AMY THORNTON OR THE CURATE'S DAUGHTER by EDWARD BURLEND
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A story linked with Barwick
AMY THORNTON OR THE CURATE'S DAUGHTER
by EDWARD BURLEND
Barwicker No. 6 July 1987
Edward Burlend's novel, "Amy Thornton", is apparently set in
the Barwick of the 1820s. It is not referred to by name; the
village being called Elmwood, but all the evidence suggests it is
Barwick thinly disguised.
Edward Burlend was born in Barwick in 1814 and died at
Swillington on April 6th, 1875. He was a schoolmaster at both
Hunslet and Swillington and published several books as well as
this novel. In 1858 he published a book of poems entitled
"Village Rhymes" and this included a lengthy poem on Barwick and
her characters in which Burlend reflects with nostalgia on his
youth.
The inscription on his tombstone reads, "In memory of Edward
Burlend of Swillington, schoolmaster, who died on April 6th 1875.
Under social disadvantages and under extreme delicacy of
constitution, he taught with marked success a competent knowledge
of classics, mathematics and other branches of science and
literature. As an original thinker his prose works, and as an
elegant writer, his poetry will long remain evidence of his power
and ability. Cautious, peaceful and retiring by nature, he lived
respected, and his end truly deserving the character of a just
man. "
We are introduced to Amy at the age of about eight years,
just after the death of her father, the curate, from consumption.
Mrs. Thornton is left in debt due to the medical bills incurred by
her husband's illness, and, although these debts are settled by
her childhood friend, Matty Morritt, her finances remain
precarious. Mrs. Thornton starts a school in order to provide an
income for herself and Amy. This is successful but Mrs. Thornton
soon also succumbs to consumption and dies. Amy is left an orphan
without resource and is obliged to go to the workhouse.
Amy settles at the workhouse where she is generally kindly
treated apart from one dark episode when she is wrongly accused of
repeating gossip. Her superior level of education is soon
recognised and she is set on under the aged pauper schoolmaster,
"Old Benjamin" to teach the other children. This she much enjoys
and does the job so extremely well that she is noticed by one of
the workhouse guardians on an official visit, and is apprenticed
to his family to teach his own children. Unfortunately, this
proves not to be a good move for Amy and she is very harshly and
unkindly treated by her new mistress, Mrs. Jackson.
Amy is eventually rescued from this bondage by her long lost
uncle who returns from America, but not before she has formed an
attachment to Sam, one of the Jackson's farm-hands. Sam is a
little older than Amy and shows her great kindness during her
apprenticeship. However, his increasing affection for her leads
him unwisely to bestow a kiss upon her unexpectedly. This is
reported to Mrs. Jackson by her unpleasant daughter who delights
in making trouble for Amy. Mrs. Jackson beats Amy and also cuts
off all her hair; a terrible disfigurement and disgrace.
Amy's uncle, though very kind to her, discourages Sam as an
unsuitable match for her. After re-affirming his undying
devotion, Sam emigrates to the West Indies to try to make his
fortune.
Amy settles down dutifully at Whitford with her uncle and is
introduced to his neighbour and relative, Dr. Snibbins. Snibbins,
a rather ruthless character, has insinuated himself as a friend
and regular visitor at Mr. Thornton's in the hopes of inheriting
the house, Holly Grove, and Mr. Thornton's wealth as his only
relative. The arrival of Amy threatens to interfere with these
plans since she is a nearer relative, but after initial dismay,
Dr. Snibbins quickly hits on the plan of marrying Amy and so still
inheriting. Not surprisingly Amy does not welcome the attentions
of the obnoxious doctor.
Mr. Thornton's health, already poor, begins to deteriorate in
the English climate and he decides to return to America. Amy
accompanies him, but within four years Mr. Thornton dies without
having signed his will.
Snibbins now seizes his chance, and having followed up a
rumour perpetuated by Mrs. Jackson that Amy's parents were never
married, presents himself to the Solicitor as Mr. Thornton's
rightful heir.
The account of how Amy's legitimacy is proved makes a
gripping climax to the novel. Snibbins discovers by chance that
Amy's parents were in fact married quietly at a village some
distance from Elmwood. Although he is convinced that no-one else
will discover this, the threat to his inheritance induces him to
steal the record of the marriage from the parish register. When
Amy returns from America he urges her to marry him and so not lose
her inheritance entirely. Amy has no intention of marrying the
despised Snibbins, and, being left almost penniless, is about to
accept Matty Morritt's invitation to live with her. At this point
Sam returns from the West Indies.
The couple marry and at their wedding reception Matty
presents Amy with a bundle of papers given to her for safekeeping
by Amy's mother. Among these papers is the marriage certificate.
The Solicitor discovers Snibbins' theft of the copy from the
parish register and faces him with his guilt. Amy inherits her
uncle's property and she and Sam move into Holly Grove and, as
expected, live happily ever after!
The clearest evidence that the novel is set in Barwick comes
from three references to the Maypole and Cross Hill. In the first
reference Burlend gives the location of Amy's parents' house.
