Tom Patch

The Brickyard: the Patch family and the development of a small business in Georgian West Haddon.

This is an account of the development of a piece of land in West Haddon and the lives of a number of people who were connected to it. The people who owned it for a century were the Patch family, who were originally from the village of Yelvertoft. Unfortunately for the clarity of this story, they suffered from an acute lack of imagination which led the first-born of every generation to name his son Thomas. There were three successive Thomases who owned what became the brickyard and they have been distinguished by number (Tom I, II and III)

This is also part of the story of the village of West Haddon, and the history of Midland England, and the experience of rural life over centuries. With links to other families, people, places and events, it has no beginning and no end.

You can read it through without bothering with the footnotes if you just want the story, but if you’re curious about where the information has come from, you might find it interesting to explore the sources. Follow the links to summary transcriptions of original documents.

© West Haddon Local History Group (2010)