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John Bagg of Springfield, Massachusetts

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Seventeenth-century New Englanders were wary of strangers. In Springfield, Massachusetts, newcomers had to be approved by the town residents before they could stay for more than a month, but when John Bagg moved to Springfield around 1657, he not only stayed, he married the daughter of one of the town’s leading citizens.

John’s origins are obscure, but once he settled in Springfield, town records were thorough, and the life of my seven-times great-grandfather was well documented. The first record of John Bagg’s name there was his marriage to Hannah Burt, daughter of Henry Burt and Ulalia March, on Dec. 24, 1657.1 Soon after, he opened an account at John Pynchon’s general store. He also worked for Pynchon, earning several shillings a day for fetching hay and stones, felling timber, reaping wheat and trimming the orchard.2

In 1659, he was listed in the ninth of 10 rows in the meeting house (the church), where seating was assigned according to status in the community. Three years later, he had moved up a row.

In 1662, John and several friends appeared in court, charged with the illegal act of playing cards. He pleaded guilty and paid a fine.

Another incident, involving a breach of town regulations, seems trivial today. John had been named a fence-viewer, an important responsibility since escaped livestock could damage crops. When he and his fence-viewing partner Reice Bedortha observed defects in a neighbour’s fence, town officials fined the owner. At the same time, John complained there was a defect in Bedortha’s fence, but Bedortha countered that it wasn’t his fence. Both men were fined for not carrying out their fence-viewing duties properly.3  

The inhabitants of Springfield all supported their families as subsistence farmers. No one became rich, but neither did they starve. They mainly acquired farmland as land grants from the town. John’s first grant, a six-acre parcel of land, was approved in 1660. In 1664, he purchased 20 acres on the Chicopee Plain and, in the same year, the town granted him 30 acres near the Agawam River (now the Westfield River).

In 1668, John and two friends leased another 40 acres. Cash was always in short supply, so they paid half the rent in “good merchantable wheate, and the other half in Pease and Indian corne, all good and merchantable.”4 The town later granted him several additional small pieces of land.

Springfield, the first town built in the western interior of the Massachusetts Bay Colony, was founded beside the Connecticut River in 1636. The site was chosen primarily for commercial reasons. The Great River, as people called it, provided transportation, while meadows provided grazing for livestock and the soil was fertile. The town founders purchased land on both the east and west sides of the Connecticut River from the indigenous people. The town was on the east side and most of John’s property was on the other side, in what later became West Springfield.

The destruction of much of Springfield in 1675, during King Philip’s War, must have been the most terrifying event of John’s life. Town residents had been on good terms with many of the area’s indigenous people, but a bloody conflict erupted in 1675. Moe than 30 houses and 25 barns in Springfield were burned, as well as several mills and large quantities of corn that had been stored for the coming winter.

John’s and Hannah’s wedding was another milestone. When they married, she was 16; he may have been considerably older. Hannah was the ninth of Henry and Ulalia Burt’s 13 children, and the first member of the Burt family to be born in the colony.

John’s Obscure Origins

About 40 years ago, my mother wondered, who was the first member of the Bagg family to come to North America? She turned to Debrett’s, a company that specialized in researching British aristocratic families. Meanwhile, she told her friend Carol, from Boston, about her interest in the Bagg family history. Carol replied, “I’m descended from the Baggs too!” and she sent my mother an article about the family’s roots in colonial Massachusetts.6

With that information, Debrett’s prepared a report on four generations of the Bagg family in Springfield, Westfield and Pittsfield. Carol’s ancestor was Joseph Bagg (1740-1836) and ours was his brother Phineas (c. 1751-1823), who moved to Canada around 1795.3 Their great-grandfather, John Bagg (? – 1683), was the immigrant member of the family.

When John first appeared in Springfield records, 20 years had passed since the town was founded, and it was long after the Great Migration, the period between 1620 and 1640 when thousands of people emigrated from England to New England.

A book about the Burt family written in the 1890s said that John Bagg “is supposed to have emigrated from Plymouth, England.”9 My grandparents thought that we were descended from Sir James Bagge who was mayor of Plymouth in the early 1600s and lived in a mansion called Saltram, but the Debrett’s researcher concluded there was no evidence to connect him to my family.

Their report revealed that several individuals named John Bagg came to North America in the 17th century. The Original Lists of Persons of Quality, by John Camden Hotten, which listed emigrants, religious exiles, political rebels and others who went from Great Britain to the American Plantations, 1600-1700, listed a John Bagg who owned more than 10 acres of land in Barbados in 1638, but there is no evidence to suggest he relocated to Massachusetts 20 years later. 

A better bet is the John Bagg, age 16, who was transported to Virginia aboard the ship Safety in August, 1635.10 In 1991, researcher W. Denis Hanley of the New England Historic Genealogical Society (NEHGS) replied to Mother’s query. He suggested that John Bagg may have gone to Virginia as an indentured servant, having promised to work the land for several years, but broke that promise and sailed to Barbados where he was granted land, then eventually moved to Massachusetts. Or he might have gone to Virginia as an indentured servant, stayed on the plantation for a number of years and moved to Massachusetts in the 1650s.

If John Bagg left England at age 16 in 1635, he would have been 38 when he got married. As for his motivation to leave Virginia, there were few single women on the plantations there, so perhaps he came to Massachusetts to look for a wife and picked Springfield, hoping to find employment as a day labourer until he could acquire land of his own.

I have not followed up with further research in Virginia. But even if I find John Bagg – or Bag, Bagge, Begg, Bigg or Biggs – in the records there, it would be hard to say with certainty that he was the man who settled in Springfield, and we still do not know his origins in England. I have not pursued further research to determine when or where he was born since it would be so difficult to prove.

My own theory – and again, I have no evidence – is that someone in John’s family knew members of the Burt family in England, so John made his way to Springfield, where he had connections.

What Springfield records do show is that John and Hannah had 10 children: Hannah (1658-1740) married Nathaniel Sikes; Mercy (1660-1738) m. Ebenezer Jones; Daniel (1663); John (1665-1740) m. Mercy Thomas; Daniel (1668-1738) m. Hannah Phelps (my direct ancestors); Jonathan (1670-1746) m. Mary Weller; Abigail (1675-1739) m. Benjamin Cooley; James (1675-1689), Sarah (1678-?) m. 1. Benoni Atchison, 2. Samuel Barnard; Abilene, (1680- 1750).5

Hannah died, age 39, on Aug. 1, 1680,11 several days after giving birth to Abilene. Three years later, on Sept. 5, 1683, John Bagg “was sicke and died”.12

John’s probate record shows that Samuel Marshfield became guardian of sons John and James, and of baby Abilene, but it is not clear what happened to the other children. The inventory of his estate listed the simple belongings of a farmer: a yoke of oxen, a horse, some cows and swine, a cart, plow, axe, kettle, bedding, two coats, a pair of britches, a hat and a pair of stockings. His house and adjoining land were evaluated at 16 pounds. His debts totalled 50 pounds.13   

John may have had humble origins, but in 1893, Springfield historian Henry M. Burt wrote that John Bagg “appears to have been an industrious citizen and his descendants are among the most prosperous and intelligent people of recent times.”14

This story was previously posted in 2018 as two separate articles on my personal family history website Writing Up the Ancestors.

