Ambition
A story of aspiration and ambition
This webpage
is still to be written.
Opportunity
Before the
Industrial Revolution, our ancestors worked in a rural world confined by
immediate neighbourhood. Their horizons were naturally limited. Journeys of
even a few miles were difficult. Opportunities for work were limited to the
agricultural tasks of the neighbourhood. Those who did not own or lease their
own land, offered their services to those who did. Thus many of our ancestors
appear in the census records as ‘agricultural labourers’. Sometimes they were
forced to take more desperate measures to survive, such as our ancestors
poachers in the fourteenth and fifteenth century who were fined, outlawed or
even excommunicated
Yet even in
the fourteenth century, our family looked south from the valley of Farndale,
and emigrated to Sheriff Hutton, York and Doncaster. Within a few centuries of
their serfdom in Farndale, three generations of Johannis de Farendale
had found work as saddler, and butcher and become freemen of the City of York
from 1363. By 1355, William Farndale (FAR00038) had become chaplain of
Doncaster Parish and by 1396 was its vicar.
Military
opportunity
Aspiration
John
Christopher Farndale the Elder was born in Whitby
probably to a family who knew life at sea. His mother claimed a pension from
the Royal Hospital Chelsea after his father had died, so his father may have
worked for the Royal Navy, possibly as a carpenter. John Christopher would
become a Master Mariner, an ambitious sea captain commanding collier brigs
along the coast, and two of his sons would in time become Master Mariners
themselves, and another son was a ship broker’s clerk.
Emigration
To Canada,
Australia, New Zealand …
Determination
William Farndale
was chaplain of Doncaster Parish by 1355. Doncaster was badly impacted by the
Black Death which hit the down in about 1347. William must have survived the
Black Death. Perhaps he was already a chaplain by the time of the Black Death
and his pastoral skills would have been tested to their limit. Perhaps having
survived the Black Death, he was driven to his future success.
Apprenticeship
Edmund
must be apprenticed to a good trade—a carpenter's, perhaps—for if a man had a
good trade in his hands he was always sure of a living. Laura might become a
school-teacher, or, if that proved impossible, a children's nurse in a good
family. But, first and foremost, the family must move from Lark Rise to a house
in the market town. (Lark
Rise, Flora Thomson, Chapter II, A
Hamlet Childhood)
John
Chistopher Farndale the Younger became a sea apprentice by the age of 15.
As a teenager, it is perhaps not surprising that he was not entirely focused on
his future at that stage. The Hull Packet, 28 February 1845 reported: CAUTION
TO APPRENTICES. JUSTICE ROOM, WHITBY. FEB 19. Before Thos Fishburn, and John
Chapman, Esqrs. On Saturday four sea apprentices, named Matthew Walker, John
Christopher Farndale, Isaac Wilson, and Thomas Hill, where charged with
absenting themselves from the ship Great Britain, belonging to Mr Joseph
Tindale, of Whitby. The charge was clearly proved by the master, and the lads
failing to show any justifiable cause for their misconduct, were committed to
Northallerton for one month’s hard labour. We hope this punishment will bring
the young delinquents to a sense of their duty, and act as a warning to others.
It is notorious that the owners of vessels in Whitby harbour, particularly the
owner of the Great Britain, have suffered considerably by the incorrigible
conduct of their apprentices; and Mr Tynedale is, in our opinion, worthy of
praise for thus stepping forward to put a check on such proceedings. Yet John
clearly had ambition because in time, he would become a master mariner and
captained vessels trading across the Baltic and to Russia.
Achievement
Joseph
Farndale was born in 1842 in Whitby. His father was an agricultural
labourer. By the age of 19, in 1861, Joseph was working as a drainer at
Eskdaleside and like his father, he began work in the fields. The Sheffield
Independent, 15 March 1899 told the story of his path to become Chief Constable
of Birmingham City Police: … His cousin, who still resides and works in the
midst of those rural scenes of Yorkshire which the smart member of the Farndale
family quitted to earn fame and fortune, tells that young Joseph Farndale was
at work in the fields one day, at the tail of the dung cart, when some word of
blame brought his natural dislike of the occupation to a head, and throwing
down the fork, he explained, “I'll go for a policeman!” No sooner said than
done. He joined the force in a neighbouring town that very day and soon became
a particularly capable constable. From Middlesbrough Farndale passed to
Chesterfield, now well on the path of rapid promotion. He was Chief Constable
of Leicester for a few years, and then obtained the valuable Birmingham
appointment. He was particularly respected from his rising ‘through the ranks’
to become head of the Birmingham City Police. His nephew, also Joseph Farndale
(FAR00463) similarly joined the Halifax Police as a police constable in 1884
and spent nine years on the beat, though rising quickly to sergeant and
detective, before become Chief Constable of Margate, York and then Bradford
Police.
Jim Farndale was
the sixth born of a family of twelve to Martin, who farmed at Tidkinhow. He
worked for local farmers, as a stockman, and for a while as a miner, but
opportunities were limited. In 1911, the year before the Titanic sank on the
same route, he crossed the Atlantic to follow other members of his family to
Alberta. He decided to move south into USA and sought every opportunity to
improve his education, finding a place at Valpraiso
University (‘Valpro’) in Indiana. He went to France
in the army in 1917 and returned to find work as a carpenter. He worked in an
architect’s office for a while. Despite ill health he worked hard and by the
1930s he was actively involved in the Boulder Dam Project, fighting for the
rights of those working on the project through the Carpenter’s Union. By 1936
he was elected for the first of two terms on the Nevada Assembly and from 1942
to 1946 he became state senator. In 1945 he wrote to his brother: I enjoy this
work very much as I have always very much interested in political matters and
matters concerning government. There is of course quite a bit of honour in
being a member of the Legislature. We don't meet every year but once in two
years, then only for 60 days. There is always a lot to do. Any member can
introduce bills and I always get more done than average, because I work harder
than most of them.