James Cooper Faulke Snr. & Jnr. of Martham
James Cooper Faulke Snr. (1819-1883)
James Cooper Faulke was born in 1819 at North Walsham, Norfolk to James Faulke & Rebecca Cooper. At the time of the 1841 census James was single and lived with his parents at St Stephens Road, Norwich. His father had taken on Peafield Mill, Lakenham in partnership with James and his brother Robert.
By 1850 James had struck out on his own and had become the miller at Hemsby Road tower mill in Martham according to an entry in Hunt’s Directory of that year and in the 1851 census he was listed as the miller employing two men, an apprentice and two servants so he must have been doing fairly well.
The mills at Hemsby Road had previously been associated with the Bane family and on 30th June 1855 James married Catherine Harvey Bane – shown on the left – the daughter of James Bane & Esther Martin who you can read about by clicking HERE.
James and Catherine had a son on 2nd March 1857 who they gave the same name as his father – see more about him below. He was the first of four children, the others were William (b1860), Kate (b1863) & Alice (b1865). The couple were still living at the mill in 1861 but James was getting busier and busier and by 1871 he had diversified by adding farming to his activities, owning 110 acres and employing four men and a boy plus he was still a miller employing another three men and a boy.
James and Catherine had a son on 2nd March 1857 who they gave the same name as his father – see more about him below. He was the first of four children, the others were William (b1860), Kate (b1863) & Alice (b1865) – shown right. The couple were still living at the mill in 1861 but James was getting busier and busier and by 1871 he had diversified by adding farming to his activities, owning 110 acres and employing four men and a boy plus he was still a miller employing another three men and a boy.
By 1879 he had handed over the running of the windmill to his son but had also continued to buy land and by 1881 he owned 200 acres and employed eight men and a boy. Not only that but he had moved to the ‘Manor House’ at the rear of The Green opposite Bracey’s pond.
James died on 19th March 1883 and was buried on 26th at St Mary the Virgin but his exact burial plot is unknown. His wife Catherine outlived him by sometime and died in Great Yarmouth in 1912.
James Cooper Faulke Jnr. (1857-1905)
James Jnr. was born on 2nd March 1857 in Martham to James & Catherine, nee Bane. He had taken over from his father and was running the windmill at Hemsby Road by 1879 and in the same year on 17th July he married Eliza Parker Crisp, daughter of Anthony Crisp & Rebecca Manship at St Mary the Virgin. They were living together at the Mill House in 1881 where he was listed as being a master miller employing three men. Busy as he was, he also had the interesting part time job of being the Census Enumerator for District 2 of Martham in 1881. This is a copy of the front page of the census showing the area he covered:
By 1888 James had given up being a miller and had become the Relieving Officer for East & West Flegg District. This job required him to evaluate the cases of everyone applying for medical or poor relief; to authorise emergency relief or entry to Rollesby Workhouse. He was also expected to call weekly on all persons in receipt of relief but who did not live in the Workhouse and to account regularly to the Board for payments made to them. At the time, he was living with Catherine at Ivydene, Back Lane, Martham. Ivydene once stood to the east, and across Back Lane roughly opposite the Free School (now Whittakers). The area stood derelict for a long while but has since been redeveloped with modern detached houses.
James died on 14th December 1905 and is buried at St Mary the Virgin section H, plot G2 with Catherine who died in 1915. They did not have any children.
