig died today which he had had for 7 years. 1839 Joseph Weld, Esq. was High Sheriff for the County of Dorset this year of 1839.  All his tenant farmers went with him, on the 12th March, to meet the judges of the County.  Some other people also went with him out of respect.  In numbers when they left the Castle were:  35 horsemen - 7 before the carriage and the rest rode behind.  They left the Castle at about 9 o'clock in the morning and, before this, all the farmers took breakfast with the Squire before they left. 1841 Five of West Lulworth's fishermen were drowned on 28th January, 1841, when they were returning to West Lulworth from Weymouth.   1839 The new Protestant School in Cannery Row, in E.L., was commenced by builders on the 10th September, 1839.  (The school, now converted to a private dwelling, was built opposite to 25, East Lulworth, Pat Grove's recent home.) 1840 Old Joseph Cressley married Martha Runyard on the 4th August, 1840.   (Martha was a Wool Runyard.) 1841 Elizabeth Slade died on 18th March, 1841, aged 82 years.  (Elizabeth was probably a great aunt of John Runyard, born 1782.) 1841 The mill at West Lulworth was burned down on June 24th, 1841.   1843 Henry Rolls (the author) went down to Coxes to live on the 30th January, 1841 and then came back to Cockles on the 21st March, 1843.  My father left the house the day before. 1841 January, 1841:  Protestants in E.L. 193; Catholics 251.  Total 364. 1842 West Lulworth Church was made larger during the summer of 1842; while the work was being done, the West Lulworth congregation attended services at St. Andrew's Church, E.L. 1843 James Slade died on the 4th January, 1843, aged 83 years. (Born 1759) He was a bachelor man who lived at Cockles. (He was the first cousin of our great, great, great grandfather, James Slade, our ancestor, who married Mary Pierce.) 1843 Thomas Weld given the large estate at Stoneyhurst, Lancashire (now a famous Catholic Public School).  It belonged to the Blundell family and Thomas married the daughter of that family.   There being no male heir Thomas was given the estate after a legal agreement was drawn up, changing his name to Weld-Blundell (a descendant of Thomas, Charles Weld-Blundell, came back from Lancashire to East Lulworth and lived at Lulworth Castle for several years while he, successfully, saved the Estate from bankruptcy due to the gambling habits and, later, lunacy of Reginald Weld, Squire of East Lulworth, in the 1890's.) 1843 Thomas Willson and Samuel Snook were transported at the March assizes at Dorchester, for robbing Thomas Squibbs's house.  Willson for 15 years - and Snook for 10 years. 1843 Part of the cliff at Arishmell fell down on the 18th March, 1843. 1843 Edward Weld's three years old son, burned in the Chapel on August 24th, 1843. 1845 Moses Slade (distant cousin) his wife and child, and William Skiller left Lulworth on April 8th, 1845.  They went to Weymouth and left Portland on the 15th April for America. 1844 William Squibb went to Mount St. Bernard (in Leicestershire) to be a monk, on 29th May, 1844. 1845 Potatoes first failed in England - and in the great part of Europe also, this summer of 1845 (over a million Irish people died of starvation). 1846 The number that signed the Petition here at East Lulworth was 347, for the Catholic Relief Bill of May, 1846 (to obtain this number of signatures means tht practically all the Protestants in the village also signed the petition). 1847 The railroad begun in July, 1845.  It comes from Southampton to Dorchester.   The completion date was May 1847 - and the first train commenced running in June 1847. 1846 The Corn Bill done away with in June 1846.  It had been sixty years in existence. The name of the manure brought from Africa is gilansbird dung. 1847 We went to Stapehill on June 6th, 1847 in Barnes's cart - on a Sunday (Henry's daughter was a nun at Stapehill Convent, a closed order, Ferndown, Dorset.) 1847 Our bridge was made wider on the 26th June, 1847.   