Fryerning: Diamond Jubilee

A photograph of St Mary's Church, Fryerning 

taken at about 9.00am on Tuesday 5 June 2012 - while it was still sunny!

Blackmore: Diamond Jubilee Flypast

A matter of minutes ago over Blackmore. 

I asked someone to confirm what the 'planes were. 

"That is an easy one, it is the Battle of Britain Memorial Flight on their way to the jubilee fly past. 

"The aircraft are (from top left to bottom right) a spitfire, a spitfire, a hurricane, a Lancaster  and another 2 spitfires.  The Lancaster is obviously the larger one. You can tell the spitfires from the hurricane as the former have elliptical wings whereas the latter are longer and thinner with squarer ends." 

BLACKMORE HISTORY NEWS: June 2012

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

Diamond Jubilee

“The County of Essex” celebrated “the Diamond Jubilee of Her Majesty Queen Elizabeth II” with a Choral Evensong at Chelmsford Cathedral on Sunday 27 May.  The Bishop of Chelmsford in his address referred to the Queen’s life of devotion and of her service to our nation.  2012 is a defining year in our history – Diamond Jubilee, Olympics and Paralympic Games in London and Essex.  It’s a time to celebrate and give thanks.

Golden Jubilee

Was it over that Golden Jubilee weekend ten years’ ago that Concorde flew low over The Green at Blackmore on its way to Buckingham Palace?  2002 – seems very recent.

Silver Jubilee

I am old enough to remember Queen Elizabeth II’s Silver Jubilee 35 years ago.  Monday 6 June 1977 was a drizzly day in Ingatestone.  There was a great family picnic at Seymour Field and the distribution of Silver Jubilee Crowns (coins) to all children.  The following day there was an interdenominational service, but our family stayed at home to watch the national Thanksgiving Service on television.

Anniversaries

Hylands Park

Hylands Park, Chelmsford, is really worth a visit over this summer – synonymous with the V Festivals of course.  The house began restoration 25 years ago in 1987.

One hundred years ago, on 26 June 1912, the park made national news when there was a society wedding at Widford Church.  The bridegroom was Mr Claude Grahame-White, an early aviator.  His bride was Miss Dorothy Taylor from New York.  It was a lavish affair with a fete held in the grounds of the house, with the groom giving demonstration flights in his aeroplane.  These were the early days of aviation, with ‘planes looking no more than motorised prams with wings.  Many of his friends flew in for the event.  (For more read Stephen Foreman’s book, ‘Hylands’.)

(More on Hylands: http://www.thisistotalessex.co.uk/Trudie-shocked-mistress-mansion-naked-bath/story-16106180-detail/story.html)

Anniversaries

Epping and Ongar Railway

A steam-powered locomotive returned for the first time in 45 years (1957) to the stretch of railway line previously occupied by London Transport.  The ‘Epping and Ongar Railway’, a preservation line, had a grand opening last weekend (24 – 27 May 2012) creating much media interest.  (See report http://thelocaltalk.net/eppingforest/2012/05/22/surprise-guest-at-epping-ongar-railway/ and follow link to Railway’s website http://eorailway.co.uk/).

Anniversaries

Ongar United Reformed Church

Founded 350 years ago as an Independent Chapel when Church of England clergy became obliged to use the new 1662 Book of Common Prayer of be deprived of their living (i.e. sacked).  The church building is Victorian.

Anniversaries

Ingatestone United Reformed Church

The church celebrates its bi-centenary of foundation with a special service at the end of June and two history days over the weekend of 14 and 15 July.  Congregationalists have met in Ingatestone before 1812 but it was the building of the first chapel on the present site which is the focus of thanks and celebration.

