The Foundation of Frugality in the Ingold family…
We’ve all heard it as children, and often as adults. A relative, perhaps a parent will remark “you’re just like your father”, or “you get that from your mother”, and even the ominous “I hope you don’t turn out like your grandfather”.
We all have behaviours that pass down from our forebears. My family has a history of frugality. I wanted to find which of my ancestors turned frugality into a science and passed it down for generations.
I have no photographs of my 19th century ancestors, but from my research, I recognize them very clearly. My siblings will agree with me when I say, what I discovered about our ancestors and money, explains a lot, and it is also a source of great amusement.
Let’s begin in my paternal ancestral home of Edgware, northwest of London, in the mid 19th century. My Great-Great Grandfather, James Ingold, worked as a carpenter and also held the lease on “The Mason’s Arms”, a local pub. James’s wife, Sarah, managed the pub with their youngest son, Alfred.
Upon his death in 1887, James Ingold left an estate of over $640,000 (2022 Canadian dollars). That is an astonishing legacy for a working class man in Victorian England.
James’s will reveals he was much more than a carpenter and publican. He was a landlord who owned at least 10 freehold properties in the Edgware area and collected rents on all of them.
James’s paternal lineage includes butchers, millers and labourers, so just how did he manage to amass a portfolio of properties? I’ve got no documented information (yet), but I’m guessing James was a man driven to be “a big fish in a little pond”. I believe he was a shrewd businessman who lived frugally and chased opportunity. I’ve seen these same traits in my immediate paternal family.
James had a wife who earned her own money, which was rare in the Victorian era. Although she didn’t need to work, Sarah managed the pub until 1891. After she died, James’s freeholds were auctioned off in 1900. Only a trip to England and a lot of in-person research is going to enlighten me as to exactly when and how James Ingold acquired so much property.
James’s will is very detailed and specific. It’s clear he was an astute businessman. Impressively, he set up his daughter Sophia and her children for a life financially independent of her well-to-do husband.
James’s eldest son, Henry John Ingold, (my great-grandfather) inherited the carpentry business and became a respected businessman, acquiring Edgware properties of his own. Thanks to newspaper reports, we know a lot about Henry’s frugality. Rather than invest in a new filly, he forced his lame horse to pull a heavy cart and was fined 6 shillings for cruelty to an animal. He was often cited for non-payment of fines imposed by the Sanitation Authority for failing to provide proper drainage at his properties. At parish meetings he protested higher taxes, and took on any civic responsibility that would earn him extra income.
Was Henry “cheap” or was just fiscally conservative? After all, he had 5 daughters to marry off. It was little bit of both, I think.
In June of 1895, Henry drowned himself in a pond, his suicide note claiming his business had failed. An inquest revealed that Henry’s business was in fact, thriving. Whatever his mental condition at the time, Henry believed a failing business was enough of a reason to off himself. When his estate was settled, each of his 9 children came into $15,000 (Can 2022). If Henry had lived, they would have inherited much more, but that’s a subject for another blog post.
As kids my father told us stories about Henry’s son, our paternal grandfather George (who died before I was born). George arrived in Canada in 1905 with $15,000 Canadian in his pocket and a belief that the world was out to cheat him. He was extremely frugal and impressed upon his children the evils of lending and the importance of keeping money in the family. On the positive side, his work ethic was such that he was never out of a job, even during the Great Depression when he managed to keep his grocery business afloat. In that respect, George was much like James and Henry before him..
James Ingold (1810-1877) Carpenter, Licensed Victualler, Landlord
Henry John Ingold (1848-1895) Builder, Undertaker, Landlord
Walter George Ingold (1884-1954) Butcher, Grocer (pictured)
Grave Digger 