The Twamley family at New Hall Mill
In 1709 new tenants came into possession of New Hall Mill - John Holloway and Robert Hicks, both of whom were bakers from Birmingham. Although Holloway and Hicks were the leaseholders, they employed a miller to operate the mill, and they were able to offer a newly rebuilt mill cottage as an incentive.
Thomas Twamley
It is not 100% certain who Holloway and Hicks employed as their first miller, but it was probably Thomas Twamley - indeed, Thomas may have already been working at the Mill when Holloway and Hicks took over. In 1715, when the freeholder, George Sacheverell, made his will, Thomas Twamley was named as the tenant of the Mill and also of New Shipton Farm. From this point onwards, senior Twamley millers tended to live at New Shipton, while the junior millers, often the miller's son, lived in the mill cottage, learning their trade and inheriting the New Shipton lease when their father retired or passed on.
William Twamley (1) 1700 - 1752
The next Twamley miller was William Twamley. There were four William Twamleys at the mill, so we will label them (1-4) for ease of understanding!
In the absence of a local baptismal record, a theory has gained traction on Ancestry that William Twamley (1) was born in Weston under Lizard, but this does not ring true - it is far more likely that he was Thomas Twamley's son. William married Elizabeth Smallwood in 1728. I have identified three children of this couple: Sarah Twamley who died in infancy in 1735, Zachariah Twamley 1736-1791, William Twamley 1739-1788.
There may have been another child, Samuel Twamley. In 1778, a Samuel Twamley was a mealman in Bromsgrove (he is mentioned in an advert). He may have been the tenant or leaseholder of the mill in nearby Stoke Prior.
William Twamley (2) 1739 - 1788
In 1752, William Twamley (1) died aged 52 in Sutton Coldfield. His son, William Twamley (2), probably took over immediately. He had married Mary Langley on 11 Jun 1762 at Maxstoke, Warwickshire, and they had a growing family. I have identified five sons: William Twamley (3) (1763–1825), Edward Twamley (1765–1824), Samuel Twamley (1770–1832), Zachariah Twamley (1772–1856), and John Twamley (1775/6–1844) who became a farmer at Thimble End.
In 1770 an advert for the sale of New Shipton House refers to William Twamley of New Hall Mills as a contact. (This plural is used consistently until William's death in 1788).
In June 1779 William Twamley (2) was again listed at New Hall Mills in connection with the sale of the Knowle estate in Rowley Regis. This lends weight to the idea that William had a brother called Samuel, as a Samuel Twamley was married to Mary Turton in Rowley Regis in 1760.
In August 1780, the Rose and Crown inn in Moor Street, central Birmingham, was put up for sale. William Twamley (2) was once again one of the contacts, and was referred to as a miller of New Shipton near Sutton Coldfield.
In February 1784, William Twamley (2) was party to a scheme in which various millers and bakers agreed to supply the 'large loaves' favoured by the poor, on moderate terms. The advert below indicates that they were appealing for public funds to support this scheme.
A warehouse for the sale of bread under this scheme was opened in Snowhill, Birmingham, on 4th March 1784.
That same month, March 1784, William (2)'s mother Elizabeth Twamley died.
William Twamley (2) died at New Hall Mill on 7th April 1788, aged 49.
William Twamley (3) 1763 - 1825
William Twamley was the leaseholder of New Hall Mill during the Regency period. We only have a smattering of evidence about his life, and importantly, we know very little about the millers he employed to do the hands-on work at New Hall Mill. Here is what we do know about the Mill during Regency times. Much of it is frustratingly fragmentary, as you will see.
William Twamley was born in 1763, the third generation of that name, and the eldest of five boys: William Twamley (1763–1825), Edward Twamley (1765–1824), Samuel Twamley (1770–1832), Zachariah Twamley (1772–1856), and John Twamley (1775/6–1844) who became a farmer at Thimble End.
The first time we hear of our William Twamley as an adult (assuming local historian Roger Lea had it right and it wasn’t his father), is in the 1780s, when he was one of three Sutton Coldfield yeomen who used to pay Sutton Park's Warden and Society 10 pence a quarter to exercise their rights of pasturage and turn cattle into the Park. In 1787, the Warden and Society increased the charge to 18 pence a quarter. William, two other yeomen, named Richard Kesterton and Isaac Terry, and a cordwainer named Joseph Grange, appealed to the courts. They said that the 10 pence charge was enshrined in the Sutton’s Charter of 1528 and could not be increased. William took an interest in this lengthy ongoing case for the rest of his life.