Book

The Diamond Queen

Andrew Marr’s book ‘The Diamond Queen’ (Macmillan, 2011), a more detailed account than the recent television series, is subtitled ‘Elizabeth II and her people’.  It charts the history of the monarchy from George V to the present, and includes, inevitably, a parallel political history of the nation; Churchill, an Essex MP being the Queen’s first of twelve Prime Ministers.  During the First World War the Saxe-Coburg-Gotha family restyled themselves as the Windsors, a rather English, if invented, name.  The book refers to: “The Bishop of Chelmsford [Rt Rev John Edwin Watts-Ditchfield], an influential figure, had told [Lord] Stamfordham [the King’s private secretary] that ‘the stability of the throne would be strengthened if the Prince of Wales married an English lady … she must be intelligent and above all full of sympathy’.”  The constant evolving of monarchy is a thread which Andrew Marr follows, drawing comparison with the Duke of York’s marriage to Elizabeth Bowes Lyon and Prince William to Catherine Middleton.

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 Lady and the Robber: A True Story

In a large and lonely house, situated in the south of England, there once lived a lady and her two maid servants.  They were far away from all human habitations, but they seem to have felt no fear, and to have dwelt there peacefully and happily.  It was the lady’s custom to go round the house with her maids every evening to see that the windows and doors were properly secured.  One night she had accompanied them as usual, and ascertained all was safe.  They left her in the passage close to her room and then went to their own which was quite the other side of the house.  As the lady opened her door, she distinctly saw a man underneath her bed.  What could she do?  Her servants were far away and could not hear her if she screamed for help, and even if they had come to her assistance, those three weak women were no match for a desperate housebreaker.  How then did she act?  She trusted in God. 

Quietly she closed the door, and locked it on the inside, which she always was in the habit of doing.  She then leisurely brushed her hair, and putting on her dressing gown, she took her Bible and sat down to read.  She read aloud, and chose a chapter which had peculiar reference to God’s watchfulness over us and constant care for us, by night and day.

When it was finished she knelt and prayed at great length, still uttering the words aloud, especially commending herself and servants to God’s protection, and dwelling upon their utter helplessness, and dependence upon Him to preserve them from all dangers.

At last she rose from her knees, put out her candle, and laid down in bed; but she did not sleep.  After a few minutes had elapsed, she was conscious that a man was standing by her bedside.  He addressed her, and begged her not to be alarmed.  “I came here, said he, to rob you, but after the words you have read, and the prayers you have uttered no power on earth could induce me to hurt you or touch any thing in your house.  But you must remain perfectly quiet, and not attempt to interfere with me.  I shall now give a signal to my companions which they will understand and then we will go away and you may sleep in peace, for I give you my solemn word that no one shall harm you, and not the smallest thing belonging to you be disturbed”.  He then went to window, opened it, and whistled softly, returning to the lady’s side (who had not spoken or moved) he said, “Now I am going.  Your prayer has been heard, and no disaster will befall you”.

He left the room, and soon all was quiet, and the lady fell asleep, still upheld by that calm and beautiful faith and trust.  When the morning dawned and she awoke, we may be assured that she poured out her thanksgivings and praise to Him who had “defended” her under His wings and “kept” her safe under His feathers “so that she may not be afraid of the terror of the night”.  The man proved true to his word, and not a thing in the house had been taken.  From this true story let us learn to put our whole trust and confidence in God.

It afterwards was confessed by the Robber, if she had given the slightest alarm he was fully determined to murder her; so that it was really God’s good guidance that told her to follow the course she took.  Then before he went away, he said, “I never heard such words before, I must have the book you read out of” and carried off her Bible, willingly given you may be sure. 

The lady was sometime after attending a religious meeting in Yorkshire where after several noted clergy and others had spoken, a man arose stating that he was employed as one of the book-hawkers of the Society, and told the story of the midnight adventure, as the wonderful power of the Word of God.  He concluded with, “I was that man”.  The lady arose from her seat in the hall and said quietly, “It is all quite true.  I was the lady”.

Area: "High Country History Group" Journal No. 42

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

-          High Country.  An extract from ‘The People’s History of Essex’ on Hill Hall and Stapleford Tawney (see http://blackmorehistory.blogspot.co.uk/2011/11/theydon-mount-peoples-history-of-essex.html)

-          Richard Thomas Dutton Budworth (Part 2)

-          Coach Accident. 1832. Harlow

-          Curates of St Margaret’s Stanford Rivers

-          Crime Watch!  Extracts from the Essex Standard

-          Kelly’s Directory 1933 – Theydon Mount

-          Fare Discrimination

-          Book Review. Martyn Lockwood. Murder & Crime, Essex

-          What The Papers Said!

