Ongar: An extract from the Commonplace Book of Edward Reeve c1860

A Mr Page, a gallant old bachelor, picked up a young lady’s glove, which he restored with the following extempore effusion:

“If but from glove, you take the letter g.

Then glove is love, which I devote to thee”.

Upon which the clever young lady immediately replied

“And if from Page, you take the letter p

Then Page is age, and that won’t do for me.”

It is better to do a wise thing, and say a foolish one, than do a foolish thing and say a wise one.

Area: "High Country History Group" Journal No. 41

The Quarterly Journal of the High Country History Group was issued to members in September 2011.  It contains a number of items including:

-          High Country.  An extract from ‘The People’s History of Essex’ on Greensted (see http://blackmorehistory.blogspot.com/2011/11/greensted-peoples-history-of-essex-1861.html)

-          The Bells of St Christopher’s Church, Willingale (see http://blackmorehistory.blogspot.com/2011/07/willingale-bells-of-st-christopher.html)

-          After Dinner Anecdotes, written by Edward Henry Lisle Reeve

o   Revd. Thomas Smith (see http://blackmorehistory.blogspot.com/2011/10/stondon-massey-revd-thomas-smith.html)

o   Revd. John Oldham (see http://blackmorehistory.blogspot.com/2011/10/stondon-massey-revd-john-oldham.html)

o   Revd. Thomas Hubbard (see http://blackmorehistory.blogspot.com/2011/10/stondon-massey-revd-thomas-hubbard.html)

o   Captain Reeve (see http://blackmorehistory.blogspot.com/2011/10/stondon-massey-captain-edward-reeve.html)

o   Revd. Edward James Reeve (see http://blackmorehistory.blogspot.com/2011/10/stondon-massey-revd-edward-james-reeve.html)

-          The Greensted Road

-          Kellys Directory of Essex 1933 – Greensted

-          Richard Thomas Dutton Budworth (part 1)

-          The Essex Earthquake of 1884

For membership and further information go to http://www.blackmorehistory.co.uk/hchg.html

Ongar: An extract from the Commonplace Book of Edward Reeve c1860

One of the best things is to see in a good man rewarded, the next best thing is to see a great rogue punished.

The affectionate recollection of the virtues of the dead, is the duty of the living.

The truth of our affection is tested when the object of our affection is absent.

Blackmore: Martin boy on Exmouth

Received 12 February 2012

Hello

I am impressed by the Blackmore village history web site, there is a lot of information here, and a lot of work has obviously gone into it.  I hope it was a labour of love!

I used to live in Blackmore, enjoyed my time there and only moved away as my job moved and commuting from Blackmore was just not on.  I was made redundant a few years ago and now fill in some of my time as a volunteer at the London Metropolitan Archives (LMA), where I have recently been working with the records of the training Ship ‘Exmouth’.  It was moored on the Thames off Grays in Essex, and was used in a scheme set up in the mid C19 by the Metropolitan Asylums Board to look after boys, usually either orphans, or with a single parent who was unable to look after them, so the boys had to be taken into care. The boys, who had to be ‘of good character’, lived on the ship and were given training that would suit them either for the Navy or the Merchant Marine. They were on the ship for varying periods of time, starting anytime after age 11, and required to leave, if still there, by their 16^th birthday.

I wondered if you would be interested to know that there is a record of a boy Alfred Charles Martin, son of A.C. Martin (possibly the same name) of Vine Cottage Blackmore, on the ship in 1920.  I am sure I remember a Vine Cottage being in the village when I lived there, is it near the little round-about? (the only house I do remember was Swan Cottage at the end of Church Lane because of the pargetting that it carried).  The record of Alfred Charles Martin on the ship gives a note of his height, weight, leg length and boot size (which is unusual, most entries do not carry that much information) and also say that he was a somnambulist.

Might this be of any interest for your record of names?

Peter Jackson

Replied  13 February 2012

Peter

Thank you for your E Mail.  This is an interesting piece of social history.

Vine Cottage was the home of Emma Bass.  I understand that she was a foster-parent to a number of children, one of whom was Edwin Alexander, a victim of the First World War.

