IWFHS Journal no100

ISSN 1358-8256

THE ISLE OF WIGHT

FAMILY HISTORY SOCIETY

February 2011 Number 100

PROGRAMME OF EVENTS

All Functions take place in the Hunnyhill Room, Riverside Centre, Newport, unless otherwise stated. Doors open at 7pm and the talks start at 7.30pm.

DATE SUBJECT SPEAKER

Monday 7th March Queen Victoria Shelia CAWS

Grandmother of Europe

Monday 4th April Smuggling on the John MEDLAND

Isle of Wight

Saturday 14th May One Day Conference and Speakers to be

Annual General Meeting confirmed The theme for this year is “Innovation and the Island” Saturday 4

th June Visit to Quarr Abbey

For an up-to-date list for the year, see the Meetings tab

on the Society’s web-site at: www.isle-of-wight-fhs.co.uk

ANNUAL SUBSCRIPTIONS

UK Single £9 UK Family and EU £12 Overseas (non-EU) £15

COACH TRIPS TO LONDON

Central London Record Offices TBA The National Archives, Kew TBA

Please contact Janet Griffin: [email protected]; Tel: 01983 291774

RESOURCE CENTRE

Opening Hours: Saturday 10.00am – 12.30pm

Off St Thomas’ Square, Newport (white double doors to the left of Unity Hall)

Members: 50p (please produce your Membership Card); Day Membership: £1.50

To arrange a visit on other days and times please contact:

Betty Dhillon 3 Milne Way, Newport, IW PO30 1YF Tel: 01983 524469

The Isle of Wight Family History Society takes no responsibility for articles submitted to the Journal, nor does it necessarily agree with opinions expressed. Authors are expected to have checked for factual accuracy and to have obtained

the necessary permissions for lengthy quotations and the use of illustrations.

mailto:[email protected]

Number 100 Isle of Wight Family History Society Journal February 2011

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CONTENTS

Programme of Events............................................................. Inside Front Cover

Editorial ........................................................................................................... 2 Letters to the Editor .......................................................................................... 3 Chairman‟s Report ........................................................................................... 5 Looking Back ................................................................................................... 6 Lived in Five Reigns - Part One ...................................................................... 11 Lost Villages of the Isle of Wight ..................................................................... 15 Calbourne BUCKLER convention on 16

th April 2011 ....................................... 20

BMD Index Project ......................................................................................... 21 Isle of Wight Record Office ............................................................................. 23 First Ventnor Pier ........................................................................................... 24 From the Desk at Coles Manning ................................................................... 24 Frank MACKETT – Stonemason ..................................................................... 25 IWFHS Constitution ........................................................................................ 26 AGM and One Day Conference ...................................................................... 31 Winners of the 2010 Di HARDING Award ....................................................... 35 Book Reviews ................................................................................................ 36 Serendipity Finding the WILLIAMS Family ...................................................... 37 Island Friendly Societies ................................................................................ 41 Earthquake – Christchurch, New Zealand ....................................................... 45 The Island and an 18

th century French Connection ......................................... 48

John COOMBES (1842–1922) ....................................................................... 52 Royal Navy Ships – World War I ..................................................................... 55 Membership Report ........................................................................................ 56 New Members ................................................................................................ 57 Changes to Postal Addresses ......................................................................... 61 Changes to Email Addresses.......................................................................... 62 Update to Surnames Interests ........................................................................ 63 Deaths ........................................................................................................... 63 Irish Research ................................................................................................ 63 Non-Committee Officers ................................................................................. 64 Some Useful Addresses ................................................................................. 64 Committee ............................................................................. Inside Back Cover


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Editorial

Welcome to the 100th edition of this journal!

I am delighted to be „in the Editor‟s Chair‟ on this momentous occasion. With this edition we are also launching the Society‟s new logo.

This resulted from designing a new sign for the Resource Centre in Newport - when it transpired that there were several „styles‟ in use. This did not present a consistent image so the Committee decided to take a step back and look at the Society‟s „brand image‟ as seen through the web-site, quarterly journals, Membership Cards, the Parish Chest and other communications - and rationalise the various styles in use.

The result is a new „fresher looking‟ logo bordered by a diamond (after all, isn‟t the Isle of Wight‟s moniker “the Diamond Isle”?) - based on the familiar tree which has been our hallmark since the Society‟s incorporation in 1985; a more modern „headline‟ typeface has also been adopted and the abbreviated form of the Society‟s name has also been standardised to IWFHS. We hope you like these changes!

The winners of the 2010 Di Harding Award (see page 35) were all from

very far afield and not able to attend the New Year lunch to collect their awards (and enjoy one of their prizes - a free lunch!).

So, if you are more local (and would like a free lunch next year as a 2011 winner!), then why not write an article for the journal about your own experiences, or those of an ancestor/relative or something of interest about the Island, its people or its history? I‟m sure there are many members living on the Island who will have interesting stories to tell.

I would like to take this opportunity to thank those who wrote to compliment me on the November journal and those of you who have provided me with either photographs and/or articles to be considered for future editions.

Peter SPENCER (IWFHS Member: 2187)

Journal Editor

1 Westfield Close, Durrington, Salisbury, Wiltshire SP4 8BY

Email: [email protected]


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Letters to the Editor

November journal cover photograph

I refer to the picture on the front cover of the recent IWFHS magazine which is stated to have been taken during the 1920s or 1930s. The best clue as to the date is the fact that the vehicle still had solid tyres. Although goods vehicles with solid tyres soldiered on until the late 1930s, as a charabanc such a vehicle would have been unacceptable from about the late 1920s onwards as people would have wanted nothing less than the most modern and comfortable vehicle available, which was one with pneumatic tyres.

As regards fashions, the ladies cloche hats, very popular in the late 1920s and early 1930s, appear to have only just come into fashion and most of the ladies are wearing the broad-rimmed type with a ribbon round it.

I would take a guess at the date of the photo being 1925. It is certainly not in the 1930s

I regret that I cannot give any further information about the photo.

Graham CULLIN (IWFHS Member: 2075)

12 Steeple Close, Canford Heath, Poole, Dorset B17 9BL

Help Wanted – WRIGHT family

My WRIGHT family seem to have travelled much of the country in the last hundred years or so. I am trying to find out more about my great grandfather, Joseph WRIGHT, manager of a livery stables in Llandudno, who died in 1889.

I do know that at least one of his descendants, grandson Jim WRIGHT, moved to Cowes and I was hoping there might be family connections in the area and possibly an answer to a mystery which we have been trying to solve for years!

Any advice would be very welcome.

Julia DAVEY (IWFHS Member: 2986)

69 St John‟s Road, Warminster, Wiltshire BA12 9LZ


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Coach Trips to London Archives

The Isle of Wight Family History Society runs regular trips to London visiting either National Archives at Kew or Central London for access to various venues; Janet GRIFFIN is the organiser. Some years ago there was a waiting list for seats but this has now declined to such an extent that the coach trip planned for October 2010 to Central London had to be cancelled. This was a great disappointment to me as I had planned to visit the London Metropolitan Archives (LMA) with a batch of queries to check out and confirm in the records.

This is a plea to support the coach trips and visit the archives on offer in Central London, the coach still drops off at the old Family Record Centre building (a fantastic centre which is missed) and nearby is the LMA. Here can be found records for London as well as records previously held by The Guildhall Library Manuscripts Section. The digitised London parish records are a boon as searches can be carried out on-line instead of scrolling through reels of film which were often difficult to read and contain many entries for each day and or year. Printouts can be taken and more advanced searches for all children of a particular couple.

A short walk away is the Society of Genealogists which has been collecting family history material since 1911 and contains 3 floors of documents, books and microfiche/films as well as computers. All parts of Great Britain are covered as well as records from other parts of the world. There is a charge for using this Library unless you are a member.

Other archives are within walking distance such as First Avenue (Court Service) where Wills and divorce records since 1858 can be accessed. Royal Mail Archives at Mount Pleasant; British Library for Oriental and India Office Reading Room; Camden Local Studies and Archives Centre; and the Islington Local History Centre are also accessible.

The National Archives at Kew have original records for areas such Navy; Army; Manorial Records; maps and Government records. As well there is a comprehensive library with lots of books covering all the counties of England as well as other areas of the British Isles and foreign countries. There are also dozens of computer terminals allowing access to Documents on Line from the National Archives which can be viewed and downloaded. There is access to many family history sites and things like all the census records can be viewed (even the 1911 original form). Printing from the computer records is straight forward and costs 20p per sheet (a saving on downloading such items as wills for £3.50 per item from Documents Online at home).


