Hi Wendy Thanks for alerting me to my poor choice of words concerning the possibility of the Richard Field being a farm servant. 60 road miles from Fifield would take one well out of Oxfordshire where I'm in the hands of the IGI.There are only three Richard Fields outside Oxfordshire of the vintage (b. 1742-44) I'm seeking, one in Little Cowarne (Herefordshire), one in Newbold (Warrickshire), and one in Hemel Hempstead (Hertfordshire- now part of greater London). II haven't established whether the Newbold in question is Newbold Pacey (28miles) or Newbold on Stour ( 19 miles). I'll have to consult a Warrickshire Online Parish Clerk (OPC) to clarify the question. Little Cowarne is 55 miles, and Hemel Hemstead is 75 miles fronm Fifield. Nuneham Courtenay, Oxfordshire is 31 miles from Fifield. Perhaps, I should have stated that it is unlikely that the Richard Field was a farm servant. Cheers Maxwell.

Maxwell Hiring fairs were not just for farm servants they were for indoor servants too - house and parlour maids, pages, cooks etc. including positions for young men that did not include farm work. I had actually assumed you meant indoor servant rather than farm worker. Apparently at some fairs the folk looking to be hired carried tools of the trade, housemaids carried brooms, cooks pots or pans etc. cowmen/dairy maids milking stools or they wore markers such as wool in hat band to denote shepherd. No wonder many of these events turned into full scale fairs must have been a sight to behold You need to bear in mind that there was also an informal network of employment contacts built up by families over the generations. My Oxfordshire folk had contacts in Kensington, Chelsea and other 'posh' west London districts; Surrey and Middlesex (mostly in the bit that is now under Heathrow airport) where children who didn't stay on the land went to work as indoor servants. This was not just one family - often you find one daughter on census and looking at the household there is a neighbour's offspring from Sydenham area working there too. On one census several of them are working for clergymen in various parts of the country - jobs that trace back to one girl who was a housemaid when the first of the three was in her home village. Some families moved to London in late 17th century and some descendants moved back to Oxfordshire later. Basically what I am trying to say is that it is going be well nigh impossible for you to identify the right Richard Field without having something more to go on, such as a will if he left one. As to 'there are only three.....' don't forget that the IGI does no give complete coverage of the surrounding counties so there may be more. In fact I don't think that there is complete coverage of Oxfordshire either, unless you go through all of the CDs, but I may be wrong. Wendy -----Original Message----- From: Maxwell Smith Sent: Saturday, August 20, 2011 2:47 PM To: oxfordshire@rootsweb.com Subject: [OXF] Richard Field (c.1743-1830) Hi Wendy Thanks for alerting me to my poor choice of words concerning the possibility of the Richard Field being a farm servant. 60 road miles from Fifield would take one well out of Oxfordshire where I'm in the hands of the IGI.There are only three Richard Fields outside Oxfordshire of the vintage (b. 1742-44) I'm seeking, one in Little Cowarne (Herefordshire), one in Newbold (Warrickshire), and one in Hemel Hempstead (Hertfordshire- now part of greater London). II haven't established whether the Newbold in question is Newbold Pacey (28miles) or Newbold on Stour ( 19 miles). I'll have to consult a Warrickshire Online Parish Clerk (OPC) to clarify the question. Little Cowarne is 55 miles, and Hemel Hemstead is 75 miles fronm Fifield. Nuneham Courtenay, Oxfordshire is 31 miles from Fifield. Perhaps, I should have stated that it is unlikely that the Richard Field was a farm servant. Cheers Maxwell. ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ OFHS Open Day - 1 October in Woodstock www.ofhs.org.uk ------------------------------- To unsubscribe from the list, please send an email to OXFORDSHIRE-request@rootsweb.com with the word 'unsubscribe' without the quotes in the subject and the body of the message