It would be interesting to find out more about Alfred Martin.  I will take a look through the notes I have, and come back to you.

Regards

Andrew

Replied 10 March 2012

Hello Peter

I have looked through my records of the Martins in Blackmore, of which there were many.  Without access to the 1911 Census I can add very little to the story.  The Burial Register (1893-1992), the original of which is in the church safe, reveals a number of Martin burials, one of which is “Elizabeth Martin. Vine Cottage, Blackmore. Feb 8 1936. 76 years”.  Looking at the year Alfred was on board the Exmouth, and his age, it makes it very unlikely that Elizabeth was his mother, perhaps his grandmother.  Some detective work would be necessary to solve the mystery.

Regards

Andrew

Received 10 March 2012

Hello Andrew

Thanks for getting back to me, and for your researches … I partly wondered if you might say “yes I know all about the family”, sadly you didn’t.

I might amuse myself with some more general researches, if I find anything of interest I’ll let you know.

Peter

Replied 10 March 2012

Thanks Peter.  I will post our correspondence on the blog and look forward to receiving comments.

Andrew

Ongar: An extract from the Commonplace Book of Edward Reeve c1860

Conundrum

My 1^st is called a Company – Co

My 2^nd avoids a company – Nun

My 3^rd assembles a Company – Drum

And my whole, amuses a Company.

Fryerning: Conebeare family

Received 13 February 2012

Dear Andrew

I am researching for a biography of Charles Conybeare, born in 1853 at Ingatestone. Charles became a Barrister, like his father and also a MP. I wondered whether you have any knowledge of local sources of papers or records about the Conybeare family. The family lived at St Leonard's Grange, Fryerning in the 1880s.

Dean

Replied 10 March 2012

Hello Dean.  The obvious places to look are census records and parish registers for Fryerning.  E E Wilde mentions Fryerning Grange in her book ‘Ingatestone and the Great Essex Road with Fryerning’ (1913).

“Fryerning Grange, formerly Blankets.  Blankets was one of many old small farmhouses of the neighbourhood. It was pulled down about 1870 by Mr Parkinson, who built the present house on the site of the old one, did away with the ancient name of Blankets, and called it Fryerning Grange.  Mr Parkinson was also responsible for enclosing a piece of roadside waste on Beggar Hill, near the present pump; it is now planted with white poplars, but the double hedge remains, and middle-aged men remember playing on that ground as boys.  He also attempted to close the footpath running from Fryerning Road to Beggar Hill, but after many lively scenes, when Mr H G Conybeare and his brother assisted in destroying the obstacles erected on the path, the path was preserved for public use.  Behind the house lies a field, marked on the Tithe Map ‘Church Field’; owner, Mr E Sikes.” (page 280)

Regards

Andrew

Received 10 March 2012

Thanks Andrew. I had read a little about the rights of way argument. I shall have to have a few days in the area. I have exhausted the census info on the Ancestry site and elsewhere on the net. Currently reading about the Irish evictions.

Dean

Ongar: An extract from the Commonplace Book of Edward Reeve c1860

In many cases a true secret of what is called good fortune; it consists only in the being never unprepared to seize a favourable opportunity when it comes.

The crooked path of cunning will always lead us into difficulties.

Silence is a friend, that will never betray.

Stondon Massey: Cardinall's Musick to sing Byrd

Cardinall’s Musick to perform Byrd at Stondon Massey

The multi Gramophone Award winning Choir the Cardinall’s Musick will be coming to St Peter and St Paul Church Stondon Massey on Sunday 2 September to perform two short concerts as part of their Byrd Tour 2012. 

Cardinall’s Musick is an internationally recognised Choir specialising in early music.  In 2010, under the direction of Andrew Carwood, the singers released their 13^th disc concluding the complete Latin choral works of William Byrd.  ‘Infelix Ego’ won them the Recording of the Year. 

