The Berrow’s Worcester Journal of 16th June 1831 had, on its front page, a list of Defaulters who had not joined the Worcestershire Regiment of Militia when ordered to do so on the 13th June. Fifty-two men were listed, with detailed descriptions of their place of birth, age, appearance, occupation and for whom they were working.
One man on the list was Aaron Evans, aged twenty-five, who had been born in Wickhamford. He was 5’ 9” tall, of sallow complexion, with dark hair and hazel eyes. His ‘visage’ – his face - was said to be oval. He had enrolled originally in the Regiment on 24th May 1827 and was last known to have been ‘serving’ Richard White of Chaseley, Worcestershire. His occupation was given as a ‘waterman’ – a man who plies for hire with a boat. Chaseley is a small village, on the River Severn, 8 miles north of Gloucester and is, since 1931, in that county.
Family background
Aaron was baptised in Wickhamford on 27th November 1803, the son of John and Sarah Evans. In this period, they had other children baptised in the village – Nanny (1797), Elizabeth (1799), Sarah (1801) and Thomas (1806). Aaron’s mother, Sarah Evans died in 1807, aged 35, and was buried in the village churchyard on 15th June. John Evans, widower, married Elizabeth Hawker in Wickhamford, on 16th November 1815. He was illiterate and marked the Marriage Register with an ‘X’.
There are no entries in the Parish Registers concerning Aaron, other that his baptism. He would have been 23 years old when he enlisted in 1827. There is a marriage record for Aaron Evans and Sarah Curtis at Bedwardine, Worcester in April 1829 and a death record in Worcester for a man of that name in late 1842.
At the 1841 census, Aaron and Sarah Evans were living in Four Foot Row, St Peter, Worcester and he was listed as a labourer, aged 40 and she was 35 (ages were rounded to the nearest 5 years). Later censuses put Four Foot Row in St Peter's parish. This was part of the Blockhouse, a poor area now located just beyond the City Walls Road. The main employer in this area was the Hardy and Padmore Foundry.
The Worcestershire Yeomanry
The Worcestershire Yeomanry were formed in 1794, during the Napoleonic Wars. After the Battle of Waterloo, in 1815, the men were allowed to stand down, but some volunteered to serve on. The War Office ceased to support the Yeomanry after 1827 and most regiments disbanded. In view of civil disorders in 1831, the Worcestershire magistrates decided to reform their regiment and this was accepted by the Government on 29th April 1831. It would appear that Aaron Evans was recalled to one of the ten 50-man troops at this time and defaulted, as reported in Berrow’s Worcester Journal. During its first year after re-forming, the Regiment was called out to deal with riots at Upton, Tewkesbury and Worcester. They were also deployed to deal with riots at Dudley in 1832 when miners were protesting about the Great Reform Act of 1832. It is not known whether Aaron Evans eventually responded to being called up and partook in these events.
Wickhamford Parish Registers - Evans or Ivins?
After the death of his wife in 1807 and John Evans marriage to Elizabeth Hawker in 1815, a number of baptism entries appear in the Register of St John the Baptist, Wickhamford. They all have the surname ‘Ivins’ and the parents’ forenames are John and Elizabeth. Their children were – Richard (1816), Hannah (1818), Maria (1820), Kezia (1822), Ann (1825) and William (1824). In the last case the father’s name was omitted, so the child may not have been John’s. These may be the children of John and Elizabeth Evans, but as he could not read or write, his surname may have been wrongly recorded as ‘Ivins’. Rev’d Rufford, who recorded the name as ‘Ivins’, may have not understood the Evesham accent (Asum grammar) when John gave his name as ‘Evans’? The Rev’d Francis Rufford, was Worcester-born and Oxford educated.
When John married Elizabeth Hawker in 1815, his surname was in the Register as 'Evans', but the man who conducted the wedding and entered the details in the Marriage Register was not Rev'd Rufford. He was away and the event was conducted by the Curate of Bengeworth, James Knight. He was probably a man who knew the local accent and understood John's surname was Evans.
Census of 1841 and later
By 1841, in the earliest census where names and details have survived, there was one household in Wickhamford where an Evans family lived. There were four occupants but their relationships to the head of the household were not recorded. They were – John Evans (aged 75), Jane Evans (65), Richard Evans (20) and Thomas Evans (15). As stated earlier, ages were rounded to the nearest 5 years in this census. John Evans was buried in Wickhamford on 10th May 1846, aged 81 years. If his age was correct, he was born in about 1765. Was this the same John Evans, who was married to Sarah? She died aged 35 in 1807, therefore born in about 1772, so he was very likely her husband.
John Evans' marriage to Jane, if it occurred, has not been located, nor the baptisms of Richard and Thomas. It is possible that Jane merely moved in with John Evans and adopted his name. Jane Evans, a widow, was in the Evesham Union Workhouse at the 1851 census, aged 76. She probably died in 1859, as a woman of that name did so in Evesham that year.
Tom Locke, June 2025