According to the census, the population of Bingham fell from 1917 in 1861 to 1673 in 1881. This was the period of Gladstone’s first, vigorously reforming government (1868 to 1874). Robert Miles was the Rector at St Mary’s and All Saints throughout this time and in 1869 he started the first parish magazine. The magazine came out monthly. Copies of the early issues are hard to find, but complete sets for 1869, 1870, 1873 and 1874 exist and it is possible to get a glimpse of life at that time from them.

Besides this source, the logbooks for both the Wesleyan and Church of England schools still exist for this period. The Wesleyan logbook, when Mr Thomas Jones was the schoolmaster, is particularly full and interesting, providing a view on Bingham through the eyes of a teacher.

Then there are the memoirs of the sisters Frances Adelaide and Beatrice Alice Smyth, daughters of the local doctor, who lived at 7 Church Street in Bingham until 1871. They were written many years after that and copies were given to Mrs Wade, who until recently, lived in their house.

Pages have been made up from each of these sources and can be read by clicking on the titles below:

Bingham as seen through the parish magazines
Through a teacher’s eyes
The Smyth family 1812 - 1912

An unusual feature in the first parish magazines is the weather reports, which appear every month. In the later issues they were signed off with the initials JG. There is no indication who this person might have been, but one of the four church sidesmen was called Mr J. Godfrey. To see a comparison of the weather then and now click on:

Bingham’s weather