The Byrd Tour 2012 celebrates the recording achievement by taking the music of the great Elizabethan composer to venues both great and small.  St Peter and St Paul Church, the only stop planned in Essex, is one of the smallest on the tour but has such a strong association with Byrd that Andrew Carwood felt that the opportunity to perform here should not be missed.  The tour will be extensively advertised by Cardinall’s Musick in national newspapers and the music press.  The Choir can be heard on the cover CD of the BBC Music Magazine soon.

Members of Stondon’s congregation will be there on the day to supervise car parking, provide front of house support and post-concert refreshments.  The professional Choir will be offering tickets for sale online for about £10 for each of the two concerts.  (However please indicate to us now whether you are interested so that we can seek to secure tickets for sale locally).

Provisional times for the concerts are 3.00pm and 5.30pm on Sunday 2 September 2012.  Each hour-long offering will include a different Mass by William Byrd plus motets.

Notes:

The Financial Times carried an interesting article giving information on Byrd and heralding the Byrd Tour 2012, which began at the Wigmore Hall in London on Monday 5 March (was broadcast live on BBC Radio 3, and is available to hear on the I Player until Monday): http://www.ft.com/cms/s/2/73e967be-597c-11e1-abf1-00144feabdc0.html#axzz1nN4pStYi . For the latest tour information go to http://www.cardinallsmusick.com/news/byrd-tour-2012 and specifically, for Stondon Massey Essex, follow the link to the William Byrd Festival blog, http://www.williambyrdfestival.blogspot.com/ .

Ongar: An extract from the Commonplace Book of Edward Reeve c1860

The art of conversation is …

Not only to say the right thing in the right place, but, far more difficult still, to leave unsaid the wrong thing at the tempting moment.

Roxwell: Young MI

Received 3 February 2012

I found this...  [Visitation of Essex 1634 – which provides family trees of important families]  and after Thomas Yonge it says "Buried there 1593, M.I.". I have no clue what that means and Google doesn't seem to help me. Do you know?

Devon

Replied 4 February 2012

Devon

M.I.?  I am not at all sure but wonder whether this is shorthand for Latin.  ‘Mort’ in mortgage is a Latin word meaning lifetime, and my Latin dictionary says that ‘morior’ means die.  It leads me to think, because of the short family tree, of the word intestate or ‘intestatus’ in Latin.  So my wild guess is that your ancestor died without making a will or died without issue – that is surviving children.

Andrew

BLACKMORE HISTORY NEWS - March 2012

Welcome to this month’s round-up of local history and heritage in and around Blackmore, Essex.

Cardinall’s Musick launch Byrd Tour 2012

William Byrd (see picture), composer and one-time resident of Stondon Massey, is the focus of a nine-month tour by Cardinall’s Musick.  Under the direction of Andrew Carwood the internationally renowned Choir begin their series of concerts at the Wigmore Hall in London on Monday 5 March.  The tour will include two short concerts at St Peter and St Paul Church, Stondon Massey, on Sunday 2 September.  The Financial Times has carried an interesting article giving information on Byrd and heralding the tour: http://www.ft.com/cms/s/2/73e967be-597c-11e1-abf1-00144feabdc0.html#axzz1nN4pStYi . For the latest tour information go to http://www.cardinallsmusick.com/news/byrd-tour-2012 and specifically follow the link to the William Byrd Festival blog, http://www.williambyrdfestival.blogspot.com/ .

Petre Chapel Refurbishment at Ingatestone

The Petre Chapel in Ingatestone Parish Church, the resting place of John Petre patron to the aforementioned William Byrd, has just been refurbished.  See http://www.thisistotalessex.co.uk/Historic-chapel-time-400-years/story-15214431-detail/story.html

Antique Road Trip


Megarrys Antique Shop on The Green, Blackmore, was featured on the BBC day-time show 'Antique Road Trip' on 21 February.  It was recorded last August.  Since then there has been an influx of visitors to the village.


Dr Livingstone I presume

Ongar United Reformed Church hosted a talk on the explorer and missionary David Livingstone.  Before going to Africa the young man stayed in Ongar for about nine months.  He is famously recalled locally for being lost for words when about to give a sermon one evening at Stanford Rivers Congregational Church.   Ongar URC is one of the oldest non-conformist chapels in the country, having been formed in 1662.  It celebrates its 350^th anniversary in May.

