The People and Places of John Turner’s 1834 Milton Ernest Walk Letters

Summary

John Turner's letters to his brother Thomas Turner dated Good Friday 28 March 1834 and 2 May 1834 provide a fascinating insight into the people living in Milton Ernest at that time. John mentions 198 different Milton Ernest inhabitants as he takes Thomas, who emigrated to Canada in 1830, on a walk ‘in our minds’ around the village to update him on his old neighbours.

The following pages include John Turner's written comments on the Milton Ernest people and historical research that has enabled a profile of every person to be constructed. The profiles of the people cover their lives pre and post 1834.

As aforementioned, the two letters mention 198 different people and each of these have been allotted a MEW (Milton Ernest Walk) reference. Only people mentioned by name in the letters have been given a MEW number with the exception of John's sister, Elizabeth ‘Betsy’, and John himself as the final property visited in the virtual walk is John's home, and it seemed discourteous to not include the two of them and in doing so increase the MEW index up to a satisfying 200 people.

The people have been given a MEW reference in order of mention in John's walk, from Mr Neal (MEW001) to John Turner (MEW200). Where related people have the same name they have been differentiated by ‘junior’ and ‘senior’. However, there were some people living in the village with the same names. They have all been verified as being different people and not people mentioned twice in the letters.

Although not mentioned by name in John Turner's 1834 walk letters additional information has been added to profile key Milton Ernest inhabitants who are mentioned in other letters. These profiles can be found alongside their family member who was mentioned in the walk letters. Examples include Isaac and George Hurst (listed under Mrs Hurst, MEW032); and John's sister Ann Odell and her children Thomas Turner Odell and John Cox Odell (listed under Whitbread Odell, MEW142).

Alongside each MEW reference is the name of the Milton Ernest person, their age and occupation as at 1834. Their age is calculated either from their birth date, their age at death, a census record or – as a last resort – their baptism date.