Part of the Earley family tree (Great-uncle)
Family background
Alfred George Earley was born at West Grimstead, near Salisbury on 17 August 1869; he was the third child (of 10) born to Charles John Earley (1842–1924) and his wife Martha née Rose (1844–1931). He was baptised at St John’s Church, West Grimstead on 14 November 1871, alongside his brothers William George (aged 6 years) and Henry William (aged 5 months).
Alfred lived with his parents in West Grimstead until his marriage. At the time of the 1891 census, 21-year old Alfred was still living at home when he was employed as an agricultural labourer.
Marriage and children
On 8 October 1898, Alfred (aged 24) married 21-year old Mary Ellen Hatcher, in her home village of Charlton All Saints, 1½ miles north of Downton village. Mary was born in West Grimstead but by the 1881 census her parents had moved to Charlton, where her father was a farm labourer. After the marriage, the couple settled in West Grimstead, where they had two sons:
Alfred Edward, born 3 July 1894, baptised at St John’s Church, West Grimstead on 26 August 1894
Stanley Joscelyn, born 28 July 1899, at St John’s Church, West Grimstead on 27 August 1899
Soon after the birth of their second son, the couple moved to Norton Bavant, two miles south-east of Warminster, where Alfred was now employed as a cattle man on a farm.
Living a few doors from the family in 1901 were Thomas and Bessie Churchill and their two sons. In July 1901, the two families appeared in court at Warminster, when Bessie Churchill was summoned for assaulting Mary Earley. According to the evidence presented to the court, on 12 June one of Bessie’s sons had struck one of Mary’s nephews. When Mary intervened saying that she could not stand by and watch a child’s ears being pulled out, Bessie slapped her on the cheek, punched her in the chest and pushed her back into her house. Bessie claimed that Mary had insulted her and her family by saying that Bessie had brought up her children in “badness and lies”, and that she had merely taken Mary by the dress and shook her, but Bessie’s son said that his mother had “shook and rattled her [Mary] about” after Mary had claimed that his mother had brought him up in wickedness. The court found Bessie guilty and fined her 5 shillings, including costs, after the magistrates found that the assault had been committed “under considerable provocation”.
It is not known how long the family stayed in Norton Bavant but by the 1911 census they were living at Lawrence Weston, then a small hamlet, near Henbury, north-west of Bristol, where Alfred was once again working as a farm labourer. 16-year old Edward was now working, as a gardener.
After the First World War, the family continued to live at Lawrence Weston. By the time of the 1921 census, Alfred Edward had married and had moved out of the family home. Alfred senior (now 51) and 21-year old Stanley were both employed by J, Shearman, ship repairers at Avonmouth, although they were both temporarily out of work.
Stanley married in August 1922, but he and his wife together with his brother and sister-in-law, all initially lived at Lawrence Weston with his parents.
In 1930, Alfred and Mary, with Stanley and his wife, moved to No 4 Blaise Hamlet, near Henbury, while Alfred junior and his family remained at Lawrence Weston. Alfred was now working as a gardener on the Blaise Castle estate (the property of Bristol City Council).
Alfred George Earley died at Henbury on 2 December 1960, aged 91, and was buried at Henbury Cemetery.
Water divining
Alfred was a keen water diviner or dowser. Although this is often dismissed by sceptics as a pseudo-science, I have twice observed him in action.
In about 1957/58, he visited the family at Fairfield House in Hythe. He went into the garden and selected a forked branch in a hazel bush and cut it into a Y-shape. He then demonstrated how he could use this to detect water and other objects. As he passed over a pail of water, the hazel rod would pull down towards the water.
He then returned to the house and asked us to hide a coin under a rug or carpet. When he returned to the room, he walked around until the rod pulled down above where the coin was hidden. To convince us that there was no trickery, he offered the rod to me; I walked around the room holding the rod in front of me, but despite my best efforts there was no reaction. He then gently place his hands on mine and we repeated the attempt; this time the rod pulled away from my hand with considerable force exactly above the hidden coin.
In 1959, the family moved to West Dene in Mullins Lane, Hythe. Although now in his 90s, Alfred visited us again. This time he asked my father to find a pair of hacksaw blades and bolt them together in a V-shape. He walked around the garden holding this makeshift “rod”, but could not find any water: what he did find however, was a buried electricity cable going across the garden. As he crossed this, the blades pulled down; they did not pull straight down but the tip pulled causing the blades to bend.
He told us that during the 1920s, when he was working at a country estate, there was a commotion because the lady of the house had lost some jewellery. The servants had searched everywhere without success. Alfred was then called in to the house to see if he could find the missing jewellery. He went through the servants’ quarters from room to room; when he came to the room occupied by the most junior housemaid, he soon had a reaction as he walked across a rug. When the rug was pulled back, a loose floorboard was revealed, under which the missing jewellery was found.