The volume of guests and the building
work have restricted the research recently. But we should record that
in April Maureen and Richard Langston sold Cuffern Manor Cottages and
left with some regrets we thought. They still retain an interest in the
woods and have promised to stay with us when visiting, Richard being
very keen to mow the grass for old times sake. They left us their
history file and the following was one item of interest :
A summary of an article appearing in the Western Telegraph on 19th
December 1894.
A long article, obviously causing a considerable stir at the time. In
short a widow, Mrs Hester (Hetty) Morris, occupied a cottage at Dirty
Pool on the Cuffern estate with four young children. The description of
the cottage is vivid – a real hovel, 11ft by 9 ft with
earthen floor. Hetty’s husband had died and she scraped a
livingas a farm labourer on the Cuffern farm (tenant Matthew Reynish),
wages were dreadful and conditions even worse but that was NOT the
problem. She had been left with three children but then produced
another illegitimate child. Mrs Sophie Elizabeth Stokes of Cuffern
Manor did not approve of this immoral behaviour and tried to have here
evicted and when Hetty appeared to object and claim a tenancy, she sent
worken in to remove the roof of the cottage. Mrs Stokes then stopped
anyone in the village from giving her shelter. Hetty walked in the
pouring rain to Haverfordwest to seek help from the Chief Constable,
who was absent, returned home to fond the children in the unroofed
cottage, wet through. This episode seems to have caused a furore with
the Camrose police constable being very sympathetic. Mrs. Stokes seems
to have gone away after issuing the deroofing order but her daughter
and son-in-law, the Masseys, did make efforts to repair the cottage and
provide some other help.
(The 1891 Census tells us that Esther
Morris’ s children were
Anne 8, William 7 Thomas 4 and John ,six months. Esther was born in
Llawhaden and was then aged 27.)
We belong to the Pembrokeshire Historic
Gardens Trust and Gerry Hudson
who is recorder for the group has lent us the Cuffern Manor file,
compiled by him at the time of a visit in 1999. This picture which
we’d not seen before was there:
As I understand it the parapet , seen here, was
destroyed in the 1899 fire . The 1891 census records the house occupied
by Sophia Stokes ( the same tormentor of Hetty Morris) aged 78 and her
daughter Emma and son-in-law Arthur Massey. Then they had 3
children—the eldest Hugh was then aged 7, Herbert 6 and Charles
3. There were 8 live in servants, consistent with the size of household
here. This seems to date the photo well.