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Please give the trips a try. The cost this year was £20.00 for the coach from Portsmouth plus ferry fare.

Although it is an early start (on the 6.45am catamaran) you should get 6 hours research time in London before the return drive to Portsmouth for the 7.15pm catamaran back to the Island.

Carola TARRANT (Mrs) (IWFHS Member: 0885)


Chairman’s Report

I have some very positive matters to tell you about this quarter and pride of place must surely go to the enhanced BMD Index; a visit to page 21 will tell you why. A big „thank you‟ goes to our hard-working Webmaster, Geoff ALLAN, for all the effort and mid-night oil he has expended over the winter on this – building on the success of the original version. Progress has also been made at the Resource Centre in Newport; by the time you read this there‟ll be much needed lighting installed in the courtyard outside; in these winter months in the northern hemisphere your Committee will be the first beneficiaries as negotiating the way to meetings (held in the Resource Centre) in darkness is very challenging! You‟ll see from the Editorial that we have adopted a revised logo; this came about when we were designing a sign for the Resource Centre and there seemed to be no one single standard utilised. So we got to work and created one - and I hope you all approve! We have now completed the draft of a revised Constitution which will be put to the AGM in May - and that can be read from page 26. As we go to press we have just taken time out to enjoy a terrific Society lunch at the impressive Newclose Cricket Ground just outside Newport. Arranging such events, and attending to the detail, is a chore few people enjoy but, on behalf of all those who attended, I would like to extend a very big „thank you‟ to Lesley ABRAHAM and Hazel PULLEN for their commitment to making it all go so smoothly on the day. Jon MATTHEWS Chairman (IWFHS Member: 0344)


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Looking Back

We have now reached the 100th edition of the Isle of Wight Family

History Society‟s journal. For me, using a computer to edit, producing the journal is fairly straight forward. But what of those pioneers who edited the journal in the old days before computers? Below is a copy of the very first newsletter as it was then called. Sadly the Editor, Mrs Brenda JAMES, is no longer with us. I wonder whether she envisaged that we would be producing a 64 page quarterly journal regularly (which we have now done since February 1995) and reach 100 editions? And still going strong – the 200th edition will be in 2035; I wonder in what form that will take! (Ed – will I still be here for that one?)

Ed – this is the text of the very first IWFHS newsletter:

THE BEGINNINGS

In September 1984 following a successful seminar on “Exploring Family History” we made a request that those interested in forming a group have their names listed.

By early December we were able to hold an exploratory meeting and although only nine people attended a number of others had expressed their interest. We felt there was little risk in moving forward and publicised a first official meeting in January 1985 and to their delight it was attended by over twenty prospective members. From that meeting we had willing volunteers for Secretary, Membership Secretary, Treasurer, Archivists, etc. It was decided that this ad hoc arrangement with decisions made by the body of the membership would suffice for the first few months. Composition of meetings would include an invited speaker or members would speak of the joys and sorrows of their own research.

Guest speakers have included:

Janet Brooke, who spoke of Catholic records of the Island available at Portsmouth Cathedral; Clifford Webster the County Archivist who spoke of the facilities of the Public Record Office on the Island; and Mr Zoltan who told of his own detailed research which took us through Merchant Navy records and also to Denmark where local records of his family were extremely detailed.


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Our own members have regaled us with family tales ranging from the drowning of Captain Pengelly in the River Medina (Chris Braund) to shady link ups with treason (Helen Proctor) and at the same time members have been able to pass on valuable advice to new researchers on snags and easy routes. These members‟ have enabled us to get to know each other and appreciate areas of research which range from the USA and Canada to South Africa and Southern Ireland as well as a substantial number of English, Scottish and Welsh counties.

Although some members are concerned with Island families we include „overners‟ with roots on the mainland; and following publicity in the press we had enquires from Australia, USA and Canada as well as a number of mainland contacts. Membership has gone from strength to strength with good attendance at our monthly meetings.

Bringing our first newsletter into print was a painful and protracted exercise but now it has been achieved we will I am sure find it easier to do again.

Mrs E B James

Athena House

5 John Street

Ryde, Isle of Wight

The publication dates of the earlier journals were:

Issue 1 was published in the winter of 1985/6

Issue 2 was published in the spring of 1986

Issue 3 was published in the autumn of 1986

Issue 4 was published in the winter of 1986/7

Issue 5 was published in the spring of 1987

Issue 6 was published in the summer of 1987

Issue 7 was published in the autumn of 1987

Issue 8 was published in February 1988

Issue 9 was published in May 1988

Issue 10 was published in August 1988

Issue 11 was published in November 1988

The Editors who followed Brenda JAMES were, in chronological order:

Hilary LLOYD and Sally McCONKEY – issue 5 – Spring 1987

Hilary LLOYD – issues 6 to 26 – Summer 1987 to August 1992


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Jeremy and Gerrie STRIDE – issues 27 to 32 – Nov 1992 to February 1994

Lesley ABRAHAM – issues 33 to 68 – May 1994 to February 2003

Dina BROUGHTON – issue 69 – August 2003

Diana HARDING – issues 70 to 82 – November 2003 to August 2006

Dina BROUGHTON – issues 83 to 86 – November 2006 to August 2007

Sandie TOMPKINS – issues 87 to 93 – November 2007 to May 2009

Angela McMURTRY – issues 94 to 97 – August 2009 to May 2010

Peter SPENCER – from issue 98 – August 2010 to date

Hilary LLOYD

When the IWFHS was first formed Brenda JAMES produced the occasional newsletter. When the Society got on a more formal footing I volunteered, with Sally McCONKEY, to produce the next issue, No 5. It was in A4 format, with a few photocopied pages, stapled together. Then Sally became the Society‟s Secretary and I became the sole Journal Editor, with No 6, the Summer Issue 1987. By then we had found a cheap printer [in East Street, Ryde, I think]. I smiled at a recent journal piece when Angela, the then Editor, changed the cover colour because she didn‟t like it. I had no such luxury, for me it had to be yellow [yuck], because that‟s all the printer had in sufficient quantity! The format changed to A5, with 16 pages plus covers.

I loosely based the style of the journal on the Hampshire Genealogical Society‟s, which was always interesting and varied. Issue No 6 had two Meeting Reports, Janet GRIFFIN‟s piece on the London Coach Trip, the AGM report, Book Reviews, Help Wanted, New Members nos: 96 to 106 and three articles. One from a US Member, one by Annette FRANCIS about „Isobel Cottage‟ at Bembridge, and one by me. In issue No 5 I had done a piece on Arreton as a Parish, so continued with Bembridge, just to fill up the space. The Island Parish series in alphabetic order seemed like a good idea at the time, but I was having second thoughts by the time I got to Yaverland!

Luckily I had a portable typewriter and bashed out the articles on it. „Cut and paste‟ really did mean scissors and glue. At some stage my husband bought me an electric typewriter which meant a huge improvement in the appearance of the journal, but it was still extremely time consuming. We weren‟t able to reproduce photographs until about 1991, so I would do some sketches to break up the text and for the cover. I used Lettraset [remember that!] for the headings. The number of contributions from members did improve a bit, but there was never enough to fill each issue, so it was down to me to write things.


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In August 1992 I produced my last Issue, No 26, still using the trusty typewriter. It had the same vile yellow cover, but I had managed to increase the pages up to 48. The content was pretty much the same, membership had risen to number 0539 and there were 9 contributions from members.

Initially I did enjoy doing the journal - but what I remember most is just how much of my time it took up. Even today, with the use of computers I don‟t suppose that aspect has changed much. I used to feel that members were very quick to criticize, picking up on a spelling mistake for instance [did anyone volunteer to proof read – I don‟t think so – and there was no spell checking in those days] and very slow to show appreciation. Like all Committee jobs, which are done voluntarily, I don‟t think, unless you‟ve done it, you can ever appreciate just how much is put into it. I used to say in my very few editorials, an interesting journal needs articles and items from members, so let‟s hope that our latest Editor gets the support he deserves – the journal is looking very good for a Centenarian!

Lesley ABRAHAM

I took over as Editor of the Isle of Wight Family History Society‟s journal in May 1994 from Jeremy and Gerrie STRIDE who had been editors from November 1992 to February 1994. I was a new mum with a baby of ten months and found that I needed something to keep the brain in working order and when I saw the vacancy, decided to put my name forward.

I decided early on to make several changes to the layout of the journal, the first deciding on the colour of light green for the cover as the Island is a rural island. I increased the pages from 40 to 64. I also started to use the Isle of Wight Council printers as it was easier for me to drop off the finished copy and collect it a month later ready to deliver to Janet GRIFFIN for her to distribute.

