The William Barlee Linford Line

The Ancestral Home of William Barlee Linford and Sarah Elizabeth Payne

William Barlee Linford was the base-born son of Sarah Linford and was baptised in Martham, Norfolk, in 1825. His grandfather Crispin Linford held land at Cess and was a brick maker, and William described himself as a bricklayer when he arrived in Australia. Sarah Elizabeth Payne was the daughter of Richard Payne, a journeyman carpenter. William and Sarah married at Martham in 1848, in a double wedding with her brother Charles, before they travelled to Plymouth to take the Fairlie to Australia. Sarah’s parents and William’s grandparents are buried at Martham, outside the church where William was baptised and married Sarah.

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A windpump without its sails stands among trees beyond a tussocky, grassy marsh field where sheep graze under a cloudy sky. Click to enlarge
Near where Cess Road meets the River Thurne, Martham, Norfolk 11 September 2026
Martham is a small rural village, set within a flat, low-lying marshland landscape near Martham Broad. The country is wide-open, level floodplains with dykes at the edges of the fields leading to waterways associated with the River Thurne and the marshes of Martham Broad. The land has been reclaimed from the marshes through the use of wind pumps and drains. The pumps are no longer used so the one in the photo is missing its sails. Sheep graze the fields and reed beds, used for thatching, flourish in the area.
Thick, tangled green undergrowth beneath tall trees, some with ivy-covered trunks. Click to enlarge
South east land bounded by Cess Road and Cess Lane, Martham, Norfolk 11 September 2026
Crispin Linford, the grandfather of William Barlee Linford, had land allotted to him and his brothers Robert, Francis, William, James and George, in 1812 by the General Commissioners. The allotment provided to the six brothers appears to have been divided into five for the 1841 tithe record and owned by Crispin Linford and William Pollard. In 1846, Crispin owned a share of the land with three other men and was selling it. Today the land is marshy and overgrown with trees and other plants.
Close-up of a weathered red brick wall with patches of pale lichen and light mortar joints. Click to enlarge
Wall at St Mary the Virgin Church, Martham, Norfolk 11 September 2026
Crispin Linford was described as a brick maker in Elizabeth Utten (Linford’s) death record. Brick grounds - clay dug for brickmaking - were found in numerous places around Martham. William Barlee Linford also described himself as a bricklayer on his passenger arrival record. The brick is of the right era and was made locally; it represents the bricks Crispin made, not one he made himself.
A cottage with a tiled roof and climbing plants across its front, seen beyond a lawn and a paved path beside a hedge. An inset shows a painted wooden sign reading 2 Goose Cottages, with two geese. Click to enlarge
Cess Lane, Martham, Norfolk 11 September 2026
Sarah Linford, the daughter of Crispin Linford, married Henry Goose on the 27 July 1825, seven weeks after the baptism of William Barlee Linford on the 4 June 1825. Henry Goose was the boy next door. His family owned an allotment off Cess Lane where the house appears to be the same one shown in the 1841 tithe maps. It is labelled Goose Cottages as shown in the inset photo. Sarah and Henry Goose appear to have raised a family at Cess, most likely at Goose Cottages, with Henry labelled an agricultural labourer. In 1861, Sarah and Henry and their son Samuel were living at Bessey’s Buildings, Great Yarmouth. Henry was working as a coal heaver and Samuel as a fisherman. Sarah lived in Bessey’s Buildings until her death in 1882 working as a wash woman. Bessey’s Buildings were either destroyed during WWII by bombing or razed after the war.
The square stone keep of Norwich Castle on its grassy mound, seen from below beyond a flint and brick wall, under a blue sky with scattered cloud. Click to enlarge
Norwich Castle, on Castle Hill, Norwich, Norfolk 12 September 2026