William Champs had a new privet built at the beginning of July which was made of brick. 1847 The trial in the Houses of Lords, about the ownership of the Blundell Estate, in Lancashire, was, settled in favour of Mr. Thomas Weld-Blundell. 1847 Mr Fisher, Schoolmaster, came to E.L. at the end of March, 1847 - while his wife and family came also about five weeks afterwards. A GAP OF FOUR YEARS FROM 1848-1851 1851 Joseph Weld built a model of a Man o'war in the Castle and took it to London on 26th February, 1951, to the Great Exhibition in Hyde Park.  This was contained in the Crystal Palace.  He did not win a prize. The census of England taken on 30.3.1851; a copy is in my scrap book. 1851 Robert Runyard, son of John Runyard (b.1782) of Shags, E.L., went to Wareham in the afternoon on the 10th April, 1851 and, returning rather late in the evening, fell from his horse near the Turnpike Gate, Broadway, and was killed on the spot.  Brought to East Lulworth he was buried here.  Aged about 30 years.  (Robert was the youngest child of John Runyard and Sarah Slade.  I think it is probably that she died in childbirth after the birth of her fifth son and sixth child.  After John remarried he had another son from his second wedding who was also baptised Robert!)  (Robert was the brother of Jane, Richard, John, Charles and Ambrose.) 1852 Humphrey Weld, of the Weld Chideock, Dorset, branch of the family, died in Yorkshire on 8.1.1852.  He was brought back to Chideock for burial; aged 68 years. 1852 On the 11th August, 1852, a terrible wind blew down the corn and trees.  Such a storm hardly remembered. 1852 On the 30th August, 1852, Fr. Mutardiare (who converted Richard Runyard to Catholicism in 1826) left Lulworth Castle for Pylewell, Lymington, Hants. 1852 In December, 1852 and January 1853, a school was made out of the old Parsonage House at Tyneham.  (Tyneham is the deserted village taken over by the Army in 1940.) 1852 Bishop Herrington gave confirmation at Lulworth Chapel on Sunday, October 10th, 1852.  The number confirmed was between 50 and 60. (One of them would have been Ambrose Runyard, born 1840, aged 12 years, who married Frances Foot in 1868.) 1852 Richard Runyard took his father's place as Master of the Carpenters' Yard at Shags on April 23rd, 1852.  His father, John, born 1782, had been taken ill. 1854 Frederic Champ married Fanny Roberts, on the 16th May, 1854 and left for Portsmouth to go to America. 1854 Austin Runyard married to Jane Symmonds on May 2nd, 1854.  His marriage was the first ever published by banns in the Catholic Chapel. 1852 1852 was the wettest year remembered. 1853 Old John Runyard (his second son, John, born 1806 was known as young John Runyard) went to West Lulworth to live moving from Shags on 25th November, 1853.  His son, Richard, went into his house to be Superintendent of the Carpenters' yard, while Charles Runyard (b.1811 and brother of Richard) moved to the Red House from Kemps at Combe Keynes. 1854 Richard Champ left E.L. on 27th March, 1854 for Southampton to go to America.  His brothers, Frank and Frederick left for Portsmouth on the 27th April, 1854 also to go to America.   1854 Anthony Slade and his wife, Monica Rolls (daughter of Henry) came to  Lulworth on July 3rd, 1854 and left again on the 6th July for Stapehill (it is probable that Anthony, who was godfather to Ambrose Runyard, and a cousin of Richard Runyard, was working at Stapehill Convent, where his wife's sister was a nun). 1854 Sent Monica Rolls (Slade) a pair of boots and a pair of shoes on the 11th October, 1854. 1854 The new road to West Lulworth was begun in October, 1854 up Burngate  Lane.  It began to be used in August, 1855 - first of all by the coal waggons who brought the coal, brought by ship to West Lulworth, to the Castle. 1855 William Skiller, his wife, and Louise Cooling left E.L. on 25th May, 1855, for Portsmouth to go to America.  Austin Runyard came down from the North Lodge to have Skiller's house on June 11th, 1855.  (Austin would have been 24 years of age and married.) 