See also: Janice Hamilton, “Henry Burt, from Devon Clothier to Springfield Farmer”, Genealogy Ensemble, March 7, 2018. https://genealogyensemble.com/2018/03/07/henry-burt-from-devon-clothier-to-colonial-farmer/

Sources:

1. Massachusetts: Vital Records, 1621-1850 (Online Database: AmericanAncestors.org, New England Historic Genealogical Society, 2001-2016), accessed Feb. 21, 2018

2. Henry M. Burt, Silas W. Burt. Early Days in New England. Life and Times of Henry Burt of Springfield and Some of His Descendants. Springfield: Clark W. Bryan, printers, 1893. Internet Archive, p. 252-253 https://archive.org/details/earlydaysinnewen00burt_0/page/252/mode/1up, accessed Oct 1, 2026.

3. Henry M. Burt, The First Century of the History of Springfield. The Official Records from 1636 to 1736, with an historical review and biographical mention of the founders. Volume 1 Springfield, Mass: Printed and Published by Henry M. Burt, 1898. Internet Archive, p. 56, accessed Sept. 26, 2026..

4. Burt, Early Days in New England, p. 251.

5. Thomas B. Warren, Springfield Families, Vol. 1 (A-E), copied by Mercy Warren Chapter, Springfield, Mass, 1934-1935, p. 22.

6. Lyman Hotchkiss Bagg “Autobiography 1846-1895. Forming a supplement to the “Obituary Notice of a Yale Graduate of ’69 written by himself in 1890.” New York: printed for private distribution by Karl Kron, publisher; reprinted from the Biographical Records of the Yale Class of 1869, vol. I, p 24-32.

7.  Debrett, “The Bagg Family of Massachusetts, America and of Montreal, Canada. Research for Mrs. J.D. Hamilton, July, 1980.”

8. William A. Cooper, “The James Bagg of Lanesborough, Massachusetts” based on research made by John McIlvene. Conshohooken, Pa, 1918.

9. Henry M. Burt, Silas W. Burt. Early Days in New England. p.249.

10. Michael Tupper, editor. Passengers to America. A Consolidation of Ship Passenger Lists from The New England Historical and Genealogical Register. Baltimore: Genealogical Publishing Co., 1977, p. 98.

11. Massachusetts: Vital Records, 1621-1850 (Online Database:  AmericanAncestors.org, New England Historic Genealogical Society, 2001-2016), accessed Feb. 21, 2018.

12. Massachusetts: Vital Records, 1621-1850 (Online Database: AmericanAncestors.org, New England Historic Genealogical Society, 2001-2016), accessed Feb. 20, 2018.

13. Hampshire County, Massachusetts probate records 1660-1916. index, 1660-1971 [microform].

14. Burt, Early Days in New England, p. 250.

Additional Reading:

Virginia DeJohn Anderson. New England’s Generation, The Great Migration and the Formation of Society and Culture in the Seventeenth Century. Cambridge, U.K.: Cambridge University Press, 1991.

Lyman Hotchkiss Bagg “Autobiography 1846-1895. Forming a supplement to the “Obituary Notice of a Yale Graduate of ’69 written by himself in 1890.” New York: printed for private distribution by Karl Kron, publisher; reprinted from the Biographical Records of the Yale Class of 1869, vol. I, p 24-32.

Patricia Law Hatcher. Researching Your Colonial New England Ancestors. Provo, Utah: Ancestry Publishing, 2006.

Nathaniel Philbrick. Mayflower. A story of courage, community and war. New York: Penguin Books, 2007.

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From Civil War to Blitz: The Story of Plymouth’s Charles Church

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There is an old church in my hometown of Plymouth, Devon, England. As a child, I was used to seeing it right in the city centre. To me, it looked like a total wreck: no roof, with grass growing wildly inside the four remaining walls. I often wondered why was it still there?

Once one of the finest post-Reformation Gothic churches in the country, Charles Church now stands unexpectedly in the middle of a busy, modern roundabout. To anyone approaching it, the ruins serve as a deeply evocative landmark—a symbolic, silent witness to the devastating bombardment of the city during the Second World War, and the countless lives lost during those long years. For anyone familiar with Plymouth’s history, it remains the spiritual and symbolic heart of the city’s endurance. But the history of this place begins long before the Blitz.

Charles Church 1889

Built around 1640, the church came to be because King Charles I granted permission for a second parish to be created to ease the burden on the ancient St. Andrew’s Church. It wasn’t that St. Andrew’s was too small—it could comfortably seat 1,200 people—but rather, the town was experiencing deep religious controversy. Plymouth had grown into a fiercely Puritan town (a friction hinted at years earlier by the Pilgrim Fathers, who noted they felt at home here, “kindly entertained and courteously used by divers friends there dwelling”). (1)

Because of these theological differences between the Crown and the mainly Presbyterian Puritan townsfolk, the King ignored the request for a new church for seven years.

Eventually, Robert Trelawney—a Plymouth-born merchant, MP, and royalist sympathiser who would later settle lands in Maine—persuaded the King to finally sign the Act of Parliament in the summer of 1641. It cost the town £150. Construction was soon interrupted by the chaos of the English Civil War. (2)

Although its first minister, Francis Porter, began preaching to his flock in 1643, the building wasn’t officially completed and consecrated until 1665. Naturally, it was dedicated to “King Charles the Martyr.”

For the next three centuries, Charles Church was a thriving centre of spiritual life. By 1818, it was an Evangelical parish undergoing a massive expansion under its most famous minister, the Reverend Dr Robert Hawker. Dr Hawker served the parish for an impressive 43 years. He was a deeply compassionate man, beloved for educating the poor and supporting the needy. (3)

It was during this vibrant era, in 1818, that my own history intertwined with the church. My third great-grandparents, Mary Rogers (born in Penryn, Cornwall, in 1791) and William Bulford (born in Topsham, Devon, England, in 1786), were married there—very likely by Dr Hawker himself. William worked as a rope maker at the nearby Devonport Dockyard, and together he and Mary went on to raise eight children.

Portrait of Dr Robert Hawker

As the 19th century pressed on, the parish’s compassion would be tested by tragedy. In June 1832, Plymouth’s first terrible cholera epidemic struck, brought ashore by infected sailors. It tore through the densely populated town. The doctors did what they could, but without the medical knowledge of isolation, hundreds succumbed.

