John Head

  General Notes:

Extract from :
http://www.felbridge.org.uk/index.php?p=2_32
William Head was born in 1793, and the two blacksmith journeymen working with him in 1851 were his younger brother John born in 1806, and John jnr born in 1832, the son of William. It is also possible that a brother of William and John had operated the wheelwright's shop as the census of 1851 lists a Philadelphia Head of a similar age to William and John, as a wheelwright's widow also living in the area. William Head is confirmed as the blacksmith in 'Dormans Land' in the Kelly's Directory of 1859, being by that time aged sixty-five. By 1867, William Head had been succeeded as the blacksmith by his brother John, by then aged fifty-eight, still working with his nephew John jnr In the census of 1881, both John Heads are listed as living in separate households in 'Head's Cottages'. This was a row of five cottages that included two Head households, a butcher by the name of Alfred Decker, a farm labourer called Elias Smith and a shoeing smith called John Ashby. The cottages are still there with 'Blacksmith's Cottage' the first cottage when approached from The Plough. Living with John Head snr was his son-in-law Edgar Skinner who had married his daughter Avice, their son Frank, along with Ernest Phan another grandson of John's, and Samuel Cullen who was listed as a servant, another blacksmith. Edgar Skinner was the son of Robert and Mary Ann Skinner from the parish of Godstone. Living within 'Heads Cottages' were four blacksmiths and a shoeing smith implying that by 1881, the forge in Dormans Land was a very busy place.
John Head appears in the Kelly's Directories between 1867 and 1887 as the proprietor of the forge in Dormansland but it is unclear whether this was John Head snr for the entire duration, making him over eighty in the last entry, or whether it was John Head jnr for some of the time. What is evident is that by 1890, Edgar Skinner was listed as the proprietor, making him about 43 years old when he took over the forge, suggesting that perhaps both John Heads had retired or passed on by then.

  Chronology:

He worked as a Smith in 1881 and resided at Head's Cottages, Lingfield. ¹

John married Susan. (Susan was born Cal 1808 in Lingfield, Surrey ² and died before 1861.)