-          Sarah Fuller Flower Adams

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

Expression of ideas

A bud is generally a more elegant and complimentary offering than a full-blown or over-blown flower.  If you wish your idea to expand, do not let the whole process of expansion take place in your own writing, or conversation; leave part of it for the mind of the hearer or reader.  Especially if you wish to act upon a deep mind leave the gunpowder to explode within, and beneath, as in a mine – it is enough to light the train.  In connection with this may be quoted a passage from Bacon: “In a set speech in an assembly, it is expected a man should use all his reasons in the case he handleth but in private persuasions in great error”.

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

In the country every thing is good, every thing is beautiful – The benevolence of Deity is every where presented to the eye, and the heart participates in the tranquillity of the scene.  In the town (Brighton) we are constantly disgusted by the vicar, follies, and consequent miseries of mankind.

Green fields are my delight, I am not only better in health but even in heart in the country.  A fine day exhilarates me, and if it rains, I behold the grass assume a richer verdure as it drinks the moisture, every thing that I behold is very good, except man, and in London I see nothing but man, and his works.  Surely a County Clergyman, or Esquire, with a tolerable income, is in a very enviable situation.  ER

Blackmore: Groves family

Received 11 April 2012

I am emailing to see whether you have any information on the Groves family from Blackmore.

Louisa (or Louise) Groves was my great-grandmother. She was born in Blackmore around 1855, the eldest of three daughters of Joseph Groves born c. 1834 in Blackmore and Sarah Groves (nee Bradley) born c. 1835 in Matching Green. Louisa and her sisters Rosa born c.1858 and Sarah born c.1860 are recorded in the 1861 census as living in 26 Village Cottages, Blackmore. Joseph is an agricultural labourer.

Joseph Groves died in 1864 of catarrh and asthma. It would appear that her widowed mother Sarah left Blackmore and moved to London in search of work. Louisa told her grandchildren that she was brought up by her two maiden aunts in Ganders Hall. The two aunts are probably Ellen and Ann Groves, who are listed as servants working at Howletts Hall in the 1861 census. Louisa claimed that Ganders Hall belonged to her family and that she should have inherited it on her aunts' deaths, but this seems fanciful.

I cannot find birth certificates for Louisa or her sisters, nor can I find a marriage certificate for Joseph Groves and Sarah Bradley. This may be because the family were, I believe, Congregationalists.

Sarah Groves did remarry in Blackmore, in 1870, to William Whybrow, a lunatic attendant, from Whittel Canfead (I am not sure if that is the right spelling). The family then moved permanently to London, where William joined the railways. William, tragically, died in a railway accident in 1972 and Sarah subsequently remarried.

Do you have any information on the Groves family?

Kind regards

Ysanne Burns

Replied 21 April 2012

Hello Ysanne

I am sorry I do not have information on this family.  Blackmore has a Baptist Chapel not a Congregational Chapel.   Congregationalists met in Ingatestone, Writtle, Ongar, Brentwood and Billericay, to name five local places.  These are now part of the United Reformed Church.  I suggest you look at the Essex Ancestors section of the Essex Record Office to see whether there are baptism, marriage and burial registers for this denomination.

Andrew

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

An authentic description of Names, rather odd, but very assuring and perfectly true

J.G. Sparrow married to Miss Crowe

Mr Slapp to Miss Whipham

Mr Greengrass to Miss Hay

Captain Legge

Captain Foot

Captain Coward

Captain Slaughter

Mr Birch, schoolmaster

Fox, Hare, Leveret, Rabbit

Stoat, Mole, Bird

Rook, Grouse, Partridge

Swallow, Martin, Pigeon, Dove, Peacock

Swan, Hawke, Kite, Wren

Eagle, Robin, Crab, Stag, Deer, Roebuck

Squirrel, Salmon, Roach, Spratt

Leech, Bigg, Small, Little

BLACKMORE HISTORY NEWS: May 2012

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

Blackmore Archaeology: Lundishes

A report of an archaeological dig in Blackmore has been published.   Lundishes (photographed) is a 15^th century building is the centre of the village behind the Post Office and next to the Leather Bottle public house.  The work was carried out in 2010 ahead of the construction of an extension to the house.  Finds included medieval pottery, the date of which supports the theory that Blackmore village first came into existence during the 12^th century.  A Roman tile is believed to be manure scatter from a nearby farm. (See http://cat.essex.ac.uk/reports/CAT-report-0553.pdf).