I had purchased a Panasonic word processor in March 1994 , which is the shape of a large typewriter with discs to save work on (in fact I still have it some sixteen years later and it still works a treat, although I tend to use the computer a bit more these days!). I was able to type most articles which arrived from members, some were already typed and so I put them in as was. The font and font size differed due to this throughout the journal.


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My first journal was great fun to put together, I had been given and sent quite a few bits and pieces, some with very interesting photos, and included one in a series of long running articles – Island Parishes from Hilary LLOYD – a previous editor. The photograph on the cover was of “The Original Needle Rock” which showed the “lofty conical rock 120 ft high. Fell into the sea in 1764”. This had been in the possession of my Great Aunt Wilhelmina Victoria BAZLEY. When I went to collect the journals I was asked by a Mr Dave BRYANT, who worked in the print department, how I was connected to Aunt Moe and found that his mother was a second cousin to my Nan and Aunt Moe! The Island is a very small world!

I needed a regular supply of photographs for the front cover and luckily had married into a family who kept all old photographs so I had a good supply to choose from. Over the years we had farming scenes, members of the FLUX family, mystery photographs, various vehicles, various buildings, an early Floating Bridge from East to West Cowes, photographs from members articles, the Chain Pier at Seaview and Arthur Edwin FLUX (my husband Barry‟s Grandfather) in uniform prior to taking part in the battle of the Somme were some of those used.

As mentioned above we had a series of long running articles, Island Parishes by Hilary Lloyd, “The Foss Family in Newtown” by Kier FOSS started in February 1994, this usually comprised of six plus A4 pages describing every aspect of the lives of the Foss family in Newtown, illustrated with photographs and excellent drawings throughout. This continued to November 2000. Geoff ALLAN‟s series “Isle of Wight War Memorials” started in August 1996 and finished in February 2001. We also had features on New Books, Help Wanted, New Members, Bookstall and the Pedigree Index.

I also contributed the odd article here and there, “Cooks and Cookery Books” started in November 1999 – I am addicted to collecting cookery books pre 1980 – my earliest being Mrs Beeton‟s Book of Household Management dated about 1869. This series, which covered strata of social history, finished in February 2001. I also wanted to find out what had happened to Harold POPE of Appuldurcombe House but had no joy there.

Due to increasing commitments at home and work I resigned with great sadness in May 2003 and handed over to the late Di HARDING. All in all, I thoroughly enjoyed my time as editor.

Lesley ABRAHAM (IWFHS Member: 0540)


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Dina BROUGHTON

For a short time I was the Editor of the Isle of Wight Family History Society‟s journal. At the time I had other positions on the committee, so I only took it on as a stop gap until Di HARDING was ready to take over. Three years later, when Di became too ill to continue, I agreed to take it on again until another editor could be found. My first journal was the August 2003 edition, which was the first all computer produced copy.

It was a very absorbing job. I very much enjoyed being in contact with members and reading the various articles sent in by them. It was a challenge to put everything together in as attractive a way as possible. I particularly liked finding old photographs to go with articles, especially the ones that we were featuring at the time on the Parishes of the Island. I had some fun finding small, appropriate cartoon pictures to help illustrate reports and regular features. Although it was a time consuming job I really enjoyed my stint as Editor.

Lived in Five Reigns - Part One

Following the death of Queen Victoria, on 22nd

January 1901, the Isle of Wight County Press published, between February and April 1901, lists of those Islanders who had lived under the reigns of five British Sovereigns: George III, George IV, William IV, Victoria I and Edward VII. The edition of Saturday 6

th April 1901 listed all the names (over 200) that had

appeared in the previous week‟s edition plus personal details for some of those names.

The list below was printed in the County Press of 23rd

February 1901 and included the names that had appeared in the previous week.

Lord COLVILLE of Culross, KT, GCVO

Mr W HUGHES, Widcombe, near Newport

Mrs HARVEY, Marvel, near Newport

Mrs Way BUCKELL, Newport

Mrs WAVELL, Newport

Mr James CHEEK, Rowborough Farm

Mrs Ann PERRY, Cowes

Mrs J FARROW, Cowes

Mr John LIST, Clatterford, Carisbrooke

Mr Thomas SAUNDERS, Wroxall

Mr and Mrs THARLE, Valetta, Castle Road, Newport

Mrs GUY, Ryde

Mrs MOORE, Cowes

Mrs S SAUNDERS, Wootton

Mr and Mrs T WALKER, Shanklin

Mr H WALKER, Lake


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Mrs URRY, Roude, Whitwell

Mr N ROBERTON, East Cowes

Mrs WEBB, Yarmouth

Mrs A DABELL, The Chine, Blackgang

Mrs NEWMAN, South Mall, Newport

Mr WJ BECKINGSALE, Fairlee House, Newport

Mr B BARROW, JP, Ryde

Mr E PILCHER, Yarmouth

Mr John KENNEDY, Cross Lane, Newport

Mr and Mrs Charles COLENUTT, Ryde

Mr Osmond ATTRILL, Newport

Mrs M SWEETINGHAM, Carisbrooke

Miss F Cresswell PARR, Yarmouth

Mrs Thomas BRADING, Belgrave Road, Ventnor

Mr Jacob RAYNER, Weeks, Ryde

Mrs James NEWNHAM, Niton

Mrs DALLIMORE, Hearn Street, Newport

Mrs ELDERFIELD, St John‟s Road, Newport

Mr and Mrs James WHITE, Cross Street, Sandown

Mr and Mrs W TURNER, Rose Lea, Carisbrooke

Mrs BROWN, Yarmouth

Mr C GODFREY, Yarmouth

Mr and Mrs George HOUSE, East Cowes

Mrs Fanny MOODY, St Helens

Mrs GROVES, West Street, Newport

Mr BAGGS, Yarmouth

Mr and Mrs Henry WAY, Bedford Cottage, Newport

Mrs Edwin WHEELER, Wolverton, Shorwell

Mrs James WHEELER, Tordale, Sandown

Mrs DINGWELL, Fairlee Cottages, Newport

Mrs STEPHENS, Terrace Road, Newport

Mrs James GEORGE, Newport

Mr Charles ANDREWS, Cross Lane, Newport

Mrs GRIFFITHS, Yarmouth

Mr WC WAY, JP, Newport

Mr W BRADING, Wootton

Mr T R FELGATE, Wootton

Mr Edward WARREN, Newport

Mrs Henrietta JOLLIFFE, Carisbrooke

Mrs Jennie WATSON, Carisbrooke

Mrs John GOULD, Hunnyhill, Newport

Mrs WATERMAN, Newport

Mrs John HILLIER, Clatterford, Carisbrooke

The senior member of the above named venerable and honourable company is a lady, who is within only one year and four months of 100, and who, it pleases us to know, still reads the County Press.

These are the personal details which were included in the County Press report of 6

th April 1901 and which refer to names in the above list.

Lord COLVILLE of Culross, whom we are all proud to regard as an Islander, is the 11

th Baron, the peerage dating back to 1604. He is Lord

Chamberlain in the Queen‟s Household.


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Mrs URRY, of Roude, Godshill, has the honour of being the oldest “five reigner” in the list, her age being only about one year and two months short of 100. We send a word of special greeting to this esteemed and venerable lady.

Mr Charles COLENUTT, JP, of Ryde, has been Mayor of that Borough and has filled many other important public offices, thoroughness and conscientiousness distinguishing his discharge of every duty. He and his wife celebrated their golden wedding on the 18

th of February of the

present year, when the esteemed couple received the hearty congratulations of their many friends.

Mr William Jefferies BECKINSALE, of Fairlee House, Newport, is the “father” of the legal profession in the South and one of the oldest practising solicitors in England, his admission dating back to 1836 - 66 years ago.

Of Mrs Fanny MOODY, who is in her 92nd

year, Mr Arthur P. MOODY, of St. Helens, her grandson, writes: “With the exception of deafness, my grandmother is in full possession of her faculties, especially enjoying good sight. She often signs her name without the use of spectacles and she excels in needlework. Her husband died at the age of 81, after they had enjoyed 55 years of married life. Her children – nine in number – are all living and she has 32 grandchildren and seven great-grandchildren living”.

Here is an interesting letter from Mr James WHITE, of 2, Lea Cottages, Cross Street, Sandown, whose name figures in the above list, as does also that of his wife, the husband being in his 86

th year and the wife in

her 85th year. Both, of them are natives of Brading. “We were married,”

he writes, “on 9th of August, 1842, so that if we live till that date next year

we shall celebrate our diamond wedding.

