William Fradd 1804

William Fradd was born about July in 1804 in St Kew, Cornwall, England (Christened 22 July 1804) one of seven children to William Fradd and Charity nee Pearce.

He lived in the village of Medrose in the parish of St Teath, Cornwall in 1851 through 1861 until his death in April 1865 where he was employed as a Quarry Labourer in the Delabole Slate Quarry. Delabole slate has been used as a building material for some 800 years, and has been quarried continuously since the early 17th century, when Carew in his survey of Cornwall wrote "in substance thin, in colour fair, in lasting long and generally carrieth good regard". Over 10 million tonnes of slate has been quarried since it was first recorded in the Domesday Book of 1086.

Fig.1 Map of North West Cornwall showing Medrose, Delabole Quarry, Port Gaverne and Camelford.

In 1841 one of the Delabole proprietors, built a number of cottages for his quarry workers and the village of Medrose developed around them; thus there was an established pattern of workers living close to the quarry face. The long working hours of 7 am to 5.30pm included a half-hour break with their wages ranging from 4s to 10s per week, depending on age.

In 1859, in Murrays Handbook of Devon and Cornwall, the author wrote "the quarries present one of the most astonishing and animated scenes imaginable".

About 1,000 men were employed at this time, raising an average of 120 tonnes of slate per day. Long before the coming of the railway, the slate was cut and hauled six miles to Port Gaverne where it would be loaded onto vessels moored in the harbour area. It would take thirty wagons, pulled by over a hundred horses to load a sixty ton ship and as late as 1890, women still assisted with the stowing of slates.

Fig. 2 Delabole Quarry -note village top right.

In Cornwall, girls and women not only worked as packers but also in skilled roles as slate splitters in the early years. For many years women and girls were employed in the splitting of slate and some were expert at their work. Sometime in the 1850's it was necessary to reduce hands and in order to retain males the females were discharged and since then none have been employed. William Couch, William Fradds nephew was listed as a 15 year old Slate Culler living with William and Ann in Medrose in the 1861 Census.

Fig.3 1861 England Census ( St. Teath Parish)

Although women and girls did not work at Delabole Slate Quarry beyond about 1855, they continued to be employed at Port Gaverne, packing slates into ships for export (employed by the ship captain rather than by the quarry), until about 1890.Today Pengelly and Medrose are collectively called Delabole.

William Fradd died in April 1865 in Camelford, Cornwall, England. Ann was shown to still be living in Medrose in the 1871 England Census. They had no children that I can find.