Open ended question

A public meeting has been held in Blackmore to hear about proposals to build on fields adjacent to Woollard Way and Orchard Piece in the centre of Blackmore village, and Plovers Mead in Wyatts Green.  The whole thing is very much an open ended question: the ends of Woollard Way and Orchard Piece built in the 1960s have never been closed off by a property leaving scope for extension of the respective small estates.  Concern has been expressed about the number and type of property proposed. (see http://www.thisistotalessex.co.uk/Villagers-Blackmore-unite-oppose-green-belt/story-15864907-detail/story.html ).

Stondon Massey talk

I gave an evening talk to a small group on the history of St Peter & St Paul Church, Stondon Massey.  It was a little about the building’s history as well as some of the Stondon people – some quite eccentric – who were associated with the parish. 

Summer Recess

I will be taking a bit of a break from weekly publishing on the blog this summer.  It’s 2012!  The Diamond Jubilee needs to be celebrated as well as the Olympic Games just down the road.  There’s also the small matter of catching up and preparing for publication a myriad of research.

Miscellaneous

Mountnessing: Evacuated during WWII.   Of interest because Walter Reed was my great-grandfather.  http://www.francisfrith.com/mountnessing/memories/Evacuated-to-Mountnessing_280561/

Ongar: Titanic connection.  A report in a local newspaper remembering Father Byles, who http://www.guardian-series.co.uk/news/9649772.ONGAR__Priest_who_went_down_with_Titanic_remembered/  and http://www.thisistotalessex.co.uk/Views-Blue-plaques-provide-timeless-reminder/story-15859560-detail/story.html and http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/uk-england-essex-17583535

Willingale (and other places); VAT on church building work.  Bishop speaks out about tax on heritage buildings. http://www.brentwoodweeklynews.co.uk/news/chelmsfordnews/9645606.Bishop__Church_tax_is_a_kick_in_the_teeth/

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

A Highwayman well mounted stopt a Carriage in which was a gentleman alone, the highwayman with a diamond ring upon his finger, presented a Pistol at him from the window and politely said to him, “The price of this Pistol is five guineas”.  As soon as he had received the money, and delivered up the pistol, the gentleman exclaimed: “Now you rascal, unless you immediately return me the five guineas, I will assuredly blow your brains out”.  “Fire away Sir”, was the answer, “it is not loaded and I wish you a very good night”.

Another Highwayman stopt the Carriage of a Nobleman and said, “I have heard my Lord you have frequently declared you never would be robbed by a single highwayman”.  “Nor will I,” he said, “there are two of you”.  When the highwayman looked back he shot him dead.

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

The Secret of Warm Feet

Many of the colds which people are said to catch commence at the feet.  To keep those extremities constantly warm therefore is to effect an insurance against the almost interminable list of disorders which spring out of a “slight cold”.  Never be tightly shod.  Boots, or shoes when they fit closely press against the veins of the foot and prevent the free circulation of the blood.  When on the contrary they do not embrace the foot too tightly, the blood gets fair play and the spaces left between the leather and the stocking are filled up with a comfortable supply of warm air.  Never sit in damp shoes.  It is very often imagined that unless they be positively wet, it is not necessary to change them when the feet are at rest.  This is a fallacy, for when the least dampness is absorbed into the sole, it is attracted further to the foot itself by its own heat, and thus perspiration is dangerously checked.  Any person may prove this by trying the experiment of neglecting the rule, and his feet will certainly feel cold and damp after a few minutes, although, on taking off the shoe and examining it, it will appear to be properly dry.  Did every one follow these rules, there would be no more cold feet and bad colds.