There were born to us seven daughters, who are all living, and we have 38 grandchildren and one great-grandchild. I have been a local preacher for 64 years and have walked thousands of miles to fulfil my appointments, often walking 12 out, the same home, and have never slept away from home but twice. On one occasion, when planned at Yarmouth while at Brading, I walked to Newport to breakfast, rode to Yarmouth and preached there in the morning, walked to Wellow and preached there in the afternoon, then back to Yarmouth and preached there in the evening, rode back to Newport, then walked back to Brading, reaching home at 2 o‟clock on the Monday morning.


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My places of appointment were Newport, Chillerton, Cowes (East and West), Wootton Bridge, Ryde, Haylands, Swanmore, Elmfield, Seaview, Bembridge, St Helens, Brading, Sandown, Shanklin, Ventnor, Niton, Godshill, and Langbridge. I have preached several times at Cambridge, also at Jersey, and held a three weeks mission in Suffolk. I still continue my preaching work.”

Mrs James NEWNHAM, of Niton, who will be 87 on 24th May next, is one

of the last of the old Isle of Wight lace workers, and she has enjoyed Royal patronage. She can do needlework now and read the smallest print without the aid of glasses.

Few amongst His Majesty‟s loyal subjects, writes our Newchurch Correspondent, can boast a more honourable record than that of Mr Thomas SAUNDERS, of No. 1, Yarborough Terrace, Wroxall. Born at Knighton, in the parish of Newchurch, on 12

th September 1815,

Mr SAUNDERS is in his 86th year and has enjoyed the distinction of

having lived during the reigns of five monarchs.

The parish registers testify that Mr SAUNDERS was baptised in Newchurch Parish church on 8

th October 1815, when he was four days

less than a month old. The old gentleman distinctly remembers the coronation of George IV. He served William IV in the Royal Navy, and he was serving on board HMS. Spartiate, cruising off South America, when King William died and the late Queen Victoria succeeded to the throne.

The Spartiate was an old French warship captured at the battle of the Nile and during this cruise was under the command of Admiral Sir Michael SEYMOUR, of whom our veteran is still proud to speak as his chief. Having served in the Russian war (1854-1856) he was awarded the Baltic medal and has also been awarded a medal by the Board of Trade for saving lives on the coast of Ireland.

The old gentleman enjoys good health, is as nimble as many men 25 years younger, cultivates a piece of allotment garden, and will not fail to tell an interesting story from his active experiences when asked to do so.

to be continued …

Janet GRIFFIN (IWFHS member: 0009)



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Lost Villages of the Isle of Wight

Talk by Delian BACKHOUSE-FRY

As an archaeologist, terms such as Villages assume many guises in interpretation. You could say, what is the definition of a Village in archaeology? And you would receive a lot of different answers. If however, we limit our world view of villages to the population of England since the Neolithic age, we can get a sense of how the landscape was worked, changed and organised by our ancestors.

The word Village conjures up all sorts of stereotypes in England. Our views of village life come largely from our own experience of living in them or the imagined experience of literature, drama or modern media. It is true to say that many people would regard a village as a community of working people with a dusting of the middle classes and ruled over by some sort of squire or local bigwig. Of course, no village is entirely insular. Roads, rivers and track ways connect them together for entirely practical reasons. Trade, commerce, farming, social events, markets and fairs all link these people together and provide fresh ways to keep the community thriving.

It would seem logical that villages in the Pennines would differ from seaside villages of the Isle of Wight. These differences produce the cultural anthropology of our regions in England and are reflected in literature, music, folkways, design and dialect.

When you reduce it down to the villages of the Isle of Wight it is quite extraordinary how these differences resonate. In the past, before the last War, external influences on the Island had a limited effect. Islanders pretty much remained in the place of their birth, and settlement from the mainland was limited. We all know now the dire effect of holiday homes on our villages. They destroy all the intangible networks built over centuries of families, customs, history and enterprise. It is the same when villages fill up with retired folk - who bring nothing to the integral lifestyle of that particular village. Families drift away, children leave, the village falters, shops close, life as we knew it in the English Village, changes for ever. The village dies.

The true definition of a Village would be a place where a community lives and breathes and continues on. Maurice BERESFORD, the author of the seminal book on Deserted Medieval Villages was very much of this view. Much of his early work was based on the Island, looking at once-thriving villages that had disappeared.


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He realised that villages were essentially living entities and if they failed to thrive, lost most of the population to plague or attacks from the French, they would cease to exist and the surviving populations would move on to other villages or towns.

Early land Enclosures by greedy landowners would also drive the peasants from their homes. A very early example of this was the clearance of the New Forest by William the Conqueror and his descendants, to form a Royal hunting forest. The same could well have happened at the creation of the Parkhurst Forest. In later Island history we have the clearance of the village of Steephill by Earl DYSART, who built his marine villa Orné there in the early 1700s. The peasants/ fisherfolk were turned out and the popular Inn at Steephill demolished. You can see a picture of this Inn in the Thomas ROWLANDSON pictures on view at the Museum of Island History at the Guildhall, Newport.

The same happened to the hapless peasants at Appuldurcombe who were turned out of their village so that Capability BROWN could create his Italian countryside views for his employer, Sir Richard WORSLEY.

Villages do not exist in isolation. In the landscape, settlement of people would concern important things such as nearness to water, access to good farming land, shelter from bad weather and close to established track ways and waterways for trade and commerce. On the Island we see by the Bronze Age the development of boundaries and track ways. Boundaries would indicate that there were Communities separate from each other. They could be farming communities, with strong kinship ties or fishing or trading communities, but all were linked together by traditional needs.

It is not until we reach the Iron Age when tribalism has changed the philosophy of the Iconic Neolithic to the Personal of Tribal groups, that we see settlement in the landscape becoming identified by name. It is largely thought that place names that end in „bury‟ indicate an Iron Age origin. Interestingly enough, Stephen OPPENHEIM in his recent book on the DNA of Britain, has pointed out that of the 3 place names in England that can be tracked to Brythonic Gaelic, the lingua franca of pre-Roman Britain, Carisbrooke is one of them.

The Oppida of the Late Iron Age, featured in Colchester for example, a large section of the countryside, contained behind defensive walls and units of occupation stratified into domestic, trade and craft making, training areas for warriors and sacred enclosures and temples for the priests of whatever religion the Tribes followed.


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The Roman writers such as TACITUS, and DIODORUS, derive in great details the life of the people of the Late Iron Age. Their agricultural skills and technical know how being of great interest to the Romans.

The coming of the Romans to the Isle of Wight, or Wictis, was probably not an invasion. The evidence shows us that the people of the Island had long trade links with the Empire. Despite the account of SUETONIUS, it does not appear to have been involved with any great battle with VESPASIAN, and perhaps a client King was already installed or waiting in the wings.

Did the coming of the Romans change the nature of Island settlement? Well, probably not. It looks as though the wealthy Iron Age chiefs adopted Roman ways, continued farming and trading and supplying the Roman Navy and Army with food and clothing.

Since the Neolithic early farmers cleared the chalk downs for sheep grazing, wool has been an important commodity of the Isle. Archaeological finds include spindles buried in graves at Chessell and loom weights in Neolithic Barrows. This tells us that not only were the sheep grazing, but people were spinning and weaving, in the communities. These settlements would probably occupy land not needed for farming and if successful, would have grown and if unsuccessful, wither away.

The changing face of Britain in early medieval times was mostly to do with the development of the Saxon Kingdoms. During these centuries, law and order began to have an effect on the landscape of Britain. But this is where the student of family history can begin to pick up clues in the written documents about the people of the land as opposed to Kings and Emperors.

By the time of King Alfred the Great, not only were grants, sales and Deeds being signed, but we begin to get an idea of who were the people involved. The Saxon political framework of everyday England is embedded in the formation of the Saxon Hundreds. This meant that at every level people of England were represented in the Rule of Law. Almost the last time that English Law truly worked for its subjects. It was written in Anglo- Saxon and Latin.

The coming of the Normans and Norman Feudal Rule, destroyed this magnificent system but in the Domesday Book, written in Latin, you can see clearly into the Saxon past. At this point access to knowledge by the ordinary people of England was firmly taken into Norman hands.


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The Isle of Wight section of the Domesday Book reveals the changes in the landscape and families quite well. We don‟t see surnames as we know them now but we do get the names of the former owners of the land. The Norman system was „top down‟. No more egalitarianism input from the Shires. The King ruled, gave lands to his Dukes and Earls, who in turn awarded manors and farms to their retainers.