The tragedy struck the rectory itself: Charles Church Vicar James Carne and his wife, Charlotte, died within just four days of each other, having caught the disease while tirelessly tending to their dying flock. A memorial tablet honouring the victims used to stand in the churchyard.

A second wave of cholera devastated the overcrowded, unsanitary slums of the nearby Barbican in 1848. Local clergy, like the medically trained Rev. G.H. Hetling and Rev. George Prynne, walked the slums day and night. The devastation was absolute; on one haunting night, they entered a tenement housing court off Stonehouse Lane only to find every single inhabitant dead. (4)

The church survived the centuries of pestilence and political upheaval, only to meet its own end on the nights of March 21st and 22nd, 1941. During the height of the Plymouth Blitz, German incendiary bombs rained down, entirely gutting the beautiful structure.

Charles Church after the bombing, March 21st and 22nd, 1941

Instead of rebuilding it, the city chose to leave the shell intact. Today, it remains just as I saw it as a child: a roofless monument, encircled by traffic, keeping its silent vigil for the parish it served for 300 years. (5)

Click the link below to see a photo of Charles Church today.

Taken 30 Sept 2009

https://smartframe.historicenglandservices.org.uk/p/dp086899/ca3b16c11b12ff33e38d0f6e213f1b3f?source=aHR0cHM6Ly9oaXN0b3JpY2VuZ2xhbmQub3JnLnVrL2ltYWdlcy1ib29rcy9waG90b3MvaXRlbS9EUDA4Njg5OQ%3D%3D

Sources

  1. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Charles_Church,_Plymouth

      2.https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Robert_Trelawneyhttps://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/

      3. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Robert_Hawker

      4. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/The_Barbican,_Plymouth

      5. https://historicengland.org.uk/images-books/photos/item/DP086899

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        1945: A Year of Endings and Beginnings, at Home and Abroad.

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        As I approach my 80th birthday, I begin to think about the year I was born. What a year that was, a year of major global transitions and the historical year of my birth. I was fortunate to be born in November of that year, when most hostilities had ceased in the world and my home town.

        However, the hardships in Britain and Europe were just beginning. Now, we had to think about rebuilding our shattered lands.

        1945. Plymouth, Devon, England, after a Blitz Raid

        I have an interest in the ‘Home Front’ events that occurred in Britain during the Second World War, rather than military stories. However, military stories cannot be ignored as 1945 was quite the momentous year in the military and home fronts. Here is a timeline of key events both at home and abroad that occurred in 1945.

        January:

        World War 2 is in its final phase, even though Germany is in retreat. The British military pressed onward in Germany and Burma. The Battle of the Bulge ended a major German offensive on the Western Front.

        It was believed that Plymouth was being singled out for particularly ferocious attacks because it was home to Her Majesty’s Naval Base, Devonport, which was the largest Navy base in Western Europe and the Royal Navy’s repair and refuelling facility. The dockyard was staffed by women during the war, doing what was normally considered to be men’s work, as all the men were away fighting.

        On the home front, Britain was impacted by V-2 rocket attacks.

        Rationing, especially items like dried and canned fruit, was scarce. The Ministry of Food encouraged households to reduce waste and get creative with recipes. I still practice creating recipes and reducing waste to this day. This story is my 1950 Christmas with rations. Rationing in England lasted until I was 11.

        https://genealogyensemble.com/2021/12/29/memories-of-a-1950-british-christmas/

        February:

        I was conceived!!

        Allied bombers begin a major raid on the city of Dresden. Key events in February included the Yalta Conference between the Allied leaders, the beginning of the Battle of Iwo Jima and the final stages of the war in Europe.

        The Soviets captured Budapest, Hungary, and also encircled Breslau, Germany (now the modern-day city of Wroclaw, Poland) as Allied forces pushed toward the Rhine in the west.

        March:

        The 10th British and Allied forces successfully crossed the Rhine, the first time a foreign army had crossed the Rhine since the Napoleonic era.

        British forces pushed deeper into Germany with only scattered resistance.

        On the 27th and 29th, the final V1 flying bomb fell on Britain.

        Remarkable photo of a German V1 fully autonomous early cruise missile hitting the London area in 1945.

        April:

        1st The Battle of Okinawa continued for 82 days, resulting in heavy casualties for both American and Japanese forces. Japan launched ‘Kamikaze’ attacks against Allied naval forces.

        Dr Fritz Klein, an SS doctor, among some of his victims, Belsen, 24 April 1945

        Numerous Nazi concentration camps are liberated, revealing the full extent of the Holocaust to the world.

        4th Ohrdruf concentration camp, liberated by U.S. Forces.

        11th American troops discovered the Buchenwald concentration camp

        15th Liberation of the Bergen-Belsen concentration camp, by the British, who found thousands of ill prisoners and corpses.

        29th Dachau camp was liberated by U.S. Forces.

        Also on the 29th, Adolf Hitler married Eva Braun in the underground bunker.

        30th Adolf Hitler commits suicide, shooting himself at the age of 56 years old, whilst Eva Braun takes a poison pill.

        German forces, the last fighting force on the Western Front, surrendered en masse.

        May:

        7th Germany signs an unconditional surrender,

        8th VE Day – victory in Europe – Day

        On May 7, 1945, Gen. Alfred Jodl signed the surrender of all German forces in Rheims, France. He is flanked by Wilhelm Oxenius (left) of the Luftwaffe and Hans-Georg von Friedeburg, representing Germany’s navy. | AP Photo

        23rd Heinrich Himmler commits suicide while in British custody in Lüneburg, Germany.

        June:

        15th Wartime blackouts ended, and streetlights were turned back on.

        The wartime coalition government, led by Prime Minister Winston Churchill, was dissolved, and a general election was held shortly after.

        July:

        The general election was scheduled to take place on the 5th of July, 1945, the first general election since 1935. However, the results were not announced until the 26th of July, 1945, to allow time for overseas military personnel’s votes to be counted. The Labour Party, led by Clement Attlee, won a landslide victory in the July 1945 election.

        August:

        The Family Allowances Act was passed to provide financial support to mothers.

        15th was Victory over Japan – VJ – day. Celebrating Japan’s surrender after the atomic bombings of Hiroshima and Nagasaki, and the official end to over six years of global warfare

        2nd Japan formally surrenders. Now, our country was focused on the return of troops, the beginning of domestic reconstruction and the promises of independence for its colonies.

        September:

        15th Parades were held in Britain to mark the fifth anniversary of the Royal Air Force’s victory..

        16th Hong Kong was reclaimed, ending the four-year Japanese occupation.

        The 17th Belsen Trial began for war crimes in Lüneburg, Germany, presided over by a British military court.

        18th The Independence of India would be granted “at the earliest possible date”, was announced by Prime Minister Clement Attlee on a worldwide broadcast.

        October:

        Britain was now fully engaged in the complex aftermath of the Second World War, with the new Labour government pursuing major domestic reforms and the British Army dealing with global instability and the return of war prisoners.