Miscellaneous

Buttsbury churchyard accident: Drivers misjudge sharp bend at Buttsbury Church causing road accident – locals refer the two right-angle turns as ‘dead cyclists’ bend’, warning of extreme care required on this country lane.  http://www.thisistotalessex.co.uk/smash-danger-road/story-15130659-detail/story.html

Doddinghurst history: http://www.tonicbooks.com/post/2012/02/15/Doddinghurst-History.aspx

Fry family of Blackmore: http://www.rootschat.com/forum/index.php?PHPSESSID=qnco05i3o09jr8lrjaf2mk1jc2&topic=580830.0

Greensted Church theft: http://www.thisistotalessex.co.uk/Thief-takes-painting-church-service/story-15130653-detail/story.html

Links

For an extensive list of links to other sites go to: http://www.blackmorehistory.co.uk/externallinks.html  

Ongar: An extract from the Commonplace Book of Edward Reeve c1860

The Lord’s Prayer alone is an evidence of the truth of Christianity, so admirably is that prayer accommodated to all our wants.

Ingatestone: Hasler Family

Received 5 February 2012

Dear Sir,

I am researching the Hasler family.  Thomas Hasler was born in Ingatestone somewhere between 1826 and 1833 according to the 1871 census. However, I can’t find any more information about the family in Ingatestone.  I don’t know if you can help me.

Thank you

Gillian Dunnet

Replied 6 February 2012

Hello Gillian

Two things come to mind.  Firstly, the 1881 census is free on Ancestry, so a good anchor point to establish Hasler households.  Secondly, check for the existence of a baptism of Thomas Hasler in the Ingatestone Parish Registers held at Essex Record Office – I don’t think the recent registers are available on the Essex Ancestors website yet. 

Andrew

Ongar: An extract from the Commonplace Book of Edward Reeve c1860

Memory

Memory would indeed be a sorrow of unmitigated pain, if it only reflected on the dark shades, and not the sunny spots of life.

Roxwell: Youngs Newl'd

Received 2 February 2012

Hello Andrew,

I stumbled onto your Blackmore blog when I started searching for anything I could find about Roxwell in the 1400's & 1500's. I was wondering if maybe you could help me out a little. See, I live on the other side of the pond in New York and I'm very interested in my genealogy.

So far, I've been able to trace my surname lineage back to a Thomas Young who was born in Youngs Newl'd, Roxwell, Essex, in 1532. I think his father's name is Thomas Yonge, but I'm not quite sure. So I'm quite interested in the place & period, even if I can't trace the Young name further back.

I can find Roxwell on maps from the 1500's at www.essex.ac.uk/history/esah/essexplacenames/simpleSearch.asp ...but I can't find this Youngs Newl'd spot. Makes me wonder what it means, and I can't even remember now where I found that bit of information originally.

Also, do you know if there's any place online with documents or information about land ownership or church records of births and baptisms for Roxwell? I'm afraid I'd have to actually travel to Roxwell and attempt to track down actual paper documents. That wouldn't be so bad, but I probably wouldn't have the money for that trip until years from now.

I can actually trace his wife's lineage back into the 1400's. Her maiden name was Catherine Wiseman, and she was born in 1536 in Great Canfield, Dunmow. Since her father was named Sir John Wiseman, I'm assuming they were somewhat well off. That leads me to assume he wouldn't let his daughter marry nobody's, which leads me to assume my Young tree had some land ownership in Essex.

I've been stuck on this for about 2 years. Anything you might know, or anything you could point me to, would be helpful. I don't expect you to go track down any paper documents for me.

By the way, I love your blog. History has always fascinated me.

Devon

Replied 3 February 2012

Thanks for your e mail.  You have chosen a good website to search for the location: ‘The Essex Place-Names Project, supported by the Essex Society for Archaeology and History.  I wonder if you have considered the location to be Newland Hall, Boyton Cross, Roxwell?  The earliest year for any church registration records is 1538.  Roxwell records begin in 1559.  For more information, go to the ‘Essex Ancestors’ website, run by the Essex Record Office. 