1855 Bernard Slade died on the 23rd of July, 1855, aged 75 years.  (Born 1780, he was a year older than his sister Sarah Slade (died 1821), the wife of John Runyard.) 1855 The winter of 1855 - January and February - was so very severe that people said that there never had been such a cold winter. 1855 George Galton (distant cousin) and his family left Wareham on the 29th of September, 1855 and went to Stapehill to live. 1856 Charles Runyard's child died on the 11th of March, 1856, aged 2 years. (Charles, born 1818, was the younger brother of Richard and John.) 1856 Ann Cooling left E.L. on the 19th May, 1956, and went to London to take ship to America with her three children; Selina Davis and Alfred Runyard went with them. 1856 Henry Rolls went to Wareham on 30.12.1856. 1857 William Haine and wife and his five children, Austin Runyard and wife,and two children, and Joseph Slade, and James Colloway's boy, and Charles Runyard and his boy Robert, all left East Lulworth to take the train from Wool for Southampton, on Sunday morning the 17th May, 1857.  Sailed from the port of Southampton on the 20th of the same month. 1857 The arch of the bridge taken down, and then put up again fresh, in September 1857 in Cockles. 1858 The front of Henry Rolls's house thatched in December 1858. 1859 Parson Kendell came up from Wool to Cooks's house to be the parson at St. Andrew's Church, East Lulworth. 1859 Squire Weld won a gold cup worth £200 on the Thames, in London, with his yacht 'The Alarm'. 1859 Anthony Slade (cousin of Richard, b.1805) died on 20th August, 1859, at Southampton, of consumption - aged 42 years; he was born in 1817.  (Anthony was the godfather of Ambrose, b.1840.) 1859 Ellen Runyard, daughter of Richard and Jane Runyard, married on the 25th August, 1859.  (Ellen married Mr. McKevitt of Barnstable, Devon). 1859 The Protestant children had a treat and a great number of children from Wool came to East Lulworth, in three waggons, to join them on the 6th September, 1859. 1859 The great ship 'The Leviathan'?? came to Portland on September 10th, 1859.  Ten thousand people in one day went on board at a cost of 2/6d (1/8 of a pound) per person; never so many people seen in Weymouth. 1859 The terrace of the Castle repaired this summer of 1859.  Stones let into the walls almost all round; also on top of the terrace.  It was cemented by five men from Swanage who finished the work on the 26th November, 1859. 1860 Dorchester Rifle Corps came to the Castle on the 30th August, 1860 and then went on to West Lulworth.   1861 Monica Rolls professed (became a nun and took her final vows) on the 20th August, 1861 at Stapehill Convent.  Maria and Lucy Rolls, her sisters, went to see her at Stapehill on August 31st, 1861. 1862 The Community rallied round during the first week in February, 1862, on Common Hill; a wooden cross erected and blessed on Sunday, 9th. of Feb., by Bishop Vaughan, while Fr. Strickland preached a sermon underneath the cross.  There were several hundred people there at the cemetery which was being consecrated for the Catholic population.   The cross was decorated all over. 1863 One pound of beef, one pound of bread and a drink of beer was given to each person in East Lulworth by Reginald Weld, for his coming of age (he was the son of Edward Weld).   1863 The Catholic school children had a treat at Arishmell on the 23rd July, 1863.  Fr. Strickland was with them. 1863 The building of the Catholic cemetery, on Common Hill, was begun on 13th July, 1863. 1864 Edward Weld gave two bushels of coal to each family in East Lulworth on January 1st, 1864 - in all to sixty-four families. 1864 John Runyard (born 1782) was brought from West Lulworth to East Lulworth on January 25th, 1864 for burial at St. Andrew's Church, the church where he was baptized; he was 82 years of age. 1863 Confirmation was held at the Chapel of the Castle on January 25th, 1863; 61 persons were confirmed. 1865 At the end of the Civil War in the U.S.A. on August 6th, 1865, it was reported that 325,000 men were killed on the Federal side, with 1,000,000 wounded. 