When William’s father died at New Hall Mill on Wednesday 7th April 1788, aged 49, he was buried at Holy Trinity Churchyard in Sutton Coldfield.
William succeeded his father as leaseholder of New Hall Mill. He was only 25 years old, but he and several of his brothers had already established themselves in the milling and baking industry.
Williams's uncle, Zachariah Twamley, was also a miller at nearby Castle Bromwich mill. He was a devout man - at the age of 22 he subscribed to a publication called "Thoughts Moral and Divine". In 1791, when Zachariah died, William was one of the executors of his will, responsible for selling his assets after Zachariah's wife's death and dividing the proceeds between his four children. In the will, William is described as a mealman of New Shipton.
During the 1790s, William built the present mill building with its upper storeys, to replace the previous single-storey building.
In February 1795, not long after Charles Chadwick inherited the New Hall estate in 1793, an estate survey was carried out. It shows William Twamley holding the lease of New Hall Mill and 48 acres of land. He was described as “a good tenant” who was paying an annual rent of £35 for the Mill and an additional £43. 4s. 2d. rent for thirty acres of meadow. The surveyor noted that this rent had been discounted. He wrote: "These lands with the mill might probably be let at £84 per annum but the Tenant having been at great expense in repairs deserves consideration.” This suggests that William had completed the rebuilding of the Mill by 1795.
Charles Chadwick had been making improvements of his own and unfortunately, he was eager to recoup his costs. When the leases on the New Hall properties were renewed from 25th March 1795, he increased William's rent to £84.
William had fingers in many pies, including farming, milling, bread baking, and general estate management. In 1800 he was issued with a game certificate. Also in 1800, he was one of two Trustees dealing with the estate and creditors of Timothy Hill, a baker in West Bromwich.
In June 1802 he was one of the two men dealing with the estate of John Palmer, gentleman of Maxstoke.
In 1802 an auction was held to dispose of some 'Capital Worsted Machinery' in Kidderminster, belonging to William Twamley, Thomas Darlaston, Edward Twamley, Samuel Twamley, and Zachariah Twamley.
The Twamley siblings were all of marriageable age.
In November 1802, Aris's Birmingham Gazette reported the marriage of William's brother Samuel, miller of Kidderminster, to Miss Powell of Wolverley.
In November 1805, William married Elizabeth Farmer of Dosthill, in Tamworth.
On 28th Jun 1810, William's cousin, Zachariah's daughter Elizabeth Twamley of Castle Bromwich, married John Blakesley of Hinckley, a banker.
On 24th November 1806, William's wife, Elizabeth, delivered twin children, William and Maria. If they had any other children, they did not survive. Elizabeth died at New Shipton Farm at the young age of 39, in April 1815.
In 1815, William took on the lease of nearby Duddeston Mill at £180 per annum, describing himself as “William Twamley of New Hall Mill, mealman”.
In 1817, the eighteen men of the Warden and Society of Sutton Park had to elect six new members to replace six who had died or left the district. William was one of the successful candidates. He was no sheep. When there was a proposal to help the cottagers in the Park, William was the only member who voted for it. The other 16 members present all voted against.
In about 1820 William built (or rebuilt) Duddeston House and Mill (aka Dudston), which was later the home of Zachariah Twamley, presumably Zachariah junior, his cousin (his uncle had long since died).
In 1821 William was listed as a Corn Miller at New Hall Mill in Pigot's Directory.
Sometime between January 1822 and January 1824, William Parkinson, formerly of Weeford, became the master miller at New Hall Mill. He wasn’t there long. In July 1824 a notice (probably a bankruptcy notice) inviting his debtors to settle their debts and his creditors to submit their claims. In May 1826, when the final dividend to creditors was announced, William Parkinson was no longer at New Hall Hill, but unfortunately I haven’t established his whereabouts, and he disappears from the local newspapers at this time.
In 1824 William Twamley (3) still lived at New Shipton Farm and held the lease of the Mill. He referred to himself as a mealman. He now employed a master miller, William Hingley, who lived in the mill cottage.
The ongoing Chancery Case to oppose the increased grazing charges in Sutton Park was finally resolved in 1824, with the Warden and Society agreeing to a scheme for better governance of the town. William had continued to take an interest in it. Sutton researcher Roger Lea wrote, "His son Zachariah says Sir John Scott told his father, No man could have taken a more honorable matter in hand." [I believe this should be William's brother, Zachariah, not his son]. Unfortunately, William Twamley died before the new scheme was put into effect.
