Chiddingly was a small, rural parish in which the composition of society changed but slowly. Most people knew most others intimately and this question of kinships, remembered by some, forgotten – or, rather, ignored – by others could generate sour remarks, recriminations and envy. This was true for many Sussex parishes and one of the reasons for the success, later, of Richard Lower’s Tom Cladpole’s Jurney to Lunnun published in 1830. This was the way in which, right at the beginning, he expressed in the labourer’s own language the feeling which many a labourer held about well-to-do families in his own parish that bore the same name as himself.

“Why Tom aünt ashamed ov he’s clawney, so he wishes me to tell ye a liddle about um. Our family is an oldfashioned one: Ol’ Cain wos de fust an um, an he jest was a gurt (great) Farmer; ye may be sure of dat, for he built a City. Now uf eny of our Farmers build a barn, a stable, or even a hog-poun, ‘tis though much ov! Howsomever, uf dis Cain wos a gurt man, he was loike a dunnanany other gurt men, good for naun; but good or bad, he wos de father of all de Cladpoles, an ‘twood taak me up a wick to tell about um all.

So I shall onny goo back to Tom’s Granfurther – dat is to my Father, who, about helf a hundud year agoo or dereaway, used a Farm of about twenty acres, under one Squyer Squeezer – about de time dem are Frenchmen kicked up a rout and cut der King’s head off! Dat made our King so lamentäble crass for fear dey woud cut he’s head off too, dat he set to a fighting de French at a robbin of a rate, an all dat was able was off soagering; an ever sen dat time dere has been two families ov de Cladpoles – de gurt Cladpoles and de liddle Cladpoles. De Gurt uns wont own de Liddle uns fer ken now; howsumever dey be ken to us, an I can prove it; for Tom’s grandmother whose name was Sue Slapper was fust cousin to de present Squyer Slapper’s father, and he’s own mother was a Cladpole; so ye see we all be of a breed loike.

I think Tom be de fust dat ever told He’s travels, for dis reason – because all de family be troubled wid sich bad eyes; for as my ol’ cousin Sam Quizzum used to say, dere never wos a Cladpole dat ever coud dan de top of de mow, nor deeper dan de plow went.

Now ef dere shud be ennybody ut don’t loike to believe me about our Family, let um go an ax de Pahson, for he has got all der names in he’s gurt register book; besides ye know what de pahson says must be right, for he is paid for tellin de truth.”

These are sentiments which such as Samuel Guy the labourer and Thomas Funnell the cooper probably echoed with all their hearts.