1866 Mrs Weld, wife of Edward Weld, died on the 13th October, 1866, and buried in the Chapel vault. 1866 On October 3rd, 1866, Richard Runyard, previously Superintendent of the Lulworth Estate and village schoolmaster, died, aged 61 years. 1863 The Church of St. Andrew's Church, East Lulworth, began to be partly taken down for repair and alteration on 24.8.1863. 1863 Joseph Weld, Esq., died on October 19th, 1863 aged 86 years.  He was succeeded by his eldest son, Edward. 1864 Mrs. Charlotte Weld, wife of Joseph, died on the 16th January, 1864, and was buried on the 21st.  She was aged 82 years. Deaths recorded in the E.L. church register were as follows: 1855, 8; 1856, 6; 1857, 2; 1858, 15; 1859, 16; and 1860,7.  (1858 and 1859 were the plague years as recorded by Richard Runyard (b.1805) in his letters to his son, Austin (b.1831) in the U.S.A.) 1863 Mr. Henry Fisher, schoolmaster, left the Catholic School, E.L., on 21.12.1863, with his family, after 17 years.  He was succeeded by Mr. Donnolly, as Schoolmaster and organist. 1864 Henry Treves, son of Charles Treves, brought from West Lulworth and buried in the cemetery on 22.2.1864 (Jane Meaden, wife of Richard Runyard, b.1809, was the daughter of Arteeary Treves, who married Charles Meaden.) 1865 Repairs on the Chapel begun on 21.7.1865; it was altered and painted. 1865 I bought a pig on November 11th, 1865; it cost £1.7s. 1866 On the 19th September 1866, there was a sale of timber at Shaggs 1867 Population of E.L. in the middle of March, 1867; males 172; females 179; total 351. 1868 The number of rifles made in England in the past year - 215,812 1868 Ambrose Runyard (born 1840), son of Richard Runyard (b.1805), married to Miss Frances Rebecca Foot (b.1844), on the 30.11.1868 at the Catholic Chapel in East Lulworth.  Miss Foot's father owned the Inn at Winfrith Newburgh, after he sold his farm.   1870 A new church was built at West Lulworth and opened on May 11th, 1870. 1872 A farmers' thrash at the Weld Arms, E.L. on 18th January, 1872. 1872 Mr. Connolly, the Schoolmaster, left E.L. after nine years. 1872 Edward Weld appointed Sheriff of Dorset. 1873 15 persons confirmed in the Chapel by Bishop Vaughan (later, Cardinal Vaughan). 1875 Charles Slade, cousin of Richard Runyard, died suddenly on 28.8.1875, aged 63 years. 1875 Monastery Farm house partly rebuilt during 1875/76; it had been occupied by the Monks from France from 1794-1817. 1876 Mr. Edward Weld gave a treat for his work people on June 8th, 1876 - his birthday. 1876 On the 2nd July, 1876, a fire broke out in the lower part of Botany; it was supposed to have been caused by the heat of the sun.  It was nearly a week before the fire was put out. 1876 Gregory Ambrose Runyard, son of Ambrose (b.1840) was born on July 9th. 1876  Father Carr, the Parish Priest at E.L., died on December 12th 1876, aged 61 years. 1877 Henry Rolls died on 26th September, 1877, aged 74 years.  (Henry was the remarkable man who kept a diary of village events for 53 years; after his death, the diary was continued, first by his wife and then his daughter.) 1877 Mr. Edward Weld died on December, 8th, 1877, aged 72 years. 1878 George Runyard was married to Miss Agnes Jay, at the Catholic Church in Bournemouth on November 11th, 1878.  (George, born 1849 was the youngest son of Richard and Jane Runyard; I haven't been able to trace any children of this marriage - if there were any.) 1879 The summer of 1879 was the wettest and coldest that there had been for many years.  Haymaking was going on at the end of August. 1880 Charles Slade died on January 5th, 1880, aged 86 years (Charles was the younger brother of Sarah Slade, who married John Runyard). 1880 Robert Treaves married at the Chapel to Teresa Squibb on July 1st 1880. 1880 Francis Chinchin married at the Chapel E.L. to Ellen Runyard on September 18th, 1880 (Ellen was the daughter of Ambrose Runyard, born 1818, the son of John Runyard.) 