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^ 72 -X X
I^Fl
CHAPTER XIX.
THE MOTHER-TOWN OF BILLERICAY IN ENGLAND.
[The author is happy to give place in this chapter to Rev.
Edward G. Porter, of Lexington, who, at his special request, paid
a visit, in 1879, to Billerieay, the mother-town, in England, and
gives pleasant record of facts and impressions there gathered and
likely to be of interest.]
It must always l)e an occasion of regret that so little is known
of the orighi of our New England towns. If the early settlers had
imagined what interest would, in after years, gather around tlie
humble beginnings of their enterprise, they would, no doul)t, have
left us a much fuller account of themselves and their movements.
But they were unconsciously making history ; and it is usually true
that the men who make history are not the ones to write it. Many
of our early town records have preserved the names of the original
proprietors, but we look in vain for any extended account of their
lives, the places they came from, the ships they sailed in, and the
ports they arrived at. We know that Jonathan Danforth, Ralph
Hill, John Parker, and William French, the earty settlers of Billerica,
came from the eastern counties of England ; and there is reason to
believe that Hill and French were from Billerieay in Essex. But
what the circumstances were which led them to join the colonists,
what sacrifices the}' made in coming, what relatives they left behind,
what incidents attended the long journe}-, can only be conjectured.
We know, however, that, although the colonists of New England
voluntarily left the land of their birth, they did not cease to love it.
They brought with them as much of it as they could — its laws, its
religion, its home-life. They were still British subjects, loyal to the
crown. In proof of their affection for the mother-country, witness
their almost universal practice of naming their new settlements after
the places from whicli the}- had come. Thus we have Plymouth,
THE MOTHER-TOWN OF BILLERICAY. 293
Dorchester, "Weymouth, Ipswich, Braintree, Suclbiuy, Billerica, and
scores of other well-known English names reproduced on our soil.
This fact alone will ever preserve to us the memorj' of our origin.
As we are not ashamed of our forefathers, neither are we ashamed
of the country from which the}' came. No better material for the
founders of towns and states could be had than that which the
Anglo-Saxon race furnished in the seventeenth century, and no
truer men ever crossed the sea than those who came from the sturdy
3eomanry of Old Essex.
It was just at the beginning of June — the loveliest season of
all the 3ear — when I paid a promised A'isit to Billeiicay. From
London the journey is accomplished b^' rail on the fireat Eastern
line as far as Brentwood, (nineteen miles,) and then l)y the carriage
road, a pleasant drive of five miles. Accustomed as we are in
America to see nature in her ruder and less cultivated aspects, there
is a great charm in the soft and finished landscape of England. No
rough ledges assert their supremacy over the soil ; no broken-down
stone walls or worn-out fences mar the symmetry of the picture.
The roads are well made and well kept. Heaps of hammered stone
may be seen at intervals, piled up in regular order, for use upon
the road as occasion ma}- require. On either side, the hedge-rows,
usuolly of hawthorn, furnish an agreeable l)order, sliaded often by
the overhanging oak, elm, and poplar. Daisies and i)rimr(^ses,
sweet-scented lilacs and lilies of the valley, al)ound in great i)rofu-
sion in the spring and early summer. Wheat, clover, and Iteans are
cultivated in large quantities in this section. Here and there a siiinll
stream is crossed b}' a stone bridge, with its graceful arch reflected
in the water, where the cattle are often seen quietly standing in
groups, and near by the sheep feeding in the rich, green pastures.
Many of the houses, even of the humbler people, have plants taste-
fully arranged in boxes suspended from the window-sills. Ferneries
and rockeries, both indoors and out, are very common. The ivy is
everywhere seen twining over brick walls and stone porches, covering
with its leafy mantle much that would otherwise be excessivel}- phun.
