Welcome to the fourth part of our series exploring the history of Icen Cottage, Fordington. In previous blogs, we have introduced you to the cottage, shown you some of the earliest documents relating to the cottage, and discussed some of the problems when trying to identify the people who lived in the cottage.
This time, we will take a look at the Cull family who owned the cottage from the 1830s…
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In 1830 the copyhold of Icen Cottage was purchased by George Cull. His son James was also named on the Admission, which was dated 30th September 1830. George Cull was the son of George Cull and Sarah Cull (née Collis). He was baptised in Stinsford Church in 1783 along with his brother John Henry, who sadly died in 1784. Later records suggest that George was born around 1781.
George senior was the son of a yeoman from Worth Matravers and from wills and other documents it appears that the family were relatively prosperous.
George junior joined the Marines and the Kentish Weekly Post on 3rd August 1798 shows a George Cull, Gent, who is listed under Purbeck Volunteers to be a 2nd Lieutenant. The UK Naval Medal and Award Rolls, which are available to view on the Ancestry website, show that he served on board the Hector during the Egypt campaign. The ship was involved in the siege of Alexandria, which marked the end of Napoleon’s campaign in Syria and Egypt, unsuccessfully chasing the French corvette Heliopolis on 9th May 1801.
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Their youngest child was baptised in 1826 and it seems likely that George purchased Icen Cottage as a family home, but we have only found two documents from the time he lived in the house and neither are happy.
The Salisbury and Winchester Journal report that on Friday 13th January 1832 three men attempted to break into his home, but that he scared them off by threatening to fire upon them.
Then, just a few months later, on 8th May 1832 his wife Mary died.
It appears that George Cull left the house soon after this as in June 1832 an advert appears in the paper offering the cottage to let. This advert includes a description of the cottage:
‘To be Let, Furnished, for one or seven year, Icen Cottage; consisting of two parlours, pantry, kitchen, back kitchen, and cellar, six bed-rooms with front and back stairs, with a garden adjoining. Apply to George Cull, on premise, if by letter, post-paid.’
A later advertisement from 1834 adds a water closet and describes the garden as walled:
The cottage was rented by several people over the period of George’s ownership and we will look at some of them in upcoming blogs.
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George suffered further tragedy after leaving the cottage. His daughter Frances died in 1839 aged 21 and his daughter Elizabeth in 1841 aged 15. Both are buried in Stinsford with George and his wife.
George appears to have spent the rest of his life living in Dorchester where he served as Relieving Officer for Dorchester Union. Relieving Officers were responsible for assessing the amount of relief paupers should be given.
George died in 1851. In his will he described himself as a gentleman and left several properties in Dorchester to his son George and daughter Mary. He left Icen Cottage to his son James, who the censuses show living in Weymouth supported by the income from the property he owned.
The Manor of Fordington had stopped accepting new names on copyholds in 1842 so that they could consolidate the land that they owned. James was the last copyholder for the cottage and after his death it returned to the Manor.
Look out for future blogs to discover more about George and James’ tenants.
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If you’ve missed the earlier blogs in this series, you can view them here:
An Introduction to Icen Cottage