Blackmore: Diamond Jubilee Walk

A new booklet will be released about Blackmore next weekend (28 / 29 April 2012) to celebrate the Queen's Diamond Jubilee.   Copies will go on sale at the Priory Church of St Laurence, Blackmore, when the Friends of St Laurence hold their Art and Photographic Exhibition.  The walk booklet will cost just £2. 

This self-guided walk originated as a guided tour around the historic centre of the village.  For the Queen’s Diamond Jubilee it has been adapted it as a contribution and celebration of this great event. 

Two circular walks – one short, the other slightly longer - start at the parish church situated at the end of Church Street but can be begun at any suitable point.

It also is appropriate to announce the release on the booklet today - it being our Queen's birthday.  Happy birthday ma'am.

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

Lines on going to Church

Some go to Church, just for a walk,

Some only go, to laugh, and talk,

Some go there for speculation,

Some go there for observation,

Some go there to meet a lover,

Some attend their faults to cover,

Some go there to meet a friend,

Some go there the time to spend,

Some go there to learn the Parson’s name,

Some go there to resound his fame,

Some go there to doze, and nod,

But few go there to worship God.

Blackmore: Crickett family

Received 9 March 2012

(via Church Office)

To whom it may concern and Greetings from New York. My name is Ron Giacone, I am the grandson of Robert D. Crickett, who once resided at 500 Mawney Rd., Romford. Robert was born in 1892 in Tottenham, died in 1982, in West Hempstead, New York. I am in possession of a small pamphlet entitled "The Priory Church of St. Laurence" A Short History And Guide 1973, compiled by Ms. Constance Simmons (I would add here that I also knew Connie, as she lived across the street from my grandparents’ house, on Mawney Rd. She also visited with us here in New York on several occasions through the years).

There is a small comment in the pamphlet, listed under the heading "The Chapel" which details that " In July 1900, Mr. Robert Crickett gave permission for the coffins of his relatives to be placed below the floor of the Church. The North-East corner of the Church had been a sealed vault - the Crickett vault. With Mr. Crickett's permission, the vault was opened, the coffins buried, a window opened at the east end of the north wall and the side chapel was furnished". I am curious as to;

1.   Who is the Robert Crickett that gave permission to move the bodies, as my grandfather would have been only 8 years of age at the time.

2.   Can you advise the names of the relatives who are buried below the floor of the church

3.  Is there any marking or headstone for these bodies

4.  Are there any existing Church records of the Crickett family that you could copy and email to me.

Additionally, if you could give me any information regarding Connie Simmons; when she passed away and where she may be buried.  Connie was a lovely person and a close family friend to my grandparents and my mother, Eileen (Crickett) Giacone. Eileen is still living and is now 89 years of age. She resides in Maryland with my older brother Michael.

Any information you can provide regarding the Crickett family will be very much appreciated.

Sincerely,

Ron Giacone

Replied  10 March 2012

Hello Ron

Thank you for the e mail sent to the Vicarage.  I am the church’s local historian and have come across the Crickitt family during my research.  I will look up the information requested and let you have a response as soon as I can.

I have a separate blog www.blackmorehistory.blogspot.com and website www.blackmorehistory.co.uk which may be of interest to you.

Regards

Andrew Smith

Received 10 March 2012

Andrew. Thank you for your response. I look forward to hearing from you with additional information, at your convenience. Should you require any information to help in your search regarding the Crickett's, please advise and I'll do my best to provide it.

Looking through the two linked blogs, one thing I find of interest is the spelling of the name. It is spelled both as Crickitt and Crickett in various places through the documents. Could this have been just a common spelling error over time.

Best regards,

Ron 

Replied 12 March 2012

Hello Ron

Please find below the answers to your questions gleaned from my notes.

1.   Who is the Robert Crickett that gave permission to move the bodies, as my grandfather would have been only 8 years of age at the time.

A note on the Crickett family mausoleum appeared on the blog in December 2010: http://blackmorehistory.blogspot.com/2010/12/blackmore-crickett-family.html.  The area was converted into a Side Chapel in 1901/02. 