The road which we are following is the old highwa}' from London to
Chelmsford, Colchester, and the eastern counties. As Billericay is
situated on an elevated plateau or ridge to the eastward, we leave
the main road at a small hamlet called Shentield, where there is a ^
church, a shop, and two old taverns still bearing their ancient names
of Green Dragon and The Eagle and Child.
294
HISTORY OF BILLERICA.
From Shenlield the road passes through a rich, open, agrieiiltural
coiintr}-, ascending gradnalh' the ahiiost imperceptible slope, on the
crest of which Billericay is built. The situation is in many respects
like that of its namesake in Massachusetts. Entering the town
from the southwest, we pass along the main street, a ])road, winding,
macadamized thoroughfare, lined for the most i)art with neat, two-
story, brick houses, standing close together, as is nsuall}- the case in
European villages. The houses have evidently l)een built at very
different periods. Some have the quaint gables and projecting upper
stories of the sixteenth and seventeenth centuries, wliile others are
MAIN STl!Ki:X. BILI.KKK AV. l.(M»KlN(i SOITII.
more modern, a few being of quite recent construction. The village
is well lighted with gas. Fift}' years ago the jjopulation was about
two thousand. The numbm- has fallen off since then, owing to tlie
loss of the silk-weaving and coaching interests, which for a long-
period contributed nnich to the prosperity of the place. The weekly
market, instituted by Edward ^^\ llTCi, is held on Tuesdays, when
the village assumes a lively appearance, as it tlieu becomes the
centre of trade for tlie entire neighboihood. Great fairs are also
held, 1(3' an ancient privilege, in August and October, chiefly for cattle.
The principal business now is in "corn," as the English call it, i.e.
grain, of which a large quantity is raised in this part of Essex.
The manorial rights of Billericay are vested in tlu- present Lord
THE MOTHER-TOWN OF BILLERICAY. 295
Petre, who holds a court-leet nnd bai'on annually in the spring, at the
former of which the constables and other officers for the internal
regulation of the town are appointed. Petty sessions are held at
the town hall, over the market-house, on the first and third Tuesdays
of each month.
The history of this large property, which includes not only the
village of Billericay but a large section of country in its vicinity, is
a curious illustration of the way in which great estates have lieen
accumulated iind entailed in England. The first Lord Petre, Sir
William, lived three hundred years ago, and was wise enough in his
generation t(^ accommodate his lo3"alty, and his religion as well, to
the rajjjd and contradictory changes that occurred under Henry VIII,
Edward VI, Mary, and Elizabeth, in consequence of which many
rich abbe}' lands and manors fell into his hands. This time-serving
policy was so apparent, that Sir William was generally spoken of as
the man who was "made of the willow and not of the oak." He
was, however, a generous benefactor to Exeter College, Oxford ; and
his daughter, who married the famous Nicholas Wadham, became,
with her husband, co-founder of Wadham College, Oxford. The
old seat of the familv was Ingatestone Hall, a few miles west of
Billerica}', near the line of the old Roman road. This hall is still
standing, a venerable, irregular Elizabethan pile, covered with ivy,
and surrounded by old gardens and fish-ponds. One of tlie rooms
still Contains some fine sixteenth century tapestry. ' The modern
residence of the family is at Thorndon Hall, a magniticent seat on a
gentle eminence overlooking an extensive park, which can be seen
from Billericay. -
The introduction of railroads was a blow to the ancient prosperity
of Billericav. Being on high land, the town was left at a distance of
several miles from the Clreat Eastern line. The brisk and jirofitable
traffic which formerly passed directly through the town was thus
diverted. The oldtime inns, such as the Crown, the White Hart,
the Horse-Shoe, the Red Lion, the Bull, the Sun, the Checkers,
and the White Lion, at which the coaches and teams stopped daily,
may still be seen, though most of them are shorn of their glorj-, and
the traveller looks in vain for the post-lads who used to be always
ready dressed and spurred up for dnt}'. From its situation at the
' The place is described by Miss Braddon in lier Lady Audley's Secret.
