Our Family History

My 3 x Great Grandfather, Thomas Keen was born in 1836 in the rural village of Aston Clinton, Aylesbury, Buckinghamshire. He was the son of Agricultural labourer James Keen and his wife Sarah (formerly Sparrow) who would have been my 4 x Great Grandparents.

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In the 1841 census Thomas was seven years old and had 4 other siblings:  William (11) Elizabeth (10), Ann (4) and John (1).

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In 1851 the Keen family were living at 94 West End, Aston Clinton. Thomas’ father was still working as an agricultural labourer at the age of 50. 15 year old Thomas and his 20 year old brother William also worked as agricultural labourers like their father. His older sister Elizabeth was no longer living at home but Thomas had gained another younger brother, called Joseph, who was 7 years old. Sarah Keen’s occupation was listed as a “Straw Plaiter” and his younger sister Ann was also doing this work at 13 years old.

 

In the census for 1851 – every single female neighbour of the Keen family who was over the age of 10 was engaged in this type of work.

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For more details of the Straw Plaiting Industry in 19th Century Buckinghamshire click on the red button on the bottom left of this page where you can access a PDF File )

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Plaiting was the process of braiding several strips of softened wheat straw into lengths up to twenty yards. The plaits were then taken by others to shape and sew into straw hats, baskets and straw sandals. The Napoleonic wars in the early 19th Century put a stop to the import of many products to England and these trade embargoes suddenly cut off the source of many straw products. A straw plaiting cottage industry in the Home Counties of England boomed during the mid to late 19th century. At the time, straw hats were fashionable for both men and women.

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In East Anglia, Hertfordshire, Bedfordshire & Buckinghamshire the soil conditions were right for growing a quality of wheat that produced excellent straw for plaiting, and within a generation a thriving straw products cottage industry was established for providing hats, baskets and some rudimentary footwear. Straw plaiting became a lucrative business for some, and a valuable source of income for many working class rural families. Women and children could earn between 2 and 6s a week and during winter months when a man's income from laboring may be seasonal, plaiting was a good way for women to earn a regular income all year round. The closer  workers lived to a main market town, where the plaits could be sold to direct to dealers and hat makers, the more money they could expect to make.

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During the boom years the earnings of a wife and her children from straw plaiting could equal the husband’s and son’s income from farm labouring. The only requirements were a supply of treated straw, a straw splitting tool which they could buy for about 6s, nimble fingers and an ability to learn the skills quickly. The straw was cut into 10 inch lengths, fumigated and bleached using sulphur fumes. The next step was feeding each length of straw through an opening in the straw splitting tool to produce thin strips of straw that could then be easily worked into the lengths of finished plait. The openings in the plait tool are for splitting a length of straw into 4, 6 or 8 segments - the thinner straw lengths were needed for the more intricate plaiting patterns.

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Plaiting was not without hazards. To improve the suppleness of the bleached straw, each length of straw was softened with saliva by running through the plaiter’s mouth. This led to sore lips, abrasions and mouth ulcers.

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Straw plaiting “schools” for nimble fingered youngsters appeared in most villages. These schools, though initially well intentioned, were often little better than the classic Victorian factory - with unhealthy conditions, and profit as the main motive. The schools were usually run by a woman in the village from a room in her home. Parents paid a fee, and provided the straw. Children sat on stools or benches crammed close together in a poorly ventilated and unheated space - up to 20 children in an 8’ by 8’ room. Some children attended three times a day: 8.30 - 12, from 1 - 4 and from 5 - 8pm. The children often had daily production targets set by their parents - with repercussions for missed quotas.

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In 1859 when he was 23 years old, Thomas Keen married 21 year old Eliza Davis in Aylesbury. Eliza was from the Village of Buckland and was the daughter of Agricultural labourer Joseph Davis & his wife Sophia (formerly Thornton). Eliza, her mother and her sisters all worked as Straw Plaiters in Buckinghamshire.

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In 1861 Thomas and Eliza had moved to 16 Village Green, Buckland and Eliza had just given birth to their first child Sarah keen 11 days before the census was taken. Two more children, Elizabeth and Harry Keen were born in 1863 and 1869, and in the same year that Harry was born, Thomas Keen’s father James Keen passed away aged 63.

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1871 Thomas was 33 years old. He and Eliza Keen were living at 75 Harwoods Row, Buckland with their three children Sarah (10), Elizabeth (8) and Harry (2). Thomas was working as an agricultural labourer but Eliza was not working anymore. Eliza’s older brother George Davis, also an agricultural labourer lodged with the family and Eliza’s parents Joseph & Sophia, plus her sisters Mary (38), Caroline (25) and Emma (19) were living next door – so there was plenty of family support nearby for the couple and their 3 children.

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By 1881 at 43 years old, Thomas Keen was still employed as an agricultural labourer, and he and his wife Eliza were living at 56 Hog Row, Buckland in the 2nd but last house in the village. Daughters Sarah and Elizabeth had both moved out and only 12 year old Harry remained living with them.

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The following year, Thomas’ mother Sarah Keen passed away aged 81 and in 1885 his daughter Sarah married John Thorne and later moved to London.

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In 1891 53 year old Thomas, was still working as an agricultural labourer. He, his wife Eliza and their 21 year old son Harry were living at The Lodge, Buckland with their 8 year old grandson Sidney Keen. Sidney may have been the illegitimate son of either Elizabeth Keen or Harry Keen. Harry was still single at this time so he may have fathered Sidney out of wedlock ( and taken responsibility for him if Sidney's mother had since died) or it is equally possible that Elizabeth had got herself pregnant and had died in childbirth so her parents had informally adopted their grandson.

 

If you read the PDF File on the Straw Plaiting Industry which I have included on this website you will see that many plaiters had illegitimate children at this time, so my theory may well be correct as to Sidney Keens parentage.

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By 1911 Thomas and Eliza who were both in their 70’s were living on his farm workers’ pension in Buckland Wharf. Their 28 year old grandson Sidney was still living with them and worked as a domestic gardener. Thomas and Eliza had been married for over 50 years and by 1911 we know that both their son Harry and their daughter Elizabeth had died before 1911. Who ever Sidney's parents were, it is clear that he felt he owed it to his grandparents to look after them when they were too old to work, and they had no children living nearby to care for them.

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Thomas Keen died aged 87 in September 1923 in Aylesbury, Buckinghamshire and his wife Eliza died in 1926 aged 88.

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To find out more about their only surviving daughter, Sarah Keen, her husband John Thorne and their family, just click on the red button.