The retainers took over lands that had belonged to the Saxon knights, warriors and squires, and freedom ceased to exist for the peasants. All were required to pay taxes, work the lands of their liege lords and then go off to fight for their Feudal Lord, anywhere he was sent.

A large part of the lands of the Island had been in the hands of Earl Godwin‟s brother Earl Tosti. So there are many entries in Domesday such as Brook, Compton and Afton that state the King now owns the lands previously owned by Earl TOSTI. However when we come to Freshwater, we find that not only is King William the new owner but also the Abbey of Lyre in Normandy, and a William FitzAZOR holds one hide.

A Reginald FitzCROCH holds 1 virgate and, if says Earl Roger, gave it to his father. It was worth 5 shillings - but now it is waste. Could this be because of the death of the owner or a subversive attempt by the local owner to escape tax? Already several names appear in the records that can be traced down through history. But at Wilmingham, we find that WULFGEAT the huntsman holds it in parage and it is assessed at 1 hide, 3 villeins and 2 ploughs. It now belongs to the King. Nothing for WULFGEAT then!!

Looking down through the Domesday record for the Island we find several names familiar to late historical Vectis. William FitzSTUR, William FitzAZOR again, and Joscelin FitzAZOR all hold manors for the King in the Island. However, not all manors were taken.

Those belonging to King Edward the Confessor pass to King William but it seems their Saxon tenants are still here. WULFNORTH and BRUNIG hold half a hide in Shate with 1 hide, 2 and a half virgates, 23 ploughs, 7 villeins and 2 borders with 2 ploughs. It was worth 12 shillings but now is 25 shillings. WULFSIGE had half a hide in Chale and GODRIC, half a hide in Huffingford. So you see that although the Saxon family names will probably disappear the village names are already in recorded use. Whippingham, Bagwich, Adgestone, Great and Little Pan, Thorley, Chilton and Hamstead, exist today but Luton and Durton I do not recognise.


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The Island in the Middle Ages was never heavily populated. When the FitzOSBORNES were replaced by the DE REDVERS family at Carisbrooke Castle, they had to find ways of raising tax money to support the Castle for the King. Taxes could be raised for trade, for markets and fairs. The Baron DE REDVERS established Royal Warrants for the formation of the towns of Newport, Yarmouth, Newtown and Brading. Taxes on shipping, cargoes, wine and beer soon began to flow in, except for Newtown. Although it had been a financial capital of the Island as Frenchville, it did not survive the raids by the French and slowly the town/village disappeared. Today you can walk the deserted streets, Gold Street and Silver Street, and look at the salt workings down at the deserted quay. Meanwhile, the merchants of Brading, Yarmouth and Newport, paid their taxes, held their markets and gradually people from the shrinking villages, moved to the towns.

It was not until Tudor times that the fortunes of the Island began to improve. The building of the Dockyard at Portsmouth and the establishment of the British Navy at its harbour had a similar effect as the Romans. The Island was ordered by Queen Elizabeth to plant and grow hemp for the Navy. St Helens became an important vittling station for the Navy, with its springs of fresh water for the long sea voyages.

Rope works were found in Newport, East and West Cowes, Ryde and Bembridge. Boat building thrived along the Medina banks, and all over the Island small brickworks began to spring up to supply bricks for local housing.

By Georgian times, the war with France brought about popularity for the Island among the rich and aristocratic. Although we never had any powerful elites associated with the Island, wealthy East India tycoons, rich merchants etc. found they could no longer go to Europe for the Grand Tour. So instead, a vogue sprang up here and on the west coast of Scotland for building wonderful „cottages orné‟ in highly dramatic regions resembling Italy or France. Many Georgian gentlemen, WORSLEY, GORDON, and WILKES etc. flocked to the Island to build their fashionable homes. A second wave of Enclosures at this time forced many small villages to shrink away and today they are only known by a few houses. Hasely, Horringford, Steephill, Nettlecombe and Pyle are just a few of the old villages long gone.

For the last part of vanished villages, I will have to look at the most recent cause of vanishing settlements, the geology of the Isle of Wight and the endless erosion of our coasts.


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The south west coast in particular has destroyed in living memory many villages and homes. From the south west coast at Chale, the village of Lowcliff, still there at the end of the 19

th Century has slipped away.

An engraving of the village shows a harbour, fishing boats and cottages. Above is a grand Victorian house, a bridge crossing below Blackgang Chine and the road climbing back up to Blackgang. In St Andrew‟s Church, Chale you can find tombstones and records of people born at Lowcliff. Chale Terrace itself has dwindled away in a dramatic manner.

At Windy Corner, a large Victorian house, Southview, and cottages were swept away in 1928 by a spectacular cliff fall. Below at Watershoot Bay, Saxon, Iron Age and Roman pottery and coins often fall from the crumbling cliffs, revealing the loss of many older settlements in the past.

My final example though is Dunnose, the village that existed at the bottom of Luccombe Chine for many years. Cottages, a harbour and a chapel were built on the lower ledge of the Chine. The picture shows the cottages were there until the 1920s. The name KINGSWELL is associated with this village and I do in fact know the grandson of „Poundhammer‟ KINGSWELL who lives in Ventnor to this day.

In the next fifty years it is inevitable that other sea coast settlements will disappear and the Island shape itself again.

Reported by Rosemary STEWART (IWFHS Member: 0584)


Calbourne BUCKLER convention on 16th April 2011

A simple convention is being organised at Calbourne on Saturday 16th

April 2011 for all persons with a blood line or connection back to Edward BUCKLER, Rector of Calbourne 1653-1662, and his wife Elizabeth (née GIRDLER of Bradford Abass).

Edward, a Chaplain to Oliver CROMWELL, sired a useful number of children, who seeded further generations of BUCKLERs who spread out in the area of West Wight and further afield. Some were to become famous and others, who were not famous, were mostly recorded as useful members of the community.


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Here I will list some of the families who married into the BUCKLER family descended from the marriage of Edward and Elizabeth BUCKLER:

WILLIAMS, Mary married William BUCKLER of Calbourne;

BULL, Mary 1st marriage of William BUCKLER at Calbourne in 1725;

CHESSELL, Ursula 2nd

marriage of William BUCKLER at Calbourne 1739;

CASS, Grace married William BUCKLER at Calbourne in 1759;

JACOB, Hannah married Edward BUCKLER in 1769;

CHESSELL, Ann married John BUCKLER, RA & FSA in 1791;

COTTEN (or maybe COTTON?), Ann married Benjamin BUCKLER at Newport in 1802;

FAIR, Esther married John Chessell BUCKLER in 1818;

GIRDLER, Elizabeth, daughter of Wm. GIRDLER yeoman of Bradford Abbas, married Edward BUCKLER, Rector of Calbourne. preacher to Oliver CROMWELL etc;

NEWMAN, Frances married James BUCKLER at Whippingham in 1829;

WOODFORD, Benjamin (to become landlord of the Sun Inn, Calbourne) married Harriett BUCKLER, circa 1830, daughter of John BUCKLER of Calbourne (landlord of the Sun Inn at Calbourne);

STUPAKOFF, Mary (born Hamburg) married Alfred James BUCKLER at Southampton in 1873;

SMITH PARKER, Ann[ie] married Arthur BUCKLER at Hackney, London in 1897.

Descendants of Edward BUCKLER, and all of the above mentioned, would be most welcome to contact me at [email protected] or write to me. If time is short just turn up at Calbourne Village Hall.

For more details, please visit http://calbournebucklerday.moonfruit.com.

Malcolm BUCKLER (IWFHS Member: 1242)

Fairy Oak, Regaby, Andreas, Isle of Man IM7 3HN

BMD Index Project

When this project started in 2003, under the splendid stewardship of the then webmaster (but now fully retired) Dina BROUGHTON, her husband David provided, on a voluntary basis, all the technical assistance to achieve the much acclaimed IWFHS BMD Index (now known as „version 1‟). This has been by far the most accessed page on our web-site (which receives well over 500 hits every day).


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The BMD Index has given the Society the enviable reputation we enjoy today; even Superintendent Registrars on the mainland are asking if they can have something similar to assist in their certificate production work – not to mention other family history societies!

Of course David built the system on the technology available to him at the time the project started - but the world moves on apace and new, enhanced technologies have since become available.