        4th An unofficial dock strike began in Britain.

        7th The ocean liner SS Corfu docked at Southampton, carrying the first 1,500 prisoners of war to return from Japanese camps in the Far East. Also on the 7th, Rudolf Hess was transferred from Britain to Nuremberg, Germany, to face trial.

        The 20th and the 5th Pan-African Congress were held in Manchester, where delegates from across Africa and the diaspora discussed and called for independence from colonial rule, a significant moment in the history of decolonisation.

        This month was a period of substantial change as the nation grappled with domestic reconstruction, a new political direction and the challenges of managing a post-war empire and a new global order.

        At the end of October, in Palestine, the Jewish Resistance Movement launched the ‘Night of Trains’, a coordinated attack on the British railway network, marking a rise in armed opposition to British authority.

        November:

        On the 20th, I was born at the Alexandra Maternity Home, below.

        At the time, there was no National Health Service (NHS), so no free medical care. I must have been an expensive baby!

        The Alex, as it was often called, admitted maternity patients for a period of not less than a fortnight. Fees were charged from 15 shillings (75P) to 42 shillings (£2.20P) per week.. These fees included nursing, food, laundry and all clothing and if necessary, the doctor’s fees. I have no idea of my weight, size or time of birth. Such things were not, unfortunately, recorded.

        December:

        The government announced its plan for a National Health Service (NHS) to provide free medical care.

        1st British military police in occupied Germany arrested 76 Nazi industrialists.

        9th, the United States granted Britain a low-interest reconstruction loan of approximately $4.4 billion (US). An additional Canadian loan was for $1.9 billion, scheduled to run for 50 years.

        The final payments made in 2006, which settled the debt entirely, were for $83.25 million to the US and $22.7 million to Canada.

        Throughout the rest of the year, Allied forces continued to liberate numerous concentration camps, exposing the extent of Nazi atrocities.

        In 1945, post-war, Plymouth faced immense devastation from the Blitz, which had destroyed the city’s heart and left thousands homeless. Plymouth was one of the most heavily bombed British cities, due to its status as a major naval port with the large HMNB Devonport dockyard.

        The city centre, two main shopping areas, almost all civic buildings, 26 schools, 41 churches, and 3,754 houses were destroyed, with a further 18,000 properties seriously damaged. Around 30,000 people were left homeless, leading to a critical shortage of accommodation. Temporary prefabricated houses were quickly erected to provide immediate shelter. I remember seeing the ‘pre-fabs’ still in use in the 1960s.

        The most urgent efforts were to house the population, clear the bombed buildings – which, still, years later, were my playgrounds – and begin an ambitious pre-planned reconstruction project. All the while I was growing up, this building and planning went on. When I left Plymouth at 18, the rebuilding continued until the early 1970s.

        Sources:

        https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Battle_of_the_Bulge

        https://www.thedevonseoco.co.uk/plymouth-in-the-blitz/ https://encyclopedia.ushmm.org/content/en/article/liberation-of-nazi-camps

        https://www.facebook.com/photo/?fbid=779249228206828&set=gm.1467370817653042&idorvanity=1074810956909032

        https://collection.nam.ac.uk/detail.php?acc=1985-11-36-334

        Facebook Page: ‘Old Plymouth Society’ Post by Gloria Dixon 7 July 2021

        https://www.iwm.org.uk/collections/item/object/205021954

        https://www.historic-newspapers.com/en-ca/blogs/timelines/a-year-in-history-1945-timeline?country=CA

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        BBC RADIO 4 – “This is the Shipping Forecast”

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        This piece of music is called “Sailing By” composed by Ronald Binge in 1963, and performed by the Alan Perry/William Gardner Orchestra, and is the version used by the BBC for its late-night early-morning shipping forecasts,

        It signals the beginning of the Shipping Forecast, an important part of living on an island and it dates back over 150 years. The Shipping Forecast was established by Vice-Admiral Robert FitzRoy the first professional weather forecaster, and captain of the HMS Beagle, on which Charles Darwin sailed to South America. (1)

        Vice-Admiral Robert FitzRoy.

        Born 5 July 1805, Suffolk, England

        Died 30 April 1865 Norwood, England.

        In October 1859, the steam clipper Royal Charter was wrecked in a strong storm off Anglesey, Wales 450 people lost their lives. In response to this loss, FitzRoy introduced a warning service for shipping in February 1861, using telegraph communications.

        Sadly, FitzRoy didn’t live to see his ideas become a permanent fixture of British life; he killed himself in 1865, in part because of his frustration at failing to set up a regular service. (2)

        The shipping service was only discontinued during and following WW1 between 1914 and June 1921. During WW2, it was discontinued between 1939 and 1945.

        The shipping forecast is heard by local fishermen all over the British Iles, Scotland Wales and further afield and Its tune is repetitive, assisting in its role of serving as a signal for sailors tuning in to be able to easily identify the radio station.

        This delightful music above brings back happy memories for me, listening to the radio as a child in Plymouth Devon England, where I was born. “Dogger, Fisher, German Bight, North Utsire and South Utsire” – coastal regions near Norway – although I had no idea where these exotic names were, it was wonderful to imagine. 

        Just look at some of the unusual names on the map, it was always a thrill to hear ‘Plymouth’ mentioned.

        The sea areas match the forecast areas used by other North Sea countries, though some names differ. The Dutch KNMI and Norwegian counterpart, names the Forties “Fladen Ground”, while Météo-France uses “Pas-de-Calais” for Dover, “Antifer” for Wight “Casquests” for Portland and “Ouessant” or ‘Ushant” for my home town, Plymouth. Because of the unusual name for Plymouth, I also learned a fascinating piece of French history.

        The Ouessant (or Ushant) is a breed of domestic sheep (Could that be a French insult?) from the island of Ouessant off the coast of Brittany but also the name of a French Submarine). Ushant is a French island at the southwestern end of the English Channel which marks the westernmost point of metropolitan France.  

        It belongs to Brittany and in medieval times, Léon. In lower tiers of government, it is a commune in the Finistère department. It is the only place in Brittany, save for Brittany itself, with a separate name in English.

        Even today, if I cannot sleep, I still listen to BBC Radio 4 in the early hours of the day and catch the Shipping Forecast as it lulls me to sleep.

        Unfortunately, from this year, 2024, it is expected that the Shipping Forecast will no longer be broadcast on long wave (LW) due to the closure of the LW platform. This announcement was updated on the 4th of April 2023 due to the BBC amending their original announcement on the future of the LW Shipping Forecast. The LW broadcasts are expected to end in 2024, but a final decision has not yet been made. (4)

        Listeners are reassured by the thought that, somewhere out at sea, British fishers are patiently waiting by their radios to find out whether there is a gale warning in Rockall or Cromarty. However, the slightly less romantic reality, according to Mike Cohen of the National Federation of Fishermen’s Organisations, is that his members have not needed Radio 4 for decades.