The letter giving permission for the removal of the bodies reads as follows:

Copy of a letter received from Mr Crickitt respecting the Vault in the Church

Rozelle

Lansdown Road

Cheltenham

15 July 1900

Dear Sir

I quite agree with you that it would be much better that the coffins of my relatives should be placed below the floor of the Church instead of above it for sanitary reasons not regarded in past days …

Rob E Crickitt

2.   Can you advise the names of the relatives who are buried below the floor of the church

Please see above.

3.  Is there any marking or headstone for these bodies

Wall plaques exist for members of the family on what was previously the wall of the mausoleum, now the church vestry.  These read as follows:

To the memory of

Charles Alexander Crickitt

of Smyths Hall Esquire

many years one of the

Representatives of Parliament

of the Borough of Ipswich

who died the 16^th Jany 1803

aged 65 years

also to the memory of

Sarah the widow of

Charles Alexander Crickitt Esq

who departed this life

the 29 day of July 1828

aged 84 years

In memory of

Harriet Alexander Crickitt

the last surviving child

of the late

Charles Alexander Crickitt Esq M.P.

formerly of

Smyths Hall in this parish

she died

the 16^th of November 1868

Aged 79.

4.  Are there any existing Church records of the Crickett family that you could copy and email to me.

Church records are preserved at the Essex Record Office in Chelmsford. 

5.   … Any information regarding Connie Simmons; when she passed away and where she may be buried.

Constance Simmons died in May 1988, aged 82.  At the time of her death she was living in York.  She is buried with her late husband, Albert, in Blackmore churchyard.

6.   Any information you can provide regarding the Crickett family will be very much appreciated.

The final burial entry for a Crickitt, perhaps no relation, was ‘Percy Scott Hill Scott-Crickitt [of] 19 Campbell Road, Croydon [buried] 26 April 1919, [aged] 53 years’.

According to genealogical notes (dated 1908) held in the Essex Record Office [ERO T/G 82/1], the Crickitt family “were bankers at Ipswich, Colchester, Chelmsford and Maldon. They started the Old Bank, Ipswich in 1798. They represented Ipswich in Parliament for 50 years. They owned several manors, among them Smyth Hall Blackmore, pulled down by Miss H Crickitt, it was an old Elizabethan Hall”.

The family is mentioned in the following records:

Crickett	…, Esq	1766	Patron to Church	GLM 9558
Crickett	Charles Alexander, Esq	1778	"Two families of note". Visitation	ERO T/A 778/20
Crickett	Miss	1863	Smyths Hall	White's Directory
Crickitt	Miss	1846	Home Cottage	Kelly's Directory
Crickitt	Miss	1848	Smyth Hall	White's Directory

See also Suckling’s’ Memorials and Antiquities of Essex’ (1845): http://blackmorehistory.blogspot.com/2009/06/blackmore-revd-suckling-memorials-1845.html

Regards

Andrew

Received 13 March 2012

Andrew, Thank you so much for your effort and response to my inquiry. I am starting to think this is much more a situation of coincidence than family ancestry. As far as I know, my grandfather’s family had nothing to do with the banking industry and I'm sure I would have heard about any relative (even distant) being a member of Parliament, as detailed in your records. They were all working-class people from Tottenham, London. My grandfather was in the jewellery business and worked in a small shop in Hatton Garden, London.

Additionally, Ms. Connie Simmons may also be a coincidence, as I do not believe she ever married and lived in Romford on Mawney Rd.  from at least 1954 until her death. So, unless her husband Albert died prior to 1954, this too seems to be a different Connie Simmons.

Again, I am not sure of why the different spelling of the last names Crickitt & Crickett, but both spellings seem to be used interchangeably when describing the Crickett family graves at the Church in Blackmore.

Thanks again for your help.  I will continue to read through your forwards to see if I can find more definitive connections to my grandfather’s side of the family tree.

Best regards,

Ron Giacone

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

Who says too much, says nothing.

Persons who are good at excuses are seldom good at anything else.

Gold wins its way, where angels might despair.

Seldom abandon your ground as long as you think yourself right, and never perversely maintain it, when you know yourself wrong.

