Gardeners on the Greensand

Kings and Queens, famous men and women and aristocratic families of the past are well-documented, and rightly continue to inspire authors. The history of ordinary families has received scant attention until recently. Most labourers and tradesmen were considered of little importance even in their own lifetimes and seldom worthy of mention afterwards in history books or biographies. Even though many of them may have been illiterate, usually through no fault of their own, they have nevertheless left behind many clues which may be painstakingly assembled to give us glimpses of the lives they led. Behind the documents to be found in Church records, archive collections, newspapers and elsewhere there are many fascinating individual and family stories waiting to be pieced together and brought to life. Rex Whitfield from rural Bedfordshire was inspired to write his family history after meeting elderly relatives in his childhood and teenage years. It was not just what they said, but what they didn't, couldn't or wouldn't tell him that led him to spend forty years digging around for clues that eventually enabled him to tell the story of his family over five centuries. In Gardeners on the Greensand he shows not only that the history of an ordinary family can be of extraordinary interest but also that the quest for information from a variety of sources can be great fun. Written in a conversational style, but showing evidence of extensive research, it should be of interest to family historians, social historians and those interested in country life. The author Rex Whitfield was born in Bedfordshire, and apart from attending university in Reading and teacher training college in Winchester has lived there all his life. He worked in market gardening in his youth but after qualifying professionally spent 14 years in upper schools in Bedfordshire, teaching Geography and English. He then spent nearly 16 years as an insurance man and financial adviser before returning to teaching on a supply basis. He is a church organist and town councillor in his local area, but another of his many interests is genealogy. This book is the result of forty years' research undertaken in his spare time.