"The village of Elmwood has two short branches separating from the
main street at the cross hill. In one of these, about sixty yards
from the said junction, stands a small detached house with one end
to the road and a small garden to its front." The description fits
number 14, The Boyle,in most particulars and this is reinforced by
the passage describing Amy's walk from the workhouse to the
Jacksons'. "Amy Thornton passed the outer gate and over the
bridge that crossed the brook (Rake Beck) on her way to Elmwood
.... And when she had ascended the hill that leads to the village
(from Rakehill Road to The Boyle) she came to the little gate at
the end of what was once her cherished home. Having surveyed
these touching reminiscences. ...she walked on to the
churchyard."
The second reference is when Amy is leaving Elmwood on her
way to Fleeceborough (Leeds) with her uncle. We are told, "the
next moment, Elmwood, with all its associations, save the grey old
tower (of the church) and the maypole, were hid from the
travellers."
The third reference is when Sam, having returned from the
West Indies, is seeking information about Amy. "Having reached
the outskirts of the gate, (of Jackson's Farm) he stood on the
causeway in the street for a moment, looking down towards the
maypole and the old cross hill."
Although Burlend is precise about the location of Amy's
parents' house he is more vague about the two cottages originally
occupied by Mrs. Thornton's parents and Matty Morritt's parents.
"At a distance of about ten minutes walk from the village of
Elmwood are two little thatched cottages, known in the
neighbourhood, on account of their sequestered situation, as the
Owlet Houses; or as the people express it, t'Hullett Houses." The
only other hint we have on this point is the statement, "As the
situation of the workhouse is on the opposite side of Elmwood, Amy
was obliged in her journey to pass through the village."
Burlend is most particular about the geographical
relationship of Elmwood to both Fleeceborough (the nearest large
town and assumed to be Leeds) and Whitford, the home of Amy's
uncle. From his directions it seems most probable that Whitford
is the town of Castleford. Whitford is described as being "six or
seven miles from Elmwood" and "containing nearly three thousand
inhabitants. The staple support of this place is agriculture and
a large colliery that exists just at the outskirts of the
village."
Other interesting references include the character of Richard
Lumby, the workhouse overseer who is involved in getting Amy a
place at the workhouse and in making and later relinquishing her
indenture as a "town prentice". This worthy mainly appears in
connection with the Linton Arms, the only public house mentioned
in Elmwood, and where he conducts most of his business, fortified
with liberal supplies of rum and water! Burlend may have based
this character on a real person as Lumb is an old village name.
The Linton Arms and the Gascoigne Arms seem to be one and the
same since at the end of the novel Sam goes to work on Sir
Cuthbert Linton's estate, probably the Gascoigne estate.
Amy's period at the workhouse is described in some
considerable detail and it is clear that the account is based on
the workhouse along Rakehill Road which was in operation between
1781 and 1872. We are told, "Amy wended her way by the side of
the miry lane that led to her future residence". There are also
references to "a little brook, about three yards wide" running
along "the low side of the workhouse garden". This must surely be
Rake Beck.
The description of the workhouse puts it in quite a different
category to that described by Dickens in "Oliver Twist".
Certainly the residents did not live in luxury but they were
comparatively fairly treated and quite well fed, having meat and
potatoes on three days each week and broth and dumplings on three
days. Thursday was baking day when light yeast dumplings and
treacle sauce were on the menu. This account agrees closely with
Arthur Bantoft's research into the records of the Barwick
Workhouse.
Discipline seems to have been generally firm and the children
were sometimes "whipped" for misbehaviour or sent to bed without
supper. Such punishments were often incurred due to the
accidental breaking of windows when playing. Such punishments
could be escaped if the broken windows were paid for, the money
being raised by collecting soft clay and "red rud" or "ruddle"
which was washed down the brook after heavy rain. This was sold
in the village to masons for marking. The children voted to spend
this money on a book for Amy when she left, demonstrating their
high regard for her.
At the time of Amy's stay there were about twenty-five
children, presumably orphans like Amy. This seems a large number
by comparison with the records of the Barwick Workhouse. The
adults seem to have been a motley collection of people including a
young unmarried woman who had come in temporarily to have her
baby, old Benjamin, the pauper schoolteacher, and Elizabeth
Brancrust, a poor deranged woman with delusions of grandeur. She
was in daily expectation of being rescued by her gallant lover and
in daily fear of her ears burning off if she didn't manage to
marry him soon! Burlend's humorous but touching account of
Elizabeth is so detailed that it is tempting to think that he
based her on a real character in the workhouse. Certainly a
number of the inmates would have been of "unsound mind" as the
records state. Burlend makes it clear that Elizabeth's behaviour
was tolerated even though this included refusing to eat with the
other residents and insisting on designating one of the other
females as her "maid" to assist her to dress. "It would have been
a very difficult task indeed, and one involving downright cruelty,
to make her assist in any of the ordinary duties of the house."
We would now consider whipping children absolutely
unacceptable but at the time the Elmwood workhouse regime would
have been considered quite humanitarian. Nevertheless, the
unfortunate woman responsible for Amy being wrongly accused of
spreading gossip was punished by being shut up without food and
this certainly hastened her probably inevitable death from
consumption.
The reader of "Amy Thornton" will find the tribute on the
inscription on Edward Burlend's tombstone well justified. The
novel is a well-written, perceptive and often humorous account of
village life, made all the more fascinating by being based on
Barwick.
The author wishes to thank Tony Shinn who made this review
possible.
There is a copy of the novel in the Reference Department of
Leeds City Library.
J.Deacon
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