Wiseman is a name which crops up time and again in Essex.  Clearly your Sir John was a man of some importance.

Regards

Andrew

Received 3 February 2012

Oh thank you! I hadn't consider that "Newl'd" might be short for Newland. I Googled for anything about it, and came across an online copy of an old book of the history of Essex

http://books.google.com/books?id=SgQVAAAAQAAJ&lpg=PA182&ots=pMRLb2bubL&dq=Youngs%20Newland%2C%20Boyton%20Cross%2C%20Roxwell&pg=PA182#v=onepage&q=Youngs%20Newland,%20Boyton%20Cross,%20Roxwell&f=false

I've got some reading to do. You're awesome!

Devon

Ongar: An extract from the Commonplace Book of Edward Reeve c1860

Half of the mischief that occurs in families is occasioned by the undue interference of strangers by the idle habit prevailing in the world of commenting on the business of others, of which we know nothing, and of which did we know anything, delicacy should interdict the discussion.

Ingatestone: Canon Hudson

‘Edward Freeman Hudson. 1906-1989’ is the simple title of a limited-edition book written by the late Kenneth Langford in 1995.  I discovered a copy of it while browsing in a secondhand bookshop in Colchester recently.  Canon Hudson, as he was known by all parishioners, was the Rector of Ingatestone and Curate of Buttsbury from 1952 (sixty years ago) to 1988.  His epitaph in St Mary’s Church, Buttsbury, describes him accurately as “A loving Priest and true friend to all”.  I remember him well, as would all who lived in Ingatestone during those years.  The book is an interesting and insightful read.

Canon Hudson loved Ingatestone and its people.  He was involved in many aspects of village life: taking assemblies at least three days a week at the (CofE aided) Junior School; as Chairman of Governors of all three schools; a regular visitor to Brownies and other local organisations; taking a full and active role as parish priest and taking an interest in wider diocese activity.  He was a highly educated man who enjoyed reading, and drew on his extensive knowledge to illustrate his sermons.  The parish magazine, ‘The Tower’, had a significant contribution by him, giving news of local events and personal reflections.  I remember someone calling it the “I magazine”, but given a chance to read it today the monthly editions would say much about a mid-twentieth century village.  It demonstrates a priest in touch with his parishioners, and must have provided Mr Langford with plenty of source material to create the biography.  Canon Hudson’s ministry was at a time of an enormous growth in the local population as Ingatestone developed into a small dormitory town.  Ingatestone was one of the first villages on the ‘great Essex road’ to be bypassed.  Until then the Rectory overlooked open fields. 

But he was very much of his time.  He did not like calling people by their Christian names – and it is unimaginable that he would have been called Canon Edward.  He regarded himself as an ‘English Catholic’, having a closer working relationship with the Catholic Church than “dissenters” – with whom he had “many friends and no enemies”.   He was against the ordination of women priests, writing that he hoped that the motion would be “crushingly rejected”.  Mr Langford wonders what he would have made of the decision to accept women priests, just four years after his death.  The only woman who attended his committal service was his widow.  Without doubt he was a highly respected community leader and, says the author, easily capable of becoming a Bishop.  Despite offers he would not leave Ingatestone.

It seems also he had a part in saving St Mary’s Church, Buttsbury, from demolition in the 1950s.  The old village had ceased to be a civil parish in the 1930s, being amalgamated into Stock and Billericay, and the old church in the country had been war-damaged requiring extensive repairs.  He wrote in ‘The Tower’, “people come to Buttsbury for peace and rest, and find it. … The present popularity of Buttsbury with its stark unadorned beauty and penetrating peace is not surprising”. 

Ongar: An extract from the Commonplace Book of Edward Reeve c1860

Longfellow beautifully says that “Sunday is the golden clasp, that binds together the volume of the week”.

A Day Out In ... Colchester

A series of Colchester postcards: to inspire a visit to the historic town in Essex.

St Botolphs Priory

Albert Cottage, Mountnessing, Brentwood, Essex.

