Thomas Crumpler

Other Events and Attributes:

• Occupation: Baker, (1881);
• Baptism: 2 Jan 1832, South Street-Unitarian Or Presbyterian, Wareham, Dorset, England

Notes:

Thomas CRUMPLER
Sex: M

Event(s):
Christening: 2 Jan 1832
South Street-Unitarian Or Presbyterian, Wareham, Dorset, England

Parents:
Father: Daniel CRUMPLER
Mother: Sarah

THIS THOMAS CRUMPLER BELOW MAY AT THIS STAGE BE THIS THOMAS CRUMPLER


THE POST OFFICE
The shop now known as Stoborough Post Office or Gays Stores has a history going back at least to 1841, when Thomas Hatchard was the baker on the site.

Thomas Crumpler, great uncle of Ted Crumpler our present Parish Councillor, was the baker in the 1861 census. He was a young man of 29 years living on the premises with his parents (Daniel, a yeoman farmer and wife Sarah) and one of his brothers John, a carpenter. Thomas continued in the trade and appears in the 1891 census being helped by his sons, Thomas aged 24 years and George 22 years old.

In the Crumpler's day, the bakery was on the right of the present shop. The oven, fired by furze faggots, could bake 200 large loaves at a time. The faggots were lit in the oven and left to heat it while the dough was prepared. The hot ashes were then raked out and the oven wiped over; the loaves were placed inside and the door sealed on the outside with the hot ashes.

Baking continued for 6 days of the week and on the 7th the local people brought their dinners to be roasted for a penny. This kept the oven warm and saved time Monday morning in reheating, it also gave the cottagers a good Sunday roast as few had ovens of their own at home.

Collecting the furze from the surrounding heathland was a full time job for a man and his cart. The delivery round employed four carts, serving the Wareham area and all the villages around and out as far as Tyneham and Warbarrow.

Thomas Crumpler died in 1909. His daughter, Elizabeth, married to Sydney Gay, bought the goodwill of the shop from her late father's estate for £30. Elizabeth continued to run the shop until she was in her 80's when she sold to the present owner Mrs Jean Jones and her late sister Mrs May Bright.

The small shop and adjoining house was demolished at this stage and the present shop built. Mrs Jones remembers sweeping the earth floors in the cottage. The bake house (built by Sydney Gay) and much older stable block are still standing. Many older residents of the village will remember Mr William (Jim) Tubb (Mrs Jones' brother) and Mr Roy Bright (her brother in law) delivering groceries to customers in the village.

The post office was originally at 31 Corfe Road (4 doors north of the shop); it was also a shop and bakery. The baker and grocer in 1871 were Joseph Head and his wife Lavinia. It was still in the same family in 1964 when the then owner Ernest Head sold the business to William Jones (late husband of Mrs Jean Jones). Mr Jones operated the post office from 31 Corfe Road for a year and then closed the shop and transferred the post office to its present site.

All the staff in the present shop have had long serving records; Merle Henstridge stayed 31 years before retiring, Julie Warne 39 years with time out for 3 children, Pauline Marshallsay has spent 29 years in the post office and Jean Stockley has 18 years in post after working in Cullens in West Street.

The picture of the shop is difficult to date but was obviously taken before the installation of telegraph/electric cables in 1936.

We are most grateful for this interesting piece of history contributed by the late Percy Crumpler and the present proprietors, particularly Kathy Jones.

Family/Spouse: M A Crumpler. M was born in 1831 in East Creech, Dorset, England; died in AFT. 1881. [Group Sheet] [Family Chart]

Other Events and Attributes:

• Census: 1881, Living with parents aged 16

Other Events and Attributes:

• Occupation: Bakers Assistant, (1881);