A person speaking to a very deaf man, and getting angry at his not catching his meaning said, “Why it is as plain as A.B.C.”.  “That may be, Sir,” replied the poor man, “but I am D.E.F.”.

One way to avoid failure, is not to try it.

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

Verses written in the first leaf of a Bible

Blessed is the man who by temptation tried,

In wisdom makes this holy law his guide,

Serene and undisturbed moments flow,

He does no wrong, and therefore feels no woe,

What tho’ adversity with powerful sway,

Clos’d for a time the sunshine of his day,

And o’er his head, while life’s horizon hours

Affliction, dark’ning, all her tempest pours

Calm is his breast, with conscious virtue warm

He bears, unmoved, the fury of the storm,

Taught by these flowing precepts from on high,

Learns how to live, and having liv’d to die.

Fryerning: Writtle Forest

Inspired by David Hockney exhibition.  Felled trees in Writtle Forest

BLACKMORE HISTORY NEWS - April 2012

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

Blackmore Ancestors

My booklet, previously called ‘Hatched, Matched and Despatched’, has had a makeover and is now available again as ‘Blackmore Ancestors’.  The 24-page booklet “does not regurgitate the contents of the [Baptism, Marriage and Burial] Registers [of Blackmore, Essex] but uses two late Victorian sources – one written appropriately in the year of Queen Victoria’s Diamond Jubilee (1897) – to comment on the social changes of the parish over the past 400 years”.  It is available from Megarrys and the local church, priced £2, and sold in aid of funds for the Priory Church of St Laurence, Blackmore.

Titanic connections

An event which cannot be avoided on television at the present time is the maiden voyage and sinking to the SS Titanic one hundred years’ ago on 15 April.  The Catholic Priest of St Helen’s Church, Ongar, was one of those who perished.  Father Andrew writes in the Spring 2012 edition of the Stondon Massey News (follow link http://www.stondonmasseypc.co.uk/local-information/parish-magazine/ ) how Father Thomas Byles helped women and children get into the few lifeboats which were available and how he ministered to those who would likely perish by giving absolution and blessings.  “he then began the recitation of the rosary”.  Many times Father Byles was asked to board a lifeboat, but he refused.  A survivor recalled that he could distinctly hear the priest’s voice as his craft left the stricken vessel.  Father Byles is commemorated in a stained glass window at the church: “Pray for the Reverend Thomas Byles, for eight years Rector of this Mission, whose heroic death in the disaster to SS Titanic, earnestly devoting his last moments to the religious consolation of his fellow passengers, this window commemorates.”

Scott of the Antarctic

Less has been made in the media of the expedition by Captain Scott and his comrades one hundred years ago – which is a shame.  The party were just a few days too late to be the first to reach the South Pole and all perished on their return journey.  Captain Oates, whose family lived at Gestingthorpe in the north of Essex, is famously recorded as saying “I am just stepping outside for a moment … “.

Miscellaneous

Blackmore:  ‘Antique Road Trip’ televised 21 February 2012.  Megarrys in Blackmore village green featured.  http://www.antique-teashop.co.uk/?p=638

Fryerning: Unusual church photo. http://ellispictures.com/2012/02/24/the-church-at-fryerning/

High Ongar:  British Legion branch closes after 82 years. http://www.thisistotalessex.co.uk/post-British-legion/story-15351662-detail/story.html

Ingatestone:  Old bottles discovered on High Street fire station site.  Former dump.  http://www.thisistotalessex.co.uk/Old-bottles-unearthed-builders-dig-deeply/story-15587726-detail/story.html

Stondon Massey:  William Byrd article ahead of Cardinall Musick’s tour.  http://www.ft.com/cms/s/2/73e967be-597c-11e1-abf1-00144feabdc0.html#axzz1qfnHxThM .  For more visit http://www.williambyrdfestival.blogspot.com

Writtle:  Lead stolen – again.  It is part of a major problem in which thieves target historic buildings for personal gain, which caring one jot about the consequences on the local churchgoers and community.  Hands off I say!!   http://www.thisistotalessex.co.uk/Writtle-church-victim-second-lead-theft/story-15295682-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

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.