In February 1825, just before the next lease renewal, William Twamley (3) died. At that time, he was still the leaseholder of New Hall Mill and Duddeston Corn Mill in Birmingham. On 7th February 1825, Aris's Birmingham Gazette reported:
Lately, much regretted, Mr William Twamley, of New Shipton, and of Duddeston Mill, near this town.
William's will states that he had lately taken on a fifty-year lease for Duddeston Mill. He left all his milling interests, tenancies, and machinery to his son William (4) and a specific bequest of £1,500 to his daughter Maria. After settlement of these bequests, the remaining value of his personal estate including his farming interests and stock was to be divided equally between William and Maria. This provision for Maria was remarkable for its time. She later married William Sirdefield, an innkeeper, and moved away from Sutton Coldfield to Liverpool.
William Twamley (4) 1806 - 1855
In 1825 William gave up the leases for both mills, New Hall Mill and Duddeston Mill. They were granted to Benjamin Brentnall the younger, a miller from Borrowash in Derbyshire. Brentnall also owned a baker's shop and a flour warehouse.
The New Hall Mill lease, dated March 25th 1825, included fourteen acres of meadow and a stone house in Wylde Green Road, known as the Ford-Keeper’s Cottage. Brentnall's rent was £110 per annum, together with some sweeteners for his landlord: a couple of fat pullets a year, a wagon and team for one day a year, the care of a dog for Chadwick’s use, and the cost of all repairs. Chadwick reserved the right to hawk, fish and fowl on the land, and the use of water from the leat to flood the water meadows in the winter.
Brentnall did not do well. He was declared Bankrupt, and in 1829 his property was sold to meet his debts. At this time William Twamley was still living at New Shipton Farm.
Brentnall would not be released from the restrictions and obligations of his bankruptcy until 1841.
William Twamley (4) took back occupation of New Hall Mill, albeit temporarily - it is possible that he was one of Brentnall's creditors. Curiously, the advert below shows William Taylor, a carpenter, doing the viewings at the Mill, rather than William Twamley, when the lease was advertised in 1832.
In June 1834 William began the disposal of another watermill, in Stoke Prior, near Bromsgrove. This was variously advertised for lease or sale, from June 1834 to September 1835.
In March 1835 William Twamley was still farming at New Shipton, but in March and April 1835, he advertised that he was leaving the farm. Trustees were involved in the sale, so I surmise that he was in financial difficulties. This was either a bankruptcy, or William voluntarily created a trust to avoid bankruptcy.
The Mill is not mentioned in the advert below, being the subject of a separate lease, already transferred to the Duttons.
The above was the last advert for any of William's business interests. A buyer must have been forthcoming, as in May 1837 a final meeting of creditors was called.
This meeting marked the end of the Twamley family's involvement in New Hall Mill and New Shipton Farm. New tenants, Joseph Todd and his family, took over New Shipton Farm.
William Twamley seems to disappear from records after 1837 - so far I have not found him in the 1841 and 1851 censuses. He is NOT the son of Thomas who married Ann Hines in Birmingham and later lived in Shuttington. Could he have gone abroad? There is a William Twamley who went to New York around this time. However, he was buried in Sutton Coldfield, in 1855, at the age of 48.
Zachariah Twamley 1772 - 1856
Zachariah Twamley was the son of William Twamley (2) and the brother of William Twamley (3). He was born at New Shipton Farm in 1772. Inevitably, Zachariah followed in the family business, running Castle Bromwich Mill on the river Tame for many years. On his retirement he returned to Sutton Coldfield, and in 1855, at the age of 82 he wrote an unpublished history of the town, which we believe is held in Sutton Reference Library. He briefly touches on New Hall Mill, saying, "the family of the Twamleys were occupiers of the mill for a great number of years." Zachariah died the following year, in 1856.
The Corn Inspector
In July 1834, Mr Henry Meredith was appointed Corn Inspector for Birmingham, on behalf of the widow and daughter of the late Inspector, Thomas Twamley, deceased. I have not yet identified which Thomas Twamleys held this position, but the date does not directly match the details of any of the New Hall Mill Twamleys.
N.B.
Please note that this article is still under development, with corrections and additions to come, but there is sufficient here to justify publishing it.
Sheridan Parsons