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Maltonians

Memories of Malton

Thomas Baker compiled "Memories of Malton and Some of its Inhabitants in the 'Sixties and Onwards". The date of writing is assumed to be the 1920s - 'sixties refers to the 1860s! This may help with interpreting Census information as although not comprehensive covers how some streets and the occupation of shops evolved. The work has sections for each major street/area of the town and the introduction is as follows: "It has often been suggested to me that a few observations on Malton and some of its inhabitants in the "Sixties" and onwards would prove interesting not only to the older but also to the younger generation of Maltonians, and after much thought, and diffidence, I have decided to give my impressions of Malton during the last 65 years in order to show what improvements have been made in the structural appearance of the old town. I will try to give a true reflection of the transformation which has been effected during that period. Of course, I realise that it will be a very difficult task to undertake as I have no data to go upon except my own recollections; that is to say, I have not any notes or diary of the alterations as to the exact times when the old buildings have been pulled down and the new ones erected.

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The Town

What was the Town Like?

One can begin to build a picture of what Malton was like in the 1850s by reading the report of the General Board of Health regarding the Sanitary Condition of Malton, written in 1854 [1]. What follows is based on my reading of that report. In 1851 the population of Malton was 7,661 and there were 1,545 houses, so around 5 people in each house. This was just an average, browse my transcript of the 1851 census to see how much this could vary. A quarter of the deaths were caused by 'zymotic diseases' (fevers and contagious diseases (e.g. typhus and typhoid fevers, smallpox, scarlet fever, measles, whooping cough, cholera, diphtheria etc.) Medical opinion considered the incidence of fever was due to stagnant refuse near and within houses, and to the general filthy state of streets, lanes, courts and yards which were without proper sewers and drains. The larger portion of the population lived in small houses, having no drainage, and imperfect means of ventilation. The water supply was from pumps and wells, carried to the place of use, and which was often stored in open vessels in living rooms where it became 'tainted by absorbing gases of decomposition.' In parts the town was overcrowded. There were courts of cottages, entered by covered passages, in which privies, cesspools, and pigsties have been improperly placed. Some old houses are thatched; the greatest number are covered with red tiles; a few of the newer houses are slated. Most of the old homes are built of wall stone limewashed externally. The living rooms are small and low; the bedrooms are very low, the roofs spring from the side walls some three feet above the floor. Many rooms are let off in separate tenements. The streets are partially formed of broken stone, with paved channels; some are boulder-paved, refuse and slop water drainage from the courts and houses flowing on to the streets, and over the surface. Large ash-middens, privies, and cesspools are crowded amidst dwelling-houses, beneath room windows, and even underneath sleeping rooms. Rent for houses of two rooms range from £3 to £4 and 2s3d a quarter rates.

Where is/was that Street?

Over the years and as the town has developed, streets have appeared, disappeared and even been renamed. In Malton Streets the occurrence of the streets and yards through the various censuses, together with the locations of the less obvious ones is shown. It is hoped that this table will help those unfamiliar with the town and also begin to show when streets and yards appeared or disappeared. A big thank you to Larraine Williams for sharing her research on this.

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Business

Tradesmen in the Town

In the 19th and early 20th centuries the trades carried on in the town were different to what survives today as were the goods and services. I have collected a number of advertisements from local newspapers and also a small number of invoices and receipts.

Bankruptcy

It was a relatively common occurrence for traders to become unable to pay their debts. The reasons included fraud, bad business practice, and misfortune (such as loss of stock through fire.) During the Victorian period commerce evolved considerably and attempts were made to reflect consequent changing needs in the bankruptcy law. In the period immediately before 1831 the management of the estate of a bankrupt was done by an assignee appointed by the creditors. For the London area, the 1831 Bankruptcy Act introduced the concept of a court appointed assignee, an Act of 1842 extending this to country areas. Formal bankruptcy could be avoided if either a certain majority of creditors (the definition of majority evolved with various legislation) entered a 'composition agreement' with the debtor where assets were sold and the proceeds used to pay the creditors so much in the £; or, entered into a 'deed of arrangement' whereby the debtor could continue trading, and pay his debts over an extended period. For the benefit of creditors, announcements were made in The London Gazette summarising the status of proceedings - extract of the entries 1820-1868 from the London Gazette. The Times, local newspapers and Perry's Bankrupt and Insolvent Gazette also contain bankruptcy announcements.

Thomas Taylor

The Taylor family in Malton had carried on a grocery business since 1700, opening then their shop in Castlegate. That old shop had a thatched roof "and still has many customers whose great-grandparents bought provisions there." Apprentices who worked there lived on the premises. None of the goods were packeted. Sugar was bought-in in large blocks weighing half a ton and cut into lumps on the premises. Tea was first introduced into Malton by the firm in the reign of Queen Anne, and it was very expensive. This description was written by a member of the Taylor family in response to a request by the editor to hear from businesses that were very long-lived.

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Topics & Events

Baker's Chronology

George Brown of Norton wrote and Mr Thomas Baker published these volumes of a Chronology of Local Events in Malton, Norton, and District. The first two volumes covering 1869 to 1898, and 1899 to 1906 were priced at 1s and 6d respectively. There can't be many towns where an individual has had the foresight to keep and publish such a diary.

The Telephone Comes to Malton

It would appear that the telephone could have been in use around ten years before the telephone exchange in Malton was actually opened. Early in 1893 [1] it was reported that the National Telephone Company had begun to lay the trunk line from York to Scarborough, possibly two years or more earlier i.e. in 1890. However, the Earl Fitzwilliam did not allow the wires to cross the town. An opinion was voiced at the annual meeting and dinner of the Malton Farmers' Club when a Mr. Page, a corn merchant of York, spoke about the town and district suffering from the want of telephonic communication because Earl Fitzwilliam would not allow it to pass through …. and further that no one man should have so much power in any town, village or hamlet as to cripple its trade. A telephone exchange and call office was eventually opened at Malton on 25th March 1903 and looped in to the York - Scarborough trunk line. The exchange offered a service during the week from 5am to 10pm, and on Sundays from 6am to 10am and from 5.15pm to 7.30pm. There was no direct dialling. Rental of a line was very expensive with few, if any individuals being able to afford rental and the cost of calls. The call office at the Post Office gave residents the opportunity to try the service.