Aug 19 07

Thanks very much for the letter received by this evening’s post.  I shall write tomorrow if I do not get time this evening so you may expect a letter Wednesday morning.

Love & c

W

Colchester Abbey Gateway

Mountnessing, Essex.

Aug 21 07

Will you thank Susy very much for postcard received this morning from Swansea. I am very sorry that the Bangor Ladies’ Choir did not win and am sure that their performance was nothing to be ashamed of.

Before the Dissolution of the Monastries, Colchester Abbey was one of the most important in the Kingdom with a mitred abbot at its head who sat in the House of Lords the same as the Bishops.  Don’t you think that the gateway of the Abbey is grand.  My last card showed the ruins of S. Botolphs Priory which was a distinct foundation from the abbey over a mile away.

Love best wishes. W

Colchester R Colne

Mountnessing, Essex

Aug 22 07

The collapse of the Promenade at the rear of the Eisteddfed Pavilion was a nasty accident.

I am glad to see from this morning’s paper that none from Bangor or any that I know were hurt. Was Susy anywhere near at the time?  I was rather apprehensive when I saw stop-press notice of the accident in yesterday evening’s paper.

Love & cc

W

Colchester Lexden Church

Mountnessing, Brentwood, Essex

Aug 23 07

Letter received by this evening’s post.

House is full of children & an uproarious children’s party is in progress.

Humour – good.

Will send a letter tomorrow morning.

Weather is cloudy.

Love & best wishes. W.

Colchester, Stockwell Street

Mountnessing, Brentwood

Aug 26 07

Many thanks for N.W. Chronicle which I received by his morning’s post. I was pleased to see that North Wales was well represented in the literary successes at the National Eisteddfod and among them I noticed the name of the Bishop’s Chaplain (Rev W Williams).  No one would think from a casual acquaintance that he had so  much in him.

Would you like a day in London in a few days before coming here?  I believe I can arrange it if you like.  Let me know as early as you can so that I can make arrangements.  Love & C. W.

Colchester, North Hill

Albert Cottage, Mountnessing, Brentwood

Aug 27 07

This view shows the road leading down to the R Colne & the railway Stn. You will be able to realise from it that the hill on which Colchester is built is very steep, hence its strength as a military centre from former times. The church, to whose tower the Clock is attached, is S. Peter’s Church, which is the reputed oldest church in the town.  In the time of the Roman occupation Colchester was one their most important cities, more important in some respects than London. The city was the see of the ancient British Church & its bishop attended the Council of Arles (AD 395 I believe).

Received letter this evening.  Am disappointed.  Shall write to-night or tomorrow morning.

Love & c. W

Colchester, High Street & Town Hall

Aug 29^th 1907

The weather has been splendid since Monday and the sun has been hot. I think it is showing what it can do so as to be sure of giving you fine weather when you come.  I hope that will be very soon now.  I expect it is hot in the workroom today if you are having similar weather to what we are.

I was wondering this morning if you were up betimes & attended the Prayer time before going to work.  If you had done so I hope you won’t feel too good for the rest of the day. I wonder if Mr Griffiths is the better for the situation. I shall expect to hear when I see you that never before were the sermons so good & consequently that the hearers were never in a more Christian mood.

That is the measure of a good sermon, isn’t it?

Love & best wishes.  W.

BLACKMORE HISTORY NEWS - February 2012

An interesting month on TV and radio:
'Great Expectations' filmed on Essex marshes
'Any Questions' on Radio 4 from the Ingatestone Anglo European School
'Songs of Praise' broadcast from Colchester
'Great British Railway Journeys: Series 3', Programmes 3 and 4: Michael Portillo visited Essex beginning at Layer Marney Tower, Maldon; Chelmsford - with a visit to Marriages flour mill; Blake Hall Station - on the former Central Line between Ongar and Epping; Little Tawney Hall - to discuss migration of farmers at the end of the nineteenth century; Southend Pier.
and a programme on Dr David Livingstone, without mention of Ongar where he trained to be a missionary, but of his exploration through Africa.