- The (ireat Eastern Railway runs for seven miles through Lord Petre's property; the
company paid for the strip of land thus occupied over £120,000.
296 HISTORY OF BILLEKICA.
crossing of several old roiuls, IJillericuy becunie u tlioronglif:iro cspe-
ciiiUy for the traA'el between Chelmsford and Ilorndon-on-tlie-liill,
Tilbury and (iravesend. One of the most conspicuous buildings in
the place is the work-house, or " Billerica}" Union," as it is called, a
large modern structure,' pleasantly- located in the outskirts of the
town, on the Chelmsford Road. The poor of several parishes in the
vicinit}' are well cared for in this estal)lishment, which is admirably
managed under the direction of a Ijoard of guardians. On the ridge
just outside the village, two venerable wind-mills form a prominent
object in the landscape — remnants of the many that formerly lint'd
the hills in the eastern counties. .Some of t!ie people still remember
the old l)eacon of fagots that flaslied the signal lights from this spot,
on important occasions, over a good part of Essex. The view from
here on a clear day is very extensive in all directions, particulai'ly
over tlie l)i'()a(l Thames valley and the Kentish hills beyond.
The oiigin of the name of Billericay is obscure. Morant, the
old historian of Essex, states that, in 1343, it was called Beleuca,
probably, he says, from the old word ""baleuga" or •' ))anU'uga," a
precinct around a borough or manor; in Erench, "Hjanlieue." .Some
learned anti(|uaries contend that the name is more likely to be derived
from tile two Latin woids '' BelU'ri-castra," the camp of Bellerus.
Others think it may have come from certain Welsh words signifying
the fort on the hill. The interpretation suggested by some one in
this country, "villa rica," does not meet Avith favor in England,
though it is not easy to see why not, since it is well known that "â– v"
and "b" have often been used interchangeably. But whatever ma\'
have been the origin of the name, it is an indisputable fact that the
town has been known by its present name, with slight variations, for
many centuries. In 1395, allusion is made in the Pipe Koll to one
"Thomas Ledere, traitor to the King, beht'adcd at Billerica." In a
grant of Edward \'I, a. i>. I.'j.jI, the name is spelt both Billerica and
Billerykay. In ir)(;3, among the ecclesiastical accounts of Chelms-
ford are two entries of sums rcceixcd (Vom ''Belyreca men for the
hire of our garments," i.e. costumes for a miracle i>la.v. Among
some tradesmen's tokens of the seventeeutii century is one inscribed,
"Abraham Thresher in Billericay, Essex, his half-penny, IGliG."
The immediate neighborhood of Billericay exhibits memorials of
nearly every important epoch in English history. In Norsey Wood,
beyond the northern end of the village, are several large earthworks
which are believed to be the defences of an ancient British village.
THE MOTHER-TOWN OF BILLERICAY. 297
Numerous cinerary urns of rude workniansliip, containing' burnt l^ones
and ashes, have been exhumed in the tumuli, or mounds, which have
been recently opened.'' Two finely-shaped kelts, one of flint and the
other of bronze, have been found near by. ^ So far as excavations
have gone, the whole neighborhood appears to be rich in relics of
the Roman period, showing that this must have been a military i)ost
of considerable importance. Earthen vessels of various shapes and
colors, tiles, beads, fibulaj, specula, and especially coins have been
found in large (juantities. Some of the latter are finely preserved
and bear the impress of the Emperors Hadrian, Germanicus, Con-
stantine, Licinius, Nero, and Trajan, and of the Empresses Eaustina
and Helena."' It Is -believed that the place called Blunt's Walls,
near by, was a strong Roman fortress, which subsequently- conferred
upon the estate the appellation of walls or strongholds, as recorded
in the grant made ])y Henry HI to Robert de Blunt, who joined
Simon de Montfort.
After the Roman came the Saxon and the Dane; and "Belleri
castra" bore its share of the devastating changes which swept over