Our webmaster, Geoff ALLAN, has been able to migrate David‟s system to a new „platform‟ which has enabled new features to be introduced. These include:

the ability to search across all years (rather than 10 years at a time);

the ability to find potential family groups in a single search by pairing the father‟s family name with the mother‟s maiden name;

marriage searches can be restricted to the bride‟s surname or the groom‟s surname;

the groom‟s name always precedes the bride‟s name (now appearing on a single line) in the results display;

a more powerful and wide ranging „wildcard‟ feature; and

a Soundex search feature.

Another new feature, available from the Society‟s web-site Home Page, is the ability to see how many „hits‟ there are across all our indices (BMD, Church Burials and Strays) for a given surname.

The volunteers have also played, and are playing, a major part in transcribing from the original Registers (typically each of these contain 300 Birth, Marriage or Death Certificates). It is easy to forget that what we see in a search result - in very clear computerised letters - is a representation of what the volunteers are able to decipher from these Certificates. Sadly, Registrars have not always possessed the best hand-writing - nor do they always „get it right‟ - so errors can creep in.

Work in the immediate future is to complete the enhancements we are introducing to the Marriage index. So far marriages from 1837 to 1940 have undergone the face-lift and now the volunteers are working on post-1940 marriages - adding all forenames, decade by decade.

Alas it is taking more than two months per decade to progress this project because of the restricted access we have of the Registers which are somewhat inconveniently stored in an unheated warehouse in Newport (ie: not with the Registrars themselves). Nonetheless we hope to complete the Marriage Index migration to „version 2‟ before the end of 2011.


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An interesting application of the BMD Index emerged from our very supportive IW Superintendent Registrar, David RANDALL, in December - brought about by the increasing threat of “Identity Fraud”.

Those who have died before reaching the age of 20 are particularly prone to having their identity stolen as their „footprint‟ on life is very small.

David RANDALL discussed this with us and we were able to tell him that we could produce a list of all such deaths of young people from the BMD Index files.

Armed with this list, he could then annotate those young person‟s Birth Certificates (that identity thieves would find very „useful‟). Subsequently, any request for a copy of one of those Birth Certificates (which anyone can make on payment of £9.00) would immediately raise alarm bells.

This exercise revealed that there were 103 deaths on the Island of people under the age of 20 between 1990 and 2008 (the last year we have indexed Deaths thus far) – of whom all but 6 were also born here.

As a final piece of work, David was able to contact the 6 Registration Districts where those births had been registered and alert them to the potential of Identity Fraud on these 6 young people.

Is this a case of the Isle of Wight leading the way in the UK with this aspect of preventing Identity Fraud? He thinks it almost certainly is - another first for the Island!

What this does demonstrate is the excellent working relationship we enjoy with David RANDALL and his staff here on the Island – for which both parties are very grateful. This relationship is the envy of other counties up and down the country.

Jon MATTHEWS (IWFHS Member: 0344) Chairman

Isle of Wight Record Office

Please note that the IW County Record Office in Hillside, Newport is now closed to the public every TUESDAY to allow staff to carry out the appraisal and listing of Council documents held in their out stores.


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First Ventnor Pier

Pier under construction (1862/3) Paddle Steamer Prince Consort

arriving 28th June 1863

Does any member have any more detailed information about the construction of the first Ventnor Pier or of the visit of the Paddle Steamer Prince Consort on 28

th June 1863 (Ed – the 25

th anniversary of Queen

Victoria‟s Coronation)?

Garry COOPER (IWFHS Member: 1953)


From the Desk at Coles Manning

Congratulations to the IWFHS on reaching journal number 100 and well done to all those who have edited and contributed over the last quarter of a century. Family history was a rather different hobby when journal 1 was issued.

I have just presented a two day beginners‟ family history course, my first for four years and so much had changed that I had to completely rethink the content. When I think back to the first course I gave, in 1987, 2011 is a whole new world. The records we use are broadly the same, although more are available. How we interpret those records hasn‟t changed but goodness me, how we access them certainly has.


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For the first time I have had to admit that tracing your family history really does now require computer access, if not computer ownership. It does mean that progress can be much faster than it was in the 1970s and 1980s when repositories all had to be visited in person and trips to London were a must.

I‟d like to thank Dina for the write up in the November journal. It was a lovely gesture, although I did at times wonder if it was really me! Thank you too to those who subsequently sent letters of congratulation. I managed to make a flying visit to the Island in November. I was privileged to attend the launch of Sue and Daphne‟s new book about Brook. If you have got ancestors from Brook then this is a must and those of us that haven‟t wish that there were similar publications about our own ancestral areas. Of course if no one has written THE book about your area of interest you could always write one yourself.

2011 is another census year. Don‟t forget to take copies of your form for the future family historians in the family. I have all mine from 1981 onwards and they are already „historic‟! Maybe you could add additional details and pictures about your own life in 2011 to add to the „time-capsule‟. I certainly wish my ancestors had done something similar.

Janet FEW (IWFHS Member: 0050)

President

Frank MACKETT – Stonemason

(1849–1928)

Frank MACKETT, who was born in Ventnor, was my Great Grandfather. His obituary states: He worked for Messrs Daniel Day and Sons, the whole of his active life for a period of 66 years without a break; he was a stone mason by trade. He carried out the firm‟s most important jobs and was in charge of the Eastern Esplanade, Ventnor extension, which he carried through under trying circumstances.

Can anyone expand on this topic?

Garry COOPER (IWFHS Member: 1953)



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IWFHS Constitution

The Committee have reviewed the Society‟s Constitution which has stood the test of time for over 25 years but which was in need of a tweak or two to be „fit for purpose‟ in the 21

st Century.

Accordingly, the following revised Constitution will be put to the Annual General Meeting on 14

th May 2011:

1 NAME

The name of the Society shall be the Isle of Wight Family History Society (herein referred to as “the Society” and, where appropriate, abbreviated to IWFHS).

2 OBJECTS OF THE SOCIETY

The Objects of the Society shall be:

a) to promote and encourage the public and private study of family history, genealogy, heraldry and local history with particular reference to the Isle of Wight;

b) to promote the preservation, security and accessibility via any appropriate means, including the Internet, of archived material;

c) to preserve, and index where appropriate, original source materials (including, but not limited to, documents, registers and monumental inscriptions) and publish electronic transcripts of, or indices to, them;

d) to communicate with members and the general public through the issue of a regular journal and the publication and sale of other appropriate material;

e) to hold lectures and discussions and organise research visits for members of the Society and the general public; and

f) to pursue collaborations with like-minded societies such as other family history societies, churches, libraries, record offices, educational institutions and other relevant bodies.


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3 AFFILIATION

The Society shall have the power to affiliate with other organisations whose objects are deemed compatible and mutually supportive.

4 MEMBERSHIP

a) Membership of the Society shall be open to all persons with interest in the support of the Society‟s Objects.

b) Classes of membership shall be determined by the Executive Committee of the Society and may include such categories as Ordinary, Family, Joint, Honorary and such other categories as the Executive Committee may consider appropriate.

c) Subscriptions for 12 month‟s membership shall be due annually on 1

st January each year at the rate determined by the Executive

Committee, subject to approval at a General Meeting.

d) The Executive Committee of the Society may suspend from membership any member of the Society whose activities are determined to be prejudicial to the Society. Such members will have the right of appeal to the next Annual General Meeting of the Society or an Extraordinary General Meeting convened in accordance with the procedure outlined in Clause 6 (b) below.

5 ADMINISTRATION

a) The Society shall be administered by an Executive Committee. The Officers of this Executive Committee shall be the Chairman, Vice-Chairman, Secretary and Treasurer. The Officers and (up to) 8 other Executive Committee members shall be elected at an Annual General Meeting to serve for a term up to the next AGM. A quorum of the Executive Committee shall consist of 6 members.

b) Nominations for the Officers and Executive Committee should be submitted to the Secretary to be received not less than 14 days before the AGM. If insufficient nominations have been received to fill the Executive Committee, the Chairman of the meeting may, at his/her discretion, take nominations from the floor.


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c) The Executive Committee shall have the power at any time to co-opt members to fill casual vacancies or for any other purpose.

d) Fully paid-up members of the Society shall be entitled to vote at a General Meeting. Any member unable to attend a General Meeting may cast a vote by mail or Email received by the Secretary not less than 48 hours before the meeting is scheduled to take place. The Executive Committee shall determine specific voting rights of different classes of membership.

e) All Executive Committee members shall be eligible for re-election upon completion of their terms of office.

f) One or more financial scrutineer shall be appointed at the Annual General Meeting to carry out audit duties referred to in clause 8 c) below.