        Modern fishers have far more accurate devices to warn them about the wind and rain: “Even the small 15-metre boats in Bridlington have satellite internet these days. I’ve had video calls from people in the middle of the sea.” (5)

        Some interesting quotes below about the shipping forecast: 

        “The Shipping Forecast is immensely popular with the British public; it attracts listeners in the hundreds of thousands daily – far more than actually require it.[18]

        In 1995, a plan to move the late-night broadcast by 12 minutes triggered angry newspaper editorials and debates in the UK Parliament and was ultimately scrapped.[19]

        Similar outcry greeted the Met Office’s decision to rename Finisterre to FitzRoy, but in that case, the decision was carried through.[20]

        Peter Jefferson, who read the Forecast for 40 years until 2009, says that he received letters from listeners across the UK saying that the 0048 broadcast helped them get to sleep after a long day.[4]

        The Controller of BBC Radio 4, Mark Damazer, attempted to explain its popularity: 

        “It scans poetically. It’s got a rhythm of its own. It’s eccentric, it’s unique, it’s English. It’s slightly mysterious because nobody really knows where these places are. It takes you into a faraway place that you can’t really comprehend unless you’re one of these people bobbing up and down in the Channel.[18]“

        Zeb Soanes, a regular Shipping Forecast reader, described it thus:

        “To the non-nautical, it is a nightly litany of the sea. It reinforces a sense of being islanders with a proud seafaring past. Whilst the listener is safely tucked-up in their bed, they can imagine small fishing-boats bobbing about at Plymouth or 170ft waves crashing against Rockall.[21]“

        ….and many more here:

        https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Shipping_Forecast

        SOURCES

        (1) https://en.wikipedia.org /wiki/Shipping_Forecast#Coastal_weather_stations_and_inshore_waters

        (2) https://www.countrylife.co.uk/out-and-about/10-things-about-the-shipping-forecast-164341

        (3) https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ushant

        (4) https://www.pbo.co.uk/news/no-more-shipping-forecast-on-lw-from-2024-75844

        (5) https://www.theguardian.com/media/2022/jun/03/shipping-forecast-radio-4-long-wave-broadcast

        genealogy

        The Beginnings Of The Original Plymouth, Devon England

        4 Comments

        Previously, I wrote about the ancient Plymouth Gin Distillery located in Plymouth 1 in that story, I mentioned that Plymouth had been attacked, raided and ruled by many others many times.

        Here is an account of only a fraction of some of the various raids, uprisings, invaders and wars that is the tumultuous history of Plymouth.

        Plymouth is located in the South West Peninsula of England and consists of the counties of Cornwall, Devon, Dorset and Somerset. It is the furthest South and West of all of mainland England.

        Map of The South West Peninsula

        In 1866 a cave was discovered containing the bones of animals that no longer live on these islands. The bones included the lion, hyena cave bear, rhinoceros, and human remains. So man lived in this district as far back as the early stone age.

        Most local finds in and around various areas of Plymouth have been of the Bronze Age, such as mirrors, daggers spearheads and coins up to 150 BC. In an area of Plymouth called Stonehouse, a burial chamber known as a kistvaen or kist was found. The name means a ‘stone chest’ 2

        This is known as the Drizzlecombe Kistvaen Dartmoor, Devon

        There are many kistvaens in the large area of the Dartmoor National Park just outside of Plymouth. However, the majority of the known Dartmoor kistvaens were opened at some time in the past, and whatever they used to hold is missing. The idea that ancient tombs might contain valuable items is a very old one; one of the first mentions of searching kistvaens in Devon dates back to 1324.

        Location of Dartmoor National Park

        We can tell that Saxons settled in the Plymouth area because of the names of places ending in ‘Ham, Ton, Leigh, Worthey and Stock. In fact by 926 AD Saxons ruled the whole of Devon. There is an unusual place name are in Plymouth that was once a Saxon lane. In the Doomsday Book of 1086, it was called Heche Bockland and the Saxons had a church there. By 1385 it was known as Ekebokland which over the centuries has evolved into ‘Eggbuckland’ which, as a child, often produced a smirk…

        After the Normans conquered England William the 1st gave the Saxon Manors to his Norman Knights and in 1085 had a list made of all the estates in the country and this was called ‘The Domesday Survey’ – the Middle English spelling of “Doomsday Book”.

        The Great Domesday Book Held at Kew Gardens, England.

        By 1376 we first hear of a Mayor whose name was Maurice Bard. in 1377 the population of Plymouth was 7,000 and by this time, Plymouth was playing an important part in Naval affairs supplying ships for the fleet and was a busy port.

        When King Henry VIII dissolved the monasteries in 1539 the priories had to surrender the tithes of Eggbuckland to the king. The present church is a stone building that dates from around 1420/30 called St. Edward. Its Parish registers date from 1653.

        The Anglican church of St Edwards Church Road, Eggbuckland Plymouth Devon 3 Photography by Chris Downer

        During the 14th Century, the South coast was attacked on several occasions by French pirates with many attacks on Plymouth, which caused a decline in trade and prosperity. Again, raids and attacks took place in 1377, 1400, and 1403. The most famous of all was the 1403 attack from the Bretons. They sent 30 ships and 1200 men at arms who came and anchored as the townsmen of Plymouth fired cannons at them but they landed and burnt 600 houses and plundered.

        Later in the same year, an English fleet crossed to Brittany landed 4,000 men and laid waste to a large area. We seem to have had an uneasy relationship with the French ever since!

        The famous seaman, Sir Francis Drake was born in 1541 near Tavistock, just outside Plymouth and was the eldest of 12 children. In 1581 Elizabeth I knighted him and the same year he was appointed Mayor of Plymouth. He was second-in-command as a Vice Admiral of the English fleet, in the victorious battle against the Spanish Armada, in 1588.

        Sir Francis Drake
        Portrait by Marcus Gheeraerts the Younger 1591

        Early in July 1620 two vessels ‘The Mayflower’ and ‘The Speedwell’ set sail from Delfshaven in Holland. They were refugees who thought it would be safer in America. Both vessels reached Southhampton, but after leaving the Speedwell sprang a leak and they had to put into Dartmouth for repairs. Again, they set to sea but once more the Speedwell started to leak and so they put into Plymouth. On the 6th of September, 1620 the Mayflower left Plymouth with 102 pilgrims aboard and reached Cape Cod on the 9th of November 1620. The rest, as they say, is history.

        In 1642 the civil war started in Plymouth. Most of the counties were Royalists whilst the towns were Parliamentarians. Plymouth, which was surrounded by Royalist country was the key to the West.

        It had a harbour it was strongly walled and there was a fort on the Hoe. The word “Hoe” is derived from old English and appropriately means High Ground.

