Fleet Blacksmiths of Sussex

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My great great great grandfather Thomas FLEET's parents were recorded as John and Anne FLEET in the baptismal records of Buxted Parish, May 11th 1800. I have been unable to find their marriage details so I have no idea where or when John FLEET was born. There was at the time, however, a Fletching family of FLEETs whose six children included one John FLEET (b.1776). I have found no other Fleet family in the area; other researchers have found that John Fleet (1776) married an Anne and had children recorded in nearby Horsted Keynes including Richard (1801). I believe that this is my ancestor and that he and Anne had their first child, Thomas, in Buxted before moving to Horsted Keynes and having another child the following year. If this John Fleet is my great great great great grandfather, he is in a line traceable back a further three generations to another John FLEET (b.1667) which included many of the Sussex FLEET blacksmiths.

In 1715, there is recorded the following Indenture:

Fleet, Robert, son of Ann Fleet of Fletching, Sussex, widow, to William Sheppard of Fletching, Sussex, blacksmith. Common Indenture, 7 years, £10; dated 29th September 1715; duty paid 9th November 1715.

Thus started the generations of FLEET blacksmiths. The Danehill Parish Historical Society Magazine takes up the story (Vol 6 No. 8 May 2001 "Local Wheelwrights and Blacksmiths"):

THE FLEET FAMILY OF BLACKSMITHS AT SHORTBRIDGE FORGE.

Members of the FLEET family were blacksmiths at Shortbridge Forge, Fletching from the 1720's until the late 1890's. Robert FLEET (1702-1775) took over the Forge before 1728, having been apprenticed to the previous blacksmith there, William Shepherd, in 1715. Robert's son, Robert FLEET (1741-1828) took over the Smithy after the death of his father in 1775 and owned it for the rest of his life.

Map of Shortbridge showing the Smithy in red and the Peacock Inn in green	View from the north of the Peacock Inn and the Smithy (left)

The Smithy was in the Manor of Barkham and the transfer of ownership was duly recorded in a Court Roll of Barkham Manor four years later. To quote.

'At a Court Baron of Sir Thomas Spencer Wilson, Baron and Lord of the said Manor holden at the Manor House of Barkham on the third day of November 1779 The Homage (or Jury) ........also present...... that Robert Fleet who held of the Lord of the Manor .......to him and his heirs by Copy of Court Roll at the Will of the Lord according to the custom of this Manor. All that customary Tenement being a Smith's Shop with the appurtenances situate lying and being upon Shortbridge Green near the King's Highway in the Parish of Fletching late Sheppards and paying to the Lord by the year sixpence lately died seized thereof hereupon there happened to the Lord for an Heriot of Twelvepence certain, And also a quarter of an acre of Land near Shortbridge in Fletching aforesaid being heretofore part of the waste land of the said Manor and paying to the Lord by the year Sixpence lately also died seized thereof upon whose death there likewise happened to the Lord for an Heriot of one shilling certain. And that the said Robert Fleet in and by his last Will and Testament in Writing bearing date on or about the sixth day of November One Thousand and Seven Hundred and Seventy One now produced in Open Court to the Homage by Robert Fleet his only son and Sole Executor therein named. Devised the said copyhold premises in the following words (viz) First I give and devise all and every my Copyhold messuage Blacksmith's Shop and lands and tenements whatsoever situate lying and being in Fletching unto my son Robert Fleet during the term of his natural life and immediately after his decease to my Grandson Robert Fleet , oldest son of my said son Robert and his heirs ........'

By the 1820's Benjamin FLEET (1791-1865) was working at Shortbridge as Blacksmith. He was the grandson of Robert FLEET (1741-1828). Benjamin FLEET took over the ownership of the Forge in 1828 and was the Blacksmith until his death in 1865. Benjamin and Jemima his wife (nee Stevenson) had eleven children who survived infancy.


Benjamin and Jemima Fleet in 1861
Photo courtesy of Adrian Mugridge


The Forge, though in Fletching Parish, was actually someway south of the village in the hamlet of Shortbridge. Though the Forge has been replaced by a house, part of the old structure at the rear survives. Forge Cottage across the lane and backing on to the inn, may have been where the FLEETs lived, recorded in 1841 census as 'Fleets Cottage'.




The forge (left) and the Peacock Inn (right) in 1880-1910 and in 2005.
(part of the hedge has been graphically removed to show part of the old building)


Benjamin and Jemima's eldest son Robert (1818?-1882) was a Blacksmith working initially with his father at Shortbridge at least until 1843. Subsequently he was Blacksmith at Maresfield where three of his children were born between 1852 and 1860. By the time of the 1861 Census he was living in Isfield recorded as a 'Veterinary Surgeon' and his son, Albert (1857) as a 'Labourer (Smiths)'. Two further sons of Benjamin were blacksmiths: Thomas (1828-1875) was Blacksmith in Newick in the 1860s and 70s and Benjamin (1818 - ????) was blacksmith's labourer in Clayton and later at Keymer.

The Maresfield smithy in 1906 looking west	The site of the smithy today
	Map of Maresfield c. 1890 (Smithy in green)

Robert (1818-1882) had a large family including sons who became Blacksmiths. John Joseph FLEET (1854) was at Maresfield in 1881 and later Nutley, and Robert (1847?) 'Master Blacksmith with two men' at Broadwater in 1881.

A further son of Benjamin, George (1836-1919), took over the Shortbridge Forge in 1865 jointly with his brother John (1840-1928). A tenancy agreement between Benjamin's executors and his sons, George and John, relating to them taking over the Forge, provides for Benjamin's widow (Jemima) to occupy the Parlour and one Bedroom in the Blacksmith's House, which she did until her death at the age of 88 in 1882. John moved into farming elsewhere in Fletching in the 1870s, leaving George as the sole Blacksmith at Shortbridge (with a Blacksmith Journeyman John PECKHAM in 1881), where he continued until 1898 or thereabouts. At that point he sold the Forge and moved to Argus Farm on Grisling Common, Piltdown.

Robert FLEET (1791-1866) appears to have moved to Bishopstone where he was recorded in the 1851 Census as 'Master Blacksmith' with his wife Joannah.

The Bishopstone Forge in Silver Lane	The remains of the forge in 2005
	showing the wheelset plate

Finally, in Bishopstone Church yard, I came across this gravestone for Robert FLEET and his family.

Sacred To the Memory of JOHN, the beloved husband of ELIZABETH FLEET, who departed this life at Falmer May 16th, 1870: aged 51 years. In sure and certain hope of a joyful resurrection Also of JOHANNAH, his mother who departed this life April 12th, 1851: Aged 58 years Also of ROBERT, his father who departed this life at Portsmouth, July 30th 1866 aged 72 years

That is the story of the Sussex FLEET Blacksmiths as I have been able to ascertain so far and, much to my regret, I cannot positively link myself into the line. So if anyone can demonstrate that John FLEET, father of Thomas FLEET (b. 1801 Buxted) is the same as John FLEET (b.1776 Fletching), I would be very grateful.

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Last Updated: July 2008