Crispin Linford lived at Cess on land that he owned and occupied in 1841. After selling the land around 1846, he was sent to gaol, for an unknown reason. The gaol was Norwich Castle, on Castle Hill, Norwich. He was 72 years old in 1851 when imprisoned. In 1851 Elizabeth Utten, Crispin’s wife, was living at Cess, three households away from her daughter Sarah and Henry Goose. Crispin died five years later attended by his daughter Sarah Goose.
A black and white street sign reading Back Lane on two posts in a grassy verge, with a road, a wooden fence and a house with a red tiled roof behind. Click to enlarge
Back Lane, Martham, Norfolk 11 September 2026
Richard Payne, the father of Sarah Elizabeth Payne, was a journeyman carpenter. In 1841 he and his family were living at Hart Lane at Repps Bastwick. In 1851 the family were living in Back Lane in Martham which is probably the same address as in 1861 Back Church Lane.
A two-storey red brick house with a tiled roof and chimneys behind iron railings and a gate, beyond a gravel drive, under heavy grey cloud. An inset shows a slate sign reading Rose Farm on a wooden board among ivy. Click to enlarge
Cess Road, Martham, Norfolk 11 September 2026
Richard and Sarah Payne were living at Rose Cottage, Cess. This is thought to be what is now Rose Farm as shown in the inset photo. In 1881 Richard and Sarah Payne moved back into Martham and were living on a “road east of green” which is most likely Back Lane.
The flint and stone tower and porch of a large church seen across a graveyard lawn, with dark storm clouds behind. Click to enlarge
St Mary the Virgin Church, Martham, Norfolk 11 September 2026
St Mary the Virgin Church at Martham in its present form is thought to have been built between 1300 and 1470. The main exception is the chancel which was rebuilt in a Gothic revival style between 1855-1861.
A carved stone octagonal baptismal font with figures on its bowl and stem, standing on a stepped base on a tiled church floor. Click to enlarge
St Mary the Virgin Church, Martham, Norfolk 11 September 2026
The font dates to the 15th century. It would have been used for the baptisms of William Pain (1766), twins Crispin and Elizabeth Linford (1779), Elizabeth Utten (1788), Richard Pain (1802), Sarah Linford (1807), Henry Goose (1807) and William Barlee Linford (1825).
The interior of a church looking towards the chancel, with a carved stone arch, a large stained glass window above the altar, a pulpit on the right and a red carpeted floor. Click to enlarge
St Mary the Virgin Church, Martham, Norfolk 11 September 2026
The chancel was rebuilt and the stained glass windows replaced so the church interior is different now to what those being married would have seen, but the burial services of Richard and Sarah Payne were held inside the church essentially as it is now. William Payne married Elizabeth Rust in 1787. The banns of Crispin Linford and Elizabeth Utten were read in 1803. Richard Payne married Sarah Chapman in 1823. The banns of Sarah Linford and Henry Goose were read in July 1825. William Barlee Linford married Sarah Elizabeth Pain 6 April 1848, as a double wedding with her brother Charles Pain and Frances Cook, each couple witnessing the other. Elizabeth Rust was buried in 1847, Richard Payne in 1888 and Sarah Payne in 1891.
A weathered, lichen-covered arched headstone in grass, inscribed with the names Richard Payne and Sarah, with a path and part of the church behind. Click to enlarge
St Mary the Virgin Church, Martham, Norfolk 11 September 2026
Richard Payne was buried in 1888 and Sarah Payne buried 1891 at St Mary the Virgin Church. They are on the same headstone at the front of the graveyard. Crispin Linford was buried 1856 and his wife, Elizabeth in 1858. Crispin and Elizabeth Linford (née Utten) and Elizabeth Pain (née Rust) do not have headstones but are buried here.
A weathered headstone inscribed In Affectionate Remembrance of Sarah, wife of Henry Goose, with a small footstone marked S G 1882 in front, among other headstones in a cemetery. Click to enlarge
Yarmouth New Cemetery, Great Yarmouth, Norfolk 11 September 2026
Sarah Goose (née Linford) died in Great Yarmouth and was buried 1882 at Yarmouth New Cemetery, Section G, Number 38.

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