6 GENERAL MEETINGS

a) An Annual General Meeting shall be held during the month of May, when the Chairman, Secretary and Treasurer shall present their reports. Notice of this meeting shall normally be given to all members in the February edition of the Society‟s quarterly journal and on the Home Page of the Society‟s web-site or otherwise in writing with at least 56 days prior notice.

b) An Extraordinary General Meeting may be convened at the request of 10 members, with prior notice furnished to all members on the Home Page of the Society‟s web-site at least 56 days before the meeting setting out the business to be conducted.

c) A quorum for a General Meeting shall consist of not less than 10% of the membership or 50 members, whichever is the smaller. Except as specified in clauses 7 & 9 below, decisions at the meeting shall be by a simple majority vote.


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7 CONSTITUTION

The Constitution may be altered or amended only at a General Meeting of the Society and then only if the proposed alteration or amendment receives a two-thirds majority of the votes of members of the Society.

Proposals for constitutional amendments to be considered at an AGM may be submitted to the Secretary by 31

st December prior to

the AGM (so that suitable notice can be given to the membership).

8 FINANCE

a) All income and property of the Society shall be applied solely towards the promotion and execution of the Objects of the Society as defined in Clause 2 above. No portion thereof shall be paid or transferred directly or indirectly by way of profit to any member of the Society. Nothing herein shall prevent reimbursement of reasonable and proper out-of-pocket expenses incurred on behalf of the Society. Neither shall it prevent the exercise of the Executive Committee‟s discretion in recognising distinguished service nor donations „in memoriam‟.

b) The Executive Committee shall keep proper books of accounts with respect to all sums of monies received and expended by the Society. Cheques issued on the Society‟s bank account shall be signed by two unrelated members of the Executive Committee.

c) The Society‟s accounts shall be examined annually by one or more financial scrutineers. A copy of the examined accounts shall be available to all members of the society. An honorarium may be paid for this service, at a level to be determined by the Executive Committee.

9 DISSOLUTION

The Society may be dissolved by a resolution passed by three-quarters of members with voting rights at a General Meeting called for the purpose and for which 56 days prior notice has been given by an announcement on the Home Page of the Society‟s web-site.


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Such a resolution may give instructions for the disposal of any assets held by the Society after all debts and liabilities have been paid, the balance left to be transferred to some other institution or institutions having objectives similar to those of the Society.

10 TRUSTEES

The Executive Committee may appoint from two to six persons to hold any property held by or in trust for the Society.

11 LEGAL STATUS

The legal status of the Society is that of a Special Interest group operating as a voluntary organisation; this status can only be changed at a General Meeting.

The current Constitution is available to view on the Society‟s web-site (under the General Information tab on the Home Page) so those of you who are moved to compare the two may do so.

In summary, the most significant changes are:

Simplification of the OBJECTS of the Society;

Election of the Officers (Chairman, Vice-Chairman, Secretary and Treasurer) of the Society at the Annual General Meeting (rather than the AGM electing the Committee and the Officers of the Society being appointed by the Committee at its first meeting after the AGM);

Standardisation of the notice period required for different events;

Recognition of the Internet as means of communications;

Strengthening of the financial regulations (eg: a minimum of two unrelated signatories on cheques); and

Definition of the LEGAL STATUS of the Society and how changes to this (eg: becoming a Registered Charity) may be executed.

Jon MATTHEWS

Chairman

(IWFHS Member: 0344)


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AGM and One Day Conference


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AGM and One Day Conference

Saturday 14th

May 2011 from 10.30am to 4.00pm

Riverside Centre, The Quay, Newport, Isle of Wight PO30 2QR

TICKET APPLICATION

Applications should be received no later than 24th April 2011

(please note lunch will be available, at a charge, in the Riverside Centre Restaurant)

I wish to purchase __ member‟s ticket(s) at £8 (non-members £10) each.

NAME ……………………………………………………………………………

ADDRESS ………………………………………………………………………

……………………………………………………………………………………

……………………………………………..POSTCODE………….…………..

Applications and cheques (excluding lunch), together with an SAE for the ticket, should be sent to:

Mr Malcolm TAIT Honorary Treasurer

Isle of Wight Family History Society Wight Haven Weston Lane

Totland Isle of Wight PO39 0HE

Cheques should be made payable to IWFHS


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Annual General Meeting

The Annual General Meeting of the Isle of Wight Family History Society will take place on Saturday 14

th May 2011 at 12:00 noon at the Riverside

Centre, Newport, Isle of Wight PO30 2QR

Please accept this as the required notice to members of the AGM.

Nominations for Committee members (their specific roles are currently allocated at the Committee meeting to be held in June, not at the AGM) and Motions for the meeting are invited from all members and can be returned either with a ticket order or direct to the Secretary: Mrs Liz BAIL at 37 Noke Common, Parkhurst, IW PO30 5TY no later than 24

th April 2011.

I wish to nominate: Membership no:

PROPOSER Membership no:

SECONDER Membership no:

Please ensure that your nominee is willing to stand

I wish to propose that:

PROPOSER Membership no:

SECONDER Membership no:


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One Day Conference

The theme of this year‟s Conference is:

Innovation and the Island

The Hovercraft: Past, Present and Future Barrie JEHAN

The Inventive Genius of Robert HOOKE John MEDLAND

Island Innovator saves thousands

of lives in recent earthquakes Patrick NOTT


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Winners of the 2010 Di HARDING Award

For the benefit of the newer members; at the Annual General Meeting held in May 2009 it was agreed that, in order to perpetuate the name of Di HARDING (1950-2008), who was a stalwart of the IWFHS, an award would be given annually to the authors of the best three articles submitted by members and published in the IWFHS journal.

The rules of the competition are that: (i) the article must be at least two journal pages long; (ii) be submitted by a member who was not a member of the Committee at any time during the relevant year; and (iii) not a write up of a talk given at one of the Society‟s meetings.

The award consists of three prizes of £50, £25 and £10, a free ticket to the New Year lunch (non-transferable!) and a subscription to the Society for the following year.

We are pleased to announce that the 2010 winners are:

1st - Catriona WILLIAMSON

Bay of Islands, New Zealand

IWFHS Member: 2794 “Skeletons in the Cupboard”

(February journal, number 96; pages 44 to 49)

2nd

- George LEGGE

Melbourne, Victoria, Australia

IWFHS Member: 1919

“What Happened in 1488?”

(August journal, number 98; pages 20 to 26)

3rd

- Judith TOLLMAN

Powys, Wales

IWFHS Member: 2074

“From an Islander”

(May journal, number 97; pages 22 to 27)


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Book Reviews

Ventnor, Isle of Wight, The English Mediterranean

By Michael FREEMAN

My own parents had their honeymoon in Ventnor in September 1934, living in London it must have seemed like the Mediterranean to them, they always loved the Island and talked about it all their lives. I did look with interest at the wonderful charabanc photo just in case they

were there. Another emotive book with lots of photos, can you believe how full and busy Ventnor High Street was in those long distant days.

There is a lovely informative section on the TB Hospital, with many Oveners coming to work here with families starting their Island life here.

More tales and Mysteries of our

Island past

by Bill SHEPARD and Brian GREENING

Where were the health and safety people when the front cover was taken, all those fish and rabbits hanging for all to see, our lovely island has a lot of social and family history, this book gives it all in words and pictures, lovely pictures of the Island roadmen and the Asylum at Whitecroft.

It‟s so sad that Bill and Brian believe this will be the last in the series.

I sincerely hope that this is not the case as I am sure that I will not be the only one who enjoys their publications.


37

Brighstone Village

Lots of local pictures in this book with memories for all, do you recognise anyone in the cricket team or even the local girl guides. The 1985 aerial photo gives a wonderful view and makes you aware of the extent of the village. Lovely school photos complete with names.

This book bought at an English Heritage Site, produced by Brightstone Village museum with financial help from various grants bodies.

Isle of Wight Illustrated (original published in 1901)

by W Mate and Sons Ltd.

Re printed by Wight Books

Contact Jerry Bryett


With lots of articles, photos, and adverts, this is truly what it is called a literary, historical, and pictorial souvenir.

Hazel PULLEN (IWFHS Member: 2650)


Serendipity Finding the WILLIAMS Family

Many, many years ago, when I filled in my very first pedigree chart at the age of fourteen, I was lucky enough to have access to the Royal Artillery pay book of my great grandfather, William BOND. According to the “Next of Kin” page, William BOND married Jessie Harriet WILLIAMS at St. Mary‟s church in Portsea, Hampshire in 1879

1. It was a full decade

later when I wrote a letter to the City of Portsmouth Record Office and asked for details of the marriage.