        (This year, Facebook banned the word ‘Hoe” assuming it meant something else!) 4

        The Royal Citadel on Plymouth Hoe

        The Royalists asked the whole town to surrender but they refused, and so, on Sunday, December the 3rd, there took place ‘The Sabbath Day Fight’ The townsfolk rallied from all the neighbouring strongpoints and drove the enemy down a steep hill and into a creek. The rear guard of the Royalist Cavalry was thrown into confusion and the creek was full of drowning men and horses. This was the primary battle but not the end of the siege.

        At one time, the King himself came down to Plymouth with 15,000 men but still the town held out. in 1646, the siege was eventually raised. During it, 8,000 people died in Plymouth from various cases a number greater than the normal population.

        The Baroque main gate of the Royal Citadel. Note the date 1670 above the arch

        Today, the following notable units are based at the Royal Citadel.

        The Royal Artillery, Number 3 Commando Brigade and the 29th Commando Regiment 5

        Centuries later, World War Two came to Plymouth. My grandfather saved the newspaper cuttings below. They are not too clear but give an idea of before and after a bombing raid on the city.

        In the beginning, there were many small daylight raids. As the nights lengthened, these took place at night and in 1940, there were fairly heavy raids on December 29th and January 13th, 1941.

        The caption reads: “The city centre as it was. Tomorrow, we propose publishing a photo of the same scene as it appears after most of the buildings have been smashed by enemy action”
        The caption reads: “The City Centre as it is. Yesterday, we published a photograph taken from the Guildhall Tower of Plymouth’s shopping centre. Poignant contrast is this picture, taken from the same angle showing the destruction caused by enemy raiders during the Plymouth blitzes”

        The worst raids took place in March and April 1941 and on the second of these raids in April, 106 high explosive bombs were dropped, 26 people were killed, 60 houses were completely destroyed, 400 were badly damaged and 2,000 were slightly damaged.

        During those raids, the city centre was methodically destroyed in seven continuous nights of bombing. Plymouth lost all of its chief public buildings including the Guildhall, and the council chamber was wiped out.

        In the last three years of the war, numerous raids were made. Plymouth lost its large stores and shops, 39 churches including its ‘Mother Church’ St. Andrews in the city centre, 20 schools, a theatre, eight cinemas, six hotels and nearly 30,000 homes completely uninhabitable and although many more raids took place, none were as bad as in 1941.

        Although it took decades to rebuild today Plymouth is a vibrant holiday destination and describes itself as “Britain’s Ocean City” It has many holidaymakers visit and there is plenty to see and do. Plymouth boasts some spectacular scenery, a bustling town centre and some delicious dining options.

        There is The National Marine Aquarium, The University of Plymouth, the Marine Biological Association, and the Blue Marine Foundation plus the City Centre and the Drake Mall. In addition, for any adrenaline junkie or marine life enthusiast, there are plenty of adventures to be had!

        Plymouth Hoe view. with Smeaton’s Tower.

        Smeaton’s Tower in this photo was built by an engineer named John Smeaton, constructed of Cornish granite and cleverly dove-tailed together. It has been a Grade 1-listed building since 1954.

        It is open to visitors who can climb the 93 steps, including steep ladders, to the lantern room and observe Plymouth Sound – pictured – and the city. 6

        Plymouth is now a modern city shaped by its past and steeped in history.

        SOURCES

        (1) https://genealogyensemble.com/2022/06/29/a-history-of-plymouth-gin/

        (2) https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Dartmoor_kistvaens

        (3) Thttps://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:St_Edward%27s_Church,_Plymouth.jpg Photograph by Chris Downer

        (4) https://www.plymouthherald.co.uk/news/plymouth-news/facebook-apologises-removing-posts-rude-4928078

        (5) https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Royal_Citadel,_Plymouth

        (6) https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Smeaton%27s_Tower

        England, genealogy

        Dear Miss Bulford – Part Four

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        RAF Upavon Crest

        In the first three parts below, of “Dear Miss Bulford” I describe my [1] entry into the WRAF – Women’s Royal Air Force, [2] the basic training [3] posting to a trade training camp, and this part four, my first posting as a trained Medical Assistant.

        1.   https://genealogyensemble.com/2020/01/02/dear-miss-bulford/

        2.   https://genealogyensemble.com/2020/04/22/dear-miss-bulford-part-two/

        3.  https://genealogyensemble.com/2020/04/29/__trashed-4/

        Arriving in Salisbury, Wiltshire by train, I made my way to the bus station. wearing my ‘best blue’ uniform.  As I was searching for the camp bus,  two army men also in uniform approached me, and asked if I was going to RAF Upavon? [1] I said yes, so they offered me a lift in their car. They were stationed a few miles from RAF Upavon, at the Larkhill Army Garrison.  I accepted their offer. Something I now think was not too wise, but it was the 1960’s. However, they were very polite and pleasant and I enjoyed the ride to the camp. They said they often came to our mess to dance and drink so I would see them in the future,  which I did.

        Arriving at RAF Upavon the Duty Officer at the main gate, directed me to the arrival office where I waited for someone to take me to my new quarters. RAF Upavon was small compared to my last posting. Only one block for the WRAF and one for the men,  each side of a parade square. From the window of my new single room-  wow! this was great- I could spot the mess hall.

        The sergeant of our block, two-storied as usual but only three or four to a room, came and introduced herself, and offered to take me to the mess for tea. On the way, she told me about the SSQ (Station Sick Quarters)  I would be working at and who made up the staff. There was a  civilian Doctor, who drove up from the Upavon village each day,  a Sergeant, two Senior Aircraft men, and a civilian nurse who was retiring. I was to take her place.

        Next morning, dressed in my nurses uniform, I nervously made my way to the SSQ. I met the civilian nurse, Mrs Bowes who showed me her routine. Unlike her, I would be ‘on-call’ a shared duty with everyone else in the SSQ.  (Which was why I had the enviable single room!).

        Me at RAF Upavon SSQ

        A few months after I arrived I went to the weekly ‘hop’ a Saturday night dance drinks and general fun. There, I met John, who had only just arrived on camp himself. He was an admin assistant and worked in the HQ (Headquarters) for Sir Thomas Prickett, RAF Upavon’s Commanding Officer. He walked me back to my barracks and we arranged to meet at breakfast in the mess, the next morning. We spent the weekend together, getting to know one another walking around the camp and talking about our lives so far.

        Saturday night dance. John on the far left, shortly after we met, with SSQ staff Dave and Mick, and me.

        On Monday morning, when I went to the waiting room, there sat John! In he went in to see the Doctor. When he came out, his medical notes said ‘Mononucleosis’ (otherwise known as the kissing disease!). We sent him to sickbay and put him on antibiotics. The male nursing assistant stayed the night with him.

        After one night in sickbay, John had not improved and now had a high temperature, so he was sent to the RAF Wroughton Hospital [2] by ambulance.  I accompanied him on the ambulance trip. I told him he would be spending time in isolation at the hospital but that we could meet again when he got back to camp. We had a date that night!

