Belonging

Chad Norgrove (middle)

It was 25^th March 1744 and John (I) Cresswell, a small farmer and silversmith by trade, moved from Clent in the County of Worcestershire with his wife Ann Stephens, two sons John (II) and Stephens (I with an S) and daughter Hannah. The new abode was Bowhills Farm in the Liberty of Romsley, Shropshire. Bowhills was where the annual Court of the Liberty of Romsley was held each year; Constables and jurors would assemble to hear cases and impose fines for minor offences against the common law.

Ann Stephens died sometime afterwards and was buried at Clent. It is thought that the second son, Stephens (I) was named after his mother, taking her surname as his Christian name. John (I) married Ann Jordan. They had a son and moved back to Clent. Both were buried there. It is not known what became of the elder son John (II), but the younger son, Stephens (I) remained in Romsley and this is where the local lineage begins.

Stephens (I) married a local girl, by the name of Mary Green, daughter of John Green of Barratts Farm in the Parish of Alveley, and had nine children. There were five daughters and four sons: John (III), Stephens (II), Abraham Stephens (II) and Thomas.

In 1779, the same year as the Ironbridge was constructed, new bells were cast for Alveley Church to replace the original medieval ones. The work was carried out by Thomas Rudhall of Gloucester and ranged from a 4.5cwt treble to a 10cwt tenor bell. The tenor bell bears the name of Stephens (I) Cresswell and a William Crow, who were church wardens at the time, and probably both gave a sizable donation towards the cost of the bells. Romsley's chapel, St. Anne, a Chapel of Ease to St. Mary's of Alveley, is thought to have been destroyed during the Civil War along with the adjacent Romsley Hall and a nearby moated farmhouse.

Stephens was the first of the Cresswells to be buried in Alveley, in October 1801, believed to be at least 70 years of age. John (III) the eldest son was an industrialist and careful man and a good servant's master. He accumulated a good deal of property and bought several houses in Romsley and died March 2, 1844 age 80 years. Stephens (II) died less than two years old. The third son Abraham, born just over a year after his brother's death, was given the second name of Stephens. Thomas is believed to have died in infancy.

Abraham Stephens (II) Cresswell married Keziah Hughes, daughter of Richard Hughes of Bridgnorth, and had two sons and three daughters: Ezekiel, Edna, Stephens (III), Ann(e) and Sarah. They lived at Cross Farm and Abraham built a range of single storey brick buildings on the land. One of these buildings was a stable block which had ASC and 1841 carved into blocks on either side of the door posts and is still in existence to this day. The 1841 census puts him at 70 years of age, with his son, Stephens III, aged 33. It also records the following people in residence: Hosiah 65, Sarah 20, Ann Hirck 15, farm servant John Low 20, servant George Bennett 10. By 1871, Elizabeth Lawley 39 and Henry J Lawley, a farm bailiff, were also in residence.

Stephens (III) married Priscilla Griffiths of Arley and had three sons and two daughters: John (IV), Stephens (IV), Zephaniah, Georgina Anne (known as Annie) and Catherine. In 1847, he was managing Hart's Green Farm in Romsley, which passed into his ownership in 1856, but by the 1871 census, Stephens (III) aged 64, his wife Priscilla aged 62 and his three sons were living at Lower House Farm in Romsley. Also in residence were Ann Humphries, a female servant and Thomas Brewer, an agricultural labourer. Stephens (III) farmed 350 acres and was one of the largest private landowners in the district. He died in 1877 without leaving a will.

The eldest son, John (IV), married Annie Nicholls of Witley. He was an Overseer and Collector of Assessed and Income Taxes, but was a highly respected member of the community and a large landowner. He held a number of public offices, including serving as a Clerk to the Parish Council and Churchwarden. Furthermore, he resided in Pool House Farm for a couple of years and in 1881 became the first occupant of Fir Tree House (he is often referred to as 'John from The Firs'). Following an operation and short illness, he died in 1911, with the funeral held at Alveley Church. The Cortège made its way along the narrow country lanes where a large procession was formed. The report which subsequently appeared in the local newspaper was lengthy and detailed.

The youngest son, Zephaniah, on the other hand, is considered in family lore to be the black sheep of the family. He was a Victualler (Landlord) of The Squirrel Pub in Alveley. He married Emma Harley of Alveley and had one son, John Hubert (V) and two daughters, Katherine Frances and Doris Nancy. Doris Nancy's granddaughter, Suzanne Thomas, appeared on the Antiques Roadshow in 1998 with a Cresswell family table.

Stephens (IV), also a large landowner, was living in Lower House Farm but renovated Cross Farm in 1914 where we moved to with his wife, Hannah Dunn of Stourbridge. They had one daughter, Catherine Ethel. He was a Trustee of one of the Alveley Charities and died in 1926 at the age of 78.

Catherine Ethel married Chad Norgrove, originally of Prescott near Stottesdon; Stottesdon and Abdon being a strong hold for various branches of the Norgrove family. Chad had moved with his parents, Henry and Fanny Norgrove, to Nash End Farm in 1914 and after his father's death, farmed in Coton with his mother. He acquired the nickname “The Wild Man of Romsley” due to his temperament, and died relatively young at 56. Ethel survived him until she was 67. They owned three cows: a black and white one, a blue-roan horned cow and a Jersey aptly named Blackie, Blue and Brown Cow. Ethel had a fruit and veg round, delivering to people in Alveley.

They had eight children, four of whom are still alive (as at January 2024, having recently lost one sister), all aged between 89 and 94. There are eleven grandchildren (including the author), six great-grandchildren and two great-great-grandchildren.

Bell in Alveley Belfry