Harry Wells

Harry (christened Henry William) Wells was born in 1839 to Charlotte Wells who was living with her parents in Factory Lane. Born circa 1815, she was the daughter of William (a tanner) and Jane Wells (nee Miller) both of whom are buried in the Masseys Lane Baptist cemetery.

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The 1841 census shows Harry (aged 2) and his brother George (aged 4) living with their grandparents in Beaulieu Rails along with their two uncles, Jonathon (12) and Robert (10). Charlotte appears to have been working away from home.

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The 1851 census shows Charlotte living with husband Edward (60) in ‘Norley’ and reunited with her sons George (14) and Harry (11). Both boys are given as being born in Jersey but no records to back this up have been found.

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Harry died on 24th November 1874 aged just 35 years old in Sitapur, India, over 4400 miles from home. It would have been very unusual and expensive for a body to be shipped back from India by the army. Therefore, this is almost certainly a commemoration stone, placed by his family to honour his memory rather than to mark his grave.

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George Redford

According to the census records George Redford was born in Beaulieu circa 1824 but no baptismal record exists for him. In 1851 George was living and working at the Lower Hamstead,brick and tile works on the Isle of Wight.

The architect John Nash, designer of London’s Regent Street and owner of Hamstead Estate, founded the brickworks there in 1832 to build Hamstead House. The western bank of Newtown creek provided a ready supply of clay and water.

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On 13th May 1860 George married Charlotte Lancaster (nee Wells born in 1815) at Old Church, St Pancras. In the 1861 census George is listed as a brickmaker lodging in St Pancras with Charlotte. In addition to many temporary sites, there were two brick yards within 1.5 miles of their home.

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By 1864 George and Charlotte had returned to East Boldre - on 3rd July 1864 George was baptised at East Boldre Baptist church. The 1871 census lists George and Charlotte in ‘Beaulieu Rails’ and he was working as a labourer.

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George died 10th January 1881 and was buried on 16th January 1881 at the chapel Rev. John Bartlett Burt.

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The nineteenth century saw unprecedented demand for building materials. Before 1900 no fewer than thirty brickyards existed on the Isle of Wight, often set up near to major building projects such as the Freshwater forts. Ridge tiles, finials, chimneys and utility items such as drainage pipes were all part of the terracotta range of the brickmaker's art. Many products required expert modelling and an eye to the fashions of the day. ​​With its distinctive yellow hue, London stock bricks fuelled the massive expansion of the capital in the 19th century. Output roughly doubled in the half-century to 1886. At the end of the 1890s, demand Greater London stood at ~1.5 billion bricks a year.

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