        Seven days later he returned to RAF Upavon and we resumed our getting to know each other routine.  We would see each other at breakfast, lunch and tea, so we got to know each other pretty quickly and very well. We would take the bus to Salisbury on Saturdays to shop and come back in time for the Saturday dance.  We babysat for the local personnel on the camp and spent our days off, together. We took leave and went to my home to visit my parents and up to Liverpool where John was born to meet his Mum.

        One year later, on the anniversary of the day we met, March 2nd 1965, we got married. in Plymouth Devon. John’s Commanding Officer, Sir Thomas Prickett sent us a Congratulatory Telegram, as was usual in the days of snail mail and telephones.

        Wedding Day 2 March 1968

        Telegram from John’s Officer In Command,  Air Marshall Sir Thomas Prickett and Lady Prickett.

        After our marriage, I stayed on in the WRAF and RAF Upavon. After all, what was I going to do in the middle of Salisbury Plain for a job? Besides, I was enjoying my life at RAF Upavon. Here, I was photographed demonstrating a new lightweight stretcher for the RAF Magazine – so light even a woman could lift it!

        It was considered very unusual for me to continue in the WRAF, as most girls got married to ‘escape’ the WRAF.  However, I loved it so we applied for married quarters, completely forgetting that John was not 21 years of age yet, so he was not eligible!  Whilst I was certainly eligible being a little older than John,  nobody had ever experienced a married 22-year-old WRAF applying for married quarters before, so my request was denied. We just took in  our stride, but today I would have strongly questioned it.

        So, for a few months, we lived on camp in our separate barracks and looked around for a place to rent close by. We were lucky to find ‘Dairy Cottage’ an early 19th century run-down, thatched cottage but rental affordable in the village of Upavon, just a bus ride from the camp. We lived there, for 18 happy months. We did some house painting and a few repairs on the inside. There were pheasants and various birds in the overgrown garden and we had get-togethers with our friends.

        Our first home together, Dairy Cottage

        The SSQ I was posted to was small and intimate and I quickly learned the routine. The staff were very helpful. I soon realised that I was the only female nurse at the camp. Soon, everyone called me Florence, as in Florence Nightingale! I was flattered. As the SSQ was right in the middle of Salisbury Plain, I was not too thrilled as I am a city girl and this place was very ‘country’.  Still, I made some great friends and soon settled in.

        We treated the RAF personnel on camp and the civilians from the Village and so the daily ‘surgery’ was usually full.  We did all the necessary vaccinations for overseas postings and dealt with minor sicknesses. We took and developed x-rays and had our own dispensary, where we dispensed medicines and pills. We had a four-bed ‘sick bay’ for things like flu or contractible diseases. The RAF Hospital Wroughton was an ambulance ride away for more serious problems.

        One night I was on ‘call’ and my first problem was at 9 pm. The Duty Officer called to alert me to the fact two Army men were at the guardroom, injured. I opened up the SSQ and waited for them. Both men had injuries. They had been on night manoeuvres and had fallen in the dark.  They undressed and I examined them. One had difficulty breathing so I diagnosed a fractured rib. The other man had the same problem but head scratches and a bloody nose.

        As I was dressing their wounds and binding their ribs two more men showed up! At that point, I called the other two medics on camp with an urgent tannoy (public address system) message and they also arrived to assist me.  We sent them by ambulance to RAF Wroughton Hospital.

        After our marriage,  John decided to change trades and become an Air Cartographer, so he was posted to RAF Northolt to learn his trade.  I tried for a posting there, but no luck. However, I did get a posting to RAF Uxbridge in the SSQ in the same area. So here we were, John at RAF Northolt and me at RAF Uxbridge! Once again we hunted for accommodation and a few months later, found a bed-sitter in Uxbridge for rent. Now, John was ‘of age’ for married quarters and entitled to payment of the rent until we could get a married quarter home at RAF Northolt. I finished my 6 happy, enjoyable years in the WRAF and found a job at a doctors office in the area until I became pregnant with the birth of our first son. This year we have been married 52 years.

        Post Script:  When I told my family where I was to be posted, my Gramps told me, that in WW1, he had been at RAF Upavon for his training as an air gunner. However, HE was –  in his own words – ‘under canvas’ What a coincidence!

        [1] A Short History of RAF Upavon 

        The station motto was In Principio Et Semper, and translated from Latin means “In the Beginning and Always”. The station crest had a pterodactyl rising from rocks, which symbolised the station’s connection with the early days of flying, and was also a reference to the location of the station near to the ancient monument Stonehenge.

        Smaller camps such as these were fully functioning  RAF Stations with small Medical Centres and a few beds plus an RAF Hospital nearby in case of emergencies. The nearest hospital to RAF Upavon was RAF Wroughton a Royal Air Force airfield near Wroughton, in Wiltshire, England, about 4 miles south of Swindon.

        RAF stations in post-war England were many, and quite historical as most were built in the early 1900s. Unfortunately, most of them, have now closed or like my posting to RAF Upavon, taken over by the Army.  The station opened in 1912 and closed in 1993 when it transferred to the British Army and became known as Trenchard Lines.

        [2] A Short History of RAF Wroughton

        RAF Hospital Wroughton was part of the station and stood near the eastern boundary of the site, about 1 1⁄2 miles (2.4 km) west of Chiseldon. The RAF General Hospital (as it was known) opened on 14 June 1941 and by the end of March 1944, its bed capacity was 1,000. Wroughton continued as a General Hospital treating military patients, and from 1958 took NHS (National Health Service) cases as well to relieve backlogs in the Swindon area.  Following a visit to the hospital by  Princess Alexandra on 4 July 1967, the Queen conferred the prefix “Princess Alexandra’s” on the hospital on 4 October 1967.

        The hospital was the primary destination for returning casualties of the Falklands War in 1982. When the hostages from Beirut were released in August 1991, Wing Commander Gordon Turnbull, a psychiatrist based at Wroughton, with his team, debriefed John McCarthy, Terry Waite and Jackie Mann and provided the counselling necessary to ease them back into freedom.  The hospital closed on 31 March 1996 as part of the Conservative Government’s defence cuts at the end of the cold war. The hospital was demolished in 2004 and the site, called Alexandra Park, used for housing and a conference centre; a memorial commemorates the former hospital.

        genealogy

        The Huguenot of England Part One

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        The Huguenot Cross.

        A window at Canterbury Cathedral England where Huguenot descendants still worship every Sunday, in French.

        ‘Huguenot’ What does that mean to you? For me, living in Quebec, Canada it is a part of Quebec and France’s history but did you know that England also has a vast amount of history about Huguenot? I was amazed to learn that!

        After I recently read a short article about English Huguenot, it made me want to find out how and why they ended up in England.

