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Levia Dring | Jane Moss and Fanny Honeybone | Amelia and Charlotte Moss | Ann Moss | Ann Susan Moss | Caroline Moss | Martha Moss | Mary Moss | Mary Moss (Smith) | Elizabeth Pratley | Ellen Pratley | Mary Pratley | Martha Smith | Rebecca Smith | Four Others | The Commemorative Textile
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In 1973 a chestnut tree, surrounded by benches, was planted on the village green in Ascott to mark the hundredth anniversary of the ‘Chipping Norton Incident’.
On the seats were the names of the 16 women sent to prison for their part in the action, but also of those who family memory recalled as having taken part in the Incident.
Extensive research into the family histories and backgrounds of these women has been undertaken in recent years, particularly by Beverley McCombs. Additionally, to mark the 150th anniversary, of what is often referred to as the ‘Chipping Norton Incident’, Lesley Timms researched and created a database of the family trees of all the Martyrs and many of their immediate ancestors and descendants.
This family tree showed that, perhaps not surprisingly in a small, relatively isolated rural area, all the women named were related to each other by birth or marriage.
The printed version of this family tree is held in the Society’s Archive, as is the data from which it was compiled. Both database and tree can be viewed by appointment. Contact us for details
Their histories show that the women involved were drawn from a broad spectrum of village life. Some were the wives of skilled craftsmen including a wheelwright and a carpenter, others were married to railway workers, but all were either the wives or daughters of agricultural labourers. Many were field workers themselves; others supplemented their husband’s meagre income by hand-stitching gloves at home.
It is estimated that some twenty-six children were left in need of care and were fed by the Union when the women were imprisonned without warning. Large families were common at this time and constant childbearing took an inevitable toll on the health of many of these women. Half of the sixteen named were dead within eight years of the Incident. Elizabeth Pratley and baby Eli died within months of leaving prison, having emigrated to Canada shortly after their release from prison. Others soon followed settling in the United States and New Zealand. But five remained in the village for the rest of their lives and kept the story alive in the Wychwoods.
Select from:
Levia Dring | Jane Moss and Fanny Honeybone | Amelia and Charlotte Moss | Ann Moss | Ann Susan Moss | Caroline Moss | Martha Moss | Mary Moss | Mary Moss (Smith) | Elizabeth Pratley | Ellen Pratley | Mary Pratley | Martha Smith | Rebecca Smith | Four Others | The Commemorative Textile
The Story | Who were the Ascott Martyrs? | Discover More | Contact Us
