Posing in his Town Crier's uniform, Jesse Harvey Senior looks an imposing figure - and he was!
A master tailor, born in Fairland Street in 1853, he may have made the uniform himself. It seems he took over the Wymondham Town Crier’s role, which involved being the bellman as well as toll and rent collector, around 1880 from his grandfather Robert Harvey (1803-1882). Jesse held the position until his death in 1914. Apart from a short spell in London's Bethnal Green, he had lived in Wymondham at Fairland Street, Town Green, Pople Street, Cock Street and lastly at 63 Damgate - so he must have known his way about the town! He had 16 children!
In his role as bellman, he announced events at Wymondham's Whit Thursday sports, which were famous in late Victorian and Edwardian times, attracting competitors and spectators from far afield. Among his many interests, he was a member of the Lizard committee and the Juvenile Foresters local court "Loyal Windham" of the Ancient Order of Foresters, passing through all the latter’s chairs and acting as senior trustee for over 20 years. He was also President of the Sun Inn Bowls Club. He really was Mr. Wymondham!
When Jesse Senior passed away in 1914, his son, Jesse Junior, who for a spell lived at 61 Damgate, took on the position of town crier and tolls collector of open spaces until his resignation in 1945, when it seems the position was not continued.
In 2003, Jill Clarke and Michael Armstrong purchased the town crier's bell and presented it to Martin Wynne, then Council Chairman, who accepted it on behalf of the town. In recent years, Pete Green acted as bellman for a short time until his tragic death in a house fire.
For much of this information, I am indebted to a lady who lives in Liverpool, Angela Harvey, a direct descendant of Wymondham's bell-ringing Harveys. She has built up a collection of much family history, as well as newspaper cuttings and books on the town, including some of mine, but has yet to visit Wymondham. She hopes to address this in the next couple of months and hold the bell her ancestors used in the bellman role.