1881 Jane Runyard (nee Meaden) died on June 18th, 1881, aged 72 years; she was the widow of Richard Runyard (b.1805). 1883 Ellen McKevitt died on October 2nd, 1883, aged 49 years.  (Ellen born 1834, was the sister of Austin, b.1840, Alfred, born 1833, and Ambrose, 1840.) 1884 The nuns left E.L. on the 4th of Feb. 1884; they had been teachers at the school for 11 years. (I remember my father telling me he had been taught by the nuns - and how sad the villagers were when they left.) 1885 Alfred Runyard died in America on the 18th of January, 1885, aged 48 years. 1888 Mr. Runyard married at Southampton to Elizabeth Lawrence on November 27th, 1888 (without a Christian name I cannot say who this Mr. Runyard is.  It may be a descendent of Ambrose Runyard (b.1818) brother of Richard). 1889 Wareham Catholic Church opened on 19.11.1889. 1891 On March 3rd 1891, there was a great quantity of snow which made the roads impassible. 1892 The Duke of Clarence (elder son of King Edward VII) died on January 14th 1892; aged 28 years.   1892 Mr. Bellasis and family came to the Castle on July 20th, 1892.  (The Weld family, at this time, had gone bankrupt, due mainly to bad management and gambling debts.  The Castle was rented out for extra income.) 1885 Confirmation given at the Chapel by Bishop Vaughan on 18.1.1885. 1893 The Jesuits left E.L. in December 1893.  Father Bridge the last to go. (The Jesuits had been chaplains to the Weld family since 1641 when the family bought Lulworth Castle; it was against the law to attend Mass: punishments ranged from fines, imprisonment and even execution; so the Jesuits leaving Lulworth was the end of an era, an era which had lasted over two hundred and fifty years.  When King George III (regular visitor) visited Lulworth Castle in 1786 on a day trip from Weymouth, where he had a holiday home, Thomas Weld asked permission from him to build a family chapel.  The King (a kindly man) said yes, on condition that it did not look like a church!  Thomas asked the architect to design a church that looked like a mausoleum; hence the delightful unusual church which exists today, which was the first Catholic Church to be built in England since the Reformation of 1533.) 1894 Austen Meaden died on October 16th, 1894, aged 47 years (a relation of Jane Meaden, wife of Richard Runyard). 1894 The first election of Parish Councils took place on December 4th.  (This was an historic occasion as this was the start of local democracy in England; previously government had been carried out at county and national levels.  It was only fitting that George Rolls, the son of the admirable Henry, should be elected to the E.L. Parish Council.) 1894.  George Rolls (son of Henry) elected to E.L. Council. 1897 Edwin Runyard died on April 27th, 1897, aged 27 years. (Edwin, the eldest son of Ambrose, died from T.B.). 1898 Mr. Bellasis and family left E.L. on 24.2.1898. (They left after a period of six years, and was an important day for the Weld family and the inhabitants of E.L., for it marked the end of the period of bankruptcy for the Weld family and a return to normality, especially with regard to the employment on the Estate.) 1900 The co-operative stores started at E.L. on April 19th 1900. 1900 Mr. James Brinsford married at the Chapel at East Lulworth to Louise Runyard in July 1900 (Louise was the elder daughter of Ambrose Runyard and sister of Gregory, Walter, William, Alfred and Emily). 1901 Ambrose Runyard (b.1840), died on the 28th of April, 1901, aged 61 years (Ambrose while watching a cricket match at the Castle playing field, was hit on the temple by a cricket ball; he died a week later). 1902 King Edward VII and Queen Alexandra visited Lulworth Castle on April 3rd, 1902, after sailing into West Lulworth on his yacht.  Mr. Charles Weld-Blundell (who had taken over the running of the Estate) met him with his carriage and took them both to lunch at the Castle.  The King also walked to the lake and, partly, around the village. 