Publications
Parliamentary corruption in 19th century Rye, by Peter Baigent, published June 1999 in Sussex Family Historian (vol. 13 no. 6, article, pp.193-195) accessible at: W.S.R.O. [Lib 14880] & The Keep [LIB/508821] & CD SFH40 from S.F.H.G.
Preview:Jermiah Smith, the grandson of Tilden Smith (1721-1801), was a colourful and interesting character who was involved in parliamentary corruption in the mid-19th century.
Petworth Emigration Society, by Peter Baigent, published September 2004 in Sussex Family Historian (vol. 16 no. 3, article, pp.130-132) accessible at: W.S.R.O. [Lib 15860] & The Keep [LIB/508836] & CD SFH40 from S.F.H.G.
Preview:The Reverend Thomas Sockett, Rector of Petworth, founded the Petworth Emigration Society in 1832. The scheme, which ran for six years from 1842 to 1837, transported 1,800 immigrants, the majority of whom came from Sussex
The Baigents and Lurgashall Mill, by Peter Baigent, published December 2010 in Sussex Family Historian (vol. 19 no. 4, article, pp.155-157) accessible at: W.S.R.O. [Lib 15860] & The Keep [LIB/508845] & CD SFH40 from S.F.H.G.
Preview:The talk by Derek Stidder on 'Mills and millers of Sussex" at the SFHG Conference in March reminded me that some of my ancestors had been employed at Lurgashall Mill in the 18th century. Thanks to a recent visit to the Weald & Downland Open Air Museum at Singleton and help from museum staff I have been able to elucidate my family's involvement with the mill.
The mill, now to be found in the museum, was originally situated on the Western Rother, in the parish of Lurgashall, part of the Cowdray Estate. This is an area in the high weald of Sussex, where the soil is composed of thick and impermeable clay and in late summer the streams and ponds tend to dry up. However in Lurgashall and other nearby villages there is group of sandstone beds that provide shallow wells for farms and cottages. Lurgashall Mill was situated beside a substantial pond that had existed for many years before the mill was built for Viscount Montague. The structure of the mill suggests it was built around the middle of the 17th century.
My family's involvement with milling appears to have started when one of my very distant uncles, Michael BAIGENT, baptised December 1719 in Easebourne, decided to go and work at Lurgashall Mill.
The mill, now to be found in the museum, was originally situated on the Western Rother, in the parish of Lurgashall, part of the Cowdray Estate. This is an area in the high weald of Sussex, where the soil is composed of thick and impermeable clay and in late summer the streams and ponds tend to dry up. However in Lurgashall and other nearby villages there is group of sandstone beds that provide shallow wells for farms and cottages. Lurgashall Mill was situated beside a substantial pond that had existed for many years before the mill was built for Viscount Montague. The structure of the mill suggests it was built around the middle of the 17th century.
My family's involvement with milling appears to have started when one of my very distant uncles, Michael BAIGENT, baptised December 1719 in Easebourne, decided to go and work at Lurgashall Mill.