        The Edict of Nantes (french: édit de Nantes), signed in April 1598 by King Henry IV of France, granted the Calvinist Protestants of France (also known as Huguenots) substantial rights in the nation, which was still considered essentially Catholic at the time.

        The Huguenot were Protestants in a largely Catholic populated country and after Louis XIV cancelled their civil rights granted to them by the ‘Edict of Nantes’ in 1685, about 50,000 fled France across the English Channel.¹

        Once in England, they spread out not only to London but to 20 towns from Canterbury to Norwich, Plymouth to Rochester. As time went on, many of them drifted towards the Church of England and names became anglicized. Ferret became Ferry and Fouache became Fash most often due to mistakes made by English clerks!

        In the 1600’s, Huguenot in England was called Journeymen journéee – ‘day’ in French – because they were, yes! paid daily. Journeyman is a word still in use in England today. Huguenot homes included a feature that marked a journeyman weaver home or a ‘sign’ such as the one below.

        This Spindle is the Sign of A Silk Weaver On A Huguenot House in Spitalfields, London England

        They set about settling in and transformed their homes to suit the valuable silk trade. They enlarged the windows in the attic to let in the maximum light for the weavers and designed a staircase positioned right by the front door to allow access to the upper floors without entering the workshop. This protected the expensive silks from dirt and soot from the streets. As the silk trade in the East End took off, they formed a community of working-class tradespeople that transformed Spitalfields into “Weaver Town”.

        These talented artists brought to England many high-skilled trades. In addition to being famous for their silk weaving and beautiful fabrics, they brought to England paper-making, hat makers cabinet makers watchmakers gunsmiths goldsmiths jewellers and many more skilled trades.

        By 1710, at least 5 percent of the population of London – then around 500,000 – were French Protestants. In the French enclaves of Spitalfields and Soho, that proportion was much higher.  London soon had 23 French Protestant churches. Within a few years, a society totally unacquainted with mass migration had given a home to the equivalent – in terms of today’s population – of 650, 000 new arrivals.

        According to one estimate, one in every six Britons has some Huguenot ancestry. Some famous Huguenot names in England include Simon Le Bon, from the pop group Duran Duran actor Sir Laurence Olivier, author Daphne Du Maurier and Samuel Courtauld (1793 – 1881) an English industrialist who developed his family firm Courtaulds to become one of the leading names in the textile business in Britain.²

        Today, in the lively East End area of London, there is an area known as Spitalfields. Home to artists, creative fashions and food, Spitalfields is well known for its history of silk weavers. Fournier Street – built in the 1720’s – with its grand old Georgian terraced houses of the master weavers attracts visitors each year.³

        There is a thriving Huguenot Society of Great Britain and Ireland formed in 1885.

        In Fournier Street, at number 18 the elegant home belongs to the Artist Denis Severs. He bought a dilapidated 10 room property in 1979 and used it to re-create a Huguenot home for his own pleasure. Word got around and it has now been open to the public for 35 years.

        https://www.dennissevershouse.co.uk/

        Huguenot Silk Weavers Houses on Fournier Street

        Sources:

        ¹https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Edict_of_Nantes

        ²http://www.independent.co.uk/news/uk/home-news/refugee-week-the-huguenots-count-among-the-most-successful-of-britains-immigrants-10330066.html

        ³https://oldspitalfieldsmarket.com/

        https://www.huguenotsociety.org.uk/

        NOTE:

        This link is to the ‘Huguenots – Index of Names’ within Quebec.

        Posted by Genealogy Ensemble author, Jacques Gagné.

        Huguenots – Index of Names

        According to our author, Jacques Gagné, it would appear that the National Archives, Kew, Richmond TW9 4DU England, own, in comparison to the Bibliothèque nationale de France in Paris, more information about Huguenot families! Here is the link:

        https://discovery.nationalarchives.gov.uk/results/r?_q=Huguenots&_ps=60

        England, genealogy

        Illegitimate

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        Illegitimate
        by Marian Bulford

        In the March 31st 1901 UK Census Lilian Mary Symons was listed as a ‘servant girl/domestic’ in Leicester, Leicestershire in the employ of Mrs. Mary Whatnall, ‘Retired Lunatic Asylum Matron’ Mrs. Whatnall’s niece also lived in the house.¹

        The 18 year old Lilian had, the previous November 25th given birth to a daughter. The father of the baby was a Royal Navy Cooper and master carpenter Thomas Bevan whom Lilian met when she was 17. They had started to court, but neither of them realised she was pregnant when Thomas left for sea. He was gone not knowing he was to be a father and Lilian had no contact with him for the next three years.

        Lilian was the oldest in a family of five. Her father was a jobbing gardener and her mother a housewife so they would have had no means to take care of Lilian and another child.

        How Lilian must have felt at that time, being pregnant and unmarried is not known, but I can only imagine how she would have had to approach her family and tell them. She also had to tell them that she did not know where Thomas, the father was.

        Lilian’s father Thomas Symons unsuccessfully searched for Thomas and he also wrote to the Royal Navy regularly to find out the father’s whereabouts, but to no avail.²

        In the 1900’s in the United Kingdom, unmarried pregnant women were often disowned by their families and the work house was the only place they could go during and after the birth of their child. There were no fees, but hard work was expected of the inmates. ³

        According to my family, although Lilian was not ‘disowned’ by her family she did give birth to her baby and her child’s birth certificate states the child was born in the ‘Leicestershire Workhouse’.

        In addition, the original birth certificate also had the words ‘ILLEGITIMATE’ in large letters stamped over the entire certificate. Lilian immediately tore it up and threw it away. 4

        Lilian’s circumstances definitely changed, as I have a wonderful photo of the child at two years old and she is dressed in a very attractive dress with a matching dolly. These are not the usual working attire for someone living in a 1902-era work house and tape recordings of family told me her parents looked after the baby daughter and Lilian went to work for Mrs. Whatnall.

        Thomas Bevan did eventually return from sea and Lilian and he got married on 25th April 1904 when the child was three and a half years old.5

        In the 1911 Census 10 years later, Lilian is the ‘head’ of a household with three additional children. They lived in the Royal Navy Port of Plymouth, Devon England and Thomas was once again, back at sea.6

        The couple went on to have four more children, who all lived to adulthood, including my grandmother, Edith, who had no idea she was born out of wedlock until she was 65 years old, but that is another story!

         Sources:
        1 1901 UK Census at Ancestry.com
        2 http://www.workhouses.org.uk/life/entry.shtml
        3 Family tape recordings
        4 Certified copy of a Birth Certificate, Leicestershire City Council, England
        5 Registered marriages in April, May and June 1904 Leicestershire, England at Ancestry.com
        6 Family tape recordings

        Photos Below:

        Lilian Mary Symons b. 1882

        Lilian Mary Symons 1899

        Edith Bevan 1902

        Edith Symons Bevan 1902

        Thomas Bevan b. 1876

        Thomas Bevan, RN

        Australia, 1908