1902 Walter Runyard, second son of Ambrose, (1873-1916) married Alice Axford at Wareham Catholic Church on April 4th, 1902. (Walter was later appointed Bailiff at the  Weld-Blundell Estate at Stoneyhurst, Lancashire; his granddaughter, Patricia (Paddy) is still living in the area at Southport.) 1903 Mrs. Austin Runyard (who went to the USA with her husband, Austin in 1857) died April 1903, aged 75 years. 1904 Austin Runyard died in the USA in June 1904 - aged 72 years.  1906 William Runyard (4th son of Ambrose and Frances Runyard) married Constance Dennis at the Catholic Chapel on April 25th 1906. 1906 The Volunteers encamped at West Lulworth during August 1906; about 3000 of them.   1907 On the morning of Sunday, December 1st, 1907, an old torpedo boat was washed ashore at Arishmell - and, a few days later, it was thrown up by a high tide and fierce waves, to within a few yards of the cliff.  The boat was 115 feet long. 1910 Richard Ruth married Emily Runyard (second daughter of Ambrose Runyard, born 1883) at the Catholic Chapel, E.L. on the 22nd August, 1910. 1912 Humphrey Runyard died on the 15th of March, 1912, aged 74 years.  (Humphrey the younger brother of Austin (b.1831) and Alfred (b.1835), was the third son of Richard and Jane Runyard.  An intelligent man of considerable ability, he stayed at home to look after his mother after the death of his father in 1861.) 1912 Confirmation given at the Chapel, E.L., by Bishop Keiley on October 10th 1912.  Among those confirmed was Ethel Frances Runyard, eldest daughter of Gregory Runyard (b.1901). 1917 The Duke of Westminster came to Lulworth Castle on July 31st, 1917; he stayed six months! 1917 James Sturmey drowned in the weir in December, 1917; aged 26 years. 1919 John Sturmey died 28.4.1919, aged 73 years. 1920 Thomas Sturmey died January 3rd, 1920, age 75. 1923 Mrs. Amelia Sturmey died February 17th 1923, aged 80 years.  (Amelia was the daughter of Richard Runyard and sister of Austin and Ambrose.  She was probably the grandmother of James Sturmey who was drowned in 1917 (see above). 1923 Albert Runyard died suddenly in the field on the 4th of May 1923, aged 59. (born 1863, I think he was probably a descendent of Ambrose Runyard, born 1818). 1923 Bertram Runyard had a child die about 14 months of age, on 12th December. 1923.  (Bertram, Bertie, is the father of Gerald, Louis and Tess). 1926 Frances Runyard, widow of Ambrose, who was born in 1844, died on February 18th, 1926, aged 82 years. 1928 George Runyard died on the 8th of July, 1928, aged 78 years.  George was the youngest brother of Austin and Ambrose. 1929 Lulworth Castle destroyed by fire on 29.8.1929. 1933 The foundation stone of the new church at Wareham (St.Edward the Martyr (963-978) - brother of King Elthelred -the Unready - our ancestor) was laid on July 3rd, 1933. 1933 Mr. Joseph Weld, son of Wilfred Weld, was married to Miss Bellord in July 1933, at Brompton Oratory,London.  Heir to the Lulworth Estate. 1935 Electric lighting put in the Chapel at E.L. during October, 1935. 1935 Elsie Ruth, daughter of Emily Runyard and Jack Ruth, married at the Chapel E.L., to Mr. S.(Jack) Grove, on the 23rd November, 1935. 1937 Alfred Ruth, (Alfie was the brother of Elsie) married to Phyllis Riggs, of Wareham, on July 31st, 1937 at the new church.  It was the first marriage to take place there. 1952 Mrs. Elizabeth Renyard died on October 10th, 1952 and was buried in the churchyard. 1952 Miss Ellen Fanning died on October 5th, 1952, aged 91 years.  She was Head Teacher at E.L. Catholic School for 37 years (she taught all the children of Ambrose Runyard and was, I believe, heartily disliked). 1955 Wilfred Weld, son of Sir Joseph Weld, married Miss Joanna Binnie, on December 10th 1955, at the Chapel. 1961 Miss Agnes Mary Rolls died on March 2nd, aged 81 years (Agnes (Aggie) was the great granddaughter of Henry Rolls and Richard Runyard, and the granddaughter of Richard's daughter, Amelia.  She continued the diary started by her great grandfather.) End.

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