38

Eventually the office wrote back and gave me the transcribed entry from the parish register. From this, I learned that Jessie‟s father‟s name was George WILLIAMS and that he was a gardener. George WILLIAMS was one of the witnesses at the wedding and a Laura Jane WILLIAMS was the other

2.

Fast forward almost twenty years. I decided to get back into my family research. By that time, the index to the 1881 census had been released by the LDS church on a set of CDs and I decided to splurge and order it. After searching, I found a likely entry for Jessie‟s family. The head of the family was George WILLIAMS, a gardener, and his wife was Harriet WILLIAMS which explained Jessie‟s middle name. There was even a daughter named Laura Jane

3. Against all odds, with such a common

surname, it seemed that I had found Jessie‟s parents in Ryde, on the Isle of Wight.

Within a few years, I was truly hooked on genealogy and I decided to subscribe to Ancestry which had by then published all the English census records from 1841 to 1901. I quickly traced Jessie‟s family back through the census records and found her living with them in Ryde, on the Isle of Wight in 1861 and 1871 before her marriage. I ordered the marriage certificate for George and Harriet WILLIAMS and found that Harriet‟s maiden name was STOREY and her father‟s name was Thomas, a deceased coachman

4. From the earlier census records

I was able to find Harriet living with her mother Rebecca, also in Ryde. My pedigree chart was starting to come together.

When I searched for George WILLIAMS, I found him working as an apprentice gardener in 1841. Although he was only eighteen years old, he was living as a lodger - and not with his family

5. I knew from George

and Harriet‟s Marriage Certificate that George‟s father‟s name was Benjamin WILLIAMS and that he was a coachman but I had no information about his mother. From the census records, I saw that George had been born on the mainland in Winchester in about 1823 but there were so many churches in Winchester that I had no idea where to start.

Finally, in desperation, I wrote a query to the Hampshire Genealogy Society asking if they had any advice on where to look for my George WILLIAMS. A very helpful genealogist emailed back to say that he found only one George WILLIAMS, father Benjamin, in any of the church records in Winchester.


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My George had been baptised at St. Thomas Church and his mother‟s name was Jane. That was the end of the good news though. He also searched for any other children of these parents and came up empty. He searched for a marriage between Benjamin and Jane but found nothing. He searched for burials for Benjamin and Jane but found nothing

6. It seemed that Benjamin and Jane WILLIAMS suddenly

appeared in 1823 long enough for George to be born and then they disappeared immediately afterwards!

Despite good progress on all my other lines, I remained stuck in 1823 on the WILLIAMS family for several more years.

This past Spring, when I saw that the US National Genealogy Society conference was being held in Salt Lake City, Utah, I decided that it would be a great opportunity both to attend my first genealogy conference and to make my first visit to the LDS Family History Library in Utah. At the library, I decided to focus on some of the more obscure records that I probably wouldn‟t bother to order at my local Family History Centre, since my chances of finding something of interest were small. One of the offerings for the Isle of Wight was a listing of apprenticeship records. I wondered if I might possibly find my George WILLIAMS being apprenticed to a master gardener on the microfilm.

I loaded up the film on the reader and checked my notes. The apprenticeship records were about half way through the film so I had quite a bit of cranking to do. I started winding and after a while, I paused to get an idea of how far I still had to go.

To my amazement, I saw the names Jane WILLIAMS, son George WILLIAMS on the screen. Scrolling up a little, I saw that I was viewing the records from the House of Industry in Newport. According to the record, the WILLIAMS family (also including a son Henry and an infant son Charles) were being admitted because Jane could not support them after the death of her husband Benjamin

7. Serendipity had smiled on

me. I had discovered George WILLIAMS, purely by accident, in a record that I would never have thought to search!

No wonder I couldn‟t find George‟s parents anywhere! For years I‟d been searching for them on the mainland in Hampshire since that was where George was born. Further research tied everything together. Jane FELLOWS married Benjamin WILLIAMS in Newport on the Isle of Wight in 1818 and had three children in Carisbrooke before moving briefly to the mainland where my George was born in 1823.


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The family then returned to the Isle of Wight where baby Charles was born in 1828 and then in 1829, Benjamin died in Newport at the age of forty, leaving Jane a widow

8.

After almost twenty years, I had finally broken through my brick wall with a flash of genealogical serendipity. With the discovery of George‟s parents and some further research, the WILLIAMS branch of my family tree now stretched back to the late 1600s in the Freshwater area of the Isle of Wight.

I‟m still searching to find out what happened to Jane WILLIAMS after she left the House of Industry but I‟m hopeful that one day she will reach out from some place I least expect her and find me again!

1 Account Book Royal Artillery William BOND, Pay Book, 1867, privately held

by K Macrae, British Columbia, Canada 2007. 2 R Phillips, Hampshire, England, to Barbara STARMANS, 23

rd March 1984,

“RP/RE84/226”, privately held by STARMANS, Ontario, 1984. 3 Class: RG11, Piece: 1178, Folio: 98, Page: 23, GSU roll: 1341288; Census

Returns of England and Wales, 1881. 4 Isle of Wight, Certified Copy of an Entry of Marriage (long form), George

WILLIAMS and Harriet STOREY, 1857; Isle of Wight Register Office, Newport (COE27.2/296).

5 Class: HO107, Piece 406, Book: 4, Civil Parish: Newchurch, County:

Hampshire, Enumeration District: 11, Folio: 14, Page: 5, Line: 15, and GSU roll: 288806; Census Returns of England and Wales, 1841.

6 R Montgomery, Hampshire, England, to Barbara STARMANS, email,

12th

September 2006, “George WILLIAMS – Suggestions”. 7 Isle of Wight House of Industry (Newport, IW, Hampshire, England),

Admissions and Discharges 1820-1839, Admissions 1830, 14th August 1830,

WILLIAMS, Jane, aged 40; WILLIAMS Henry, aged 12; WILLIAMS, George, aged 8; WILLIAMS, Charles, aged 1½, admitted by “The Committee” from Newport, Reason: “Husband dead”; FHL microfilm 1470909, item 4.

8 Burial of Benjamin WILLIAMS, 19

th May 1829, aged 40 at Newport, Isle of

Wight consolidated parish register index, 1539-1858,” FHL microfilm (1279043) of original card index, Isle of Wight County Record Office.

Barbara STARMANS (IWFHS Member: 2237)



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Island Friendly Societies

Talk by Roger LOGAN

Introducing himself to the well attended meeting on 1st November 2010

at the Riverside Centre, Roger Logan, a member of the IWFHS, and part-time Director of The Foresters Heritage Trust:

www.aoforestersheritage.com

a Registered Charity with a remit to promote education in the history of the friendly society movement, said that although he had been researching friendly societies for some twenty years generally and Island friendly societies for about five, the talk was one to be taken as a report on „work in progress‟ with plenty more yet to be investigated.

Explaining the background to the development of what were best described as working people‟s sickness and death benefit societies, often with an associated strong social element shown in dinners, parades and fetes, he began by offering some of the suggested origins. These included descent from medieval guilds, the precedent of societies formed by Huguenots ineligible for Poor Law benefits and Scottish fishing community „box clubs‟.

Whatever their origin, by the mid 18th century local friendly societies

were springing up in local communities throughout the British Isles. At the beginning of the 1790s, against the background of social and political unrest on continental Europe, the British government was taking an interest in any sort of working men‟s associations. This, combined with the wishes of many successful local friendly societies that had established sizeable capital assets and were seeking legal recognition, resulted in the first Friendly Societies Act of 1793. The landmark legislation enabled societies to register or enrol with the local Justices of the Peace, enabling their assets to be safeguarded by law - but at the cost of being monitored by the state.

At this period, local societies were the norm. Subsequently a variety of forms of friendly society evolved, and Roger then took members through the characteristics of each of the major types. These comprised local, village, community, or trade societies; County Societies; Collecting Societies often called burial clubs; Orders or affiliated societies. There were examples of each of these on Wight, details of which showed how much the idea and culture of the friendly society became a part of local working people‟s lives.


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The first identifiable friendly society offering sickness and other benefits on the Island was the Royal Britons Benefit Society established on the 3

rd March 1813, probably at the Three Tunns Inn, Newport. This was

certainly where members were meeting in 1835. In that year the Society was enrolled, with the Rules being certified by the Government official by then responsible, John Tidd PRATT, on 25

th July 1835. As certified the

Rules contained some twenty six items including age limits of 18 to 36 and income of not less than 12 shillings (60p) per week.

Established in 1822, some inkling of the working of the United Brothers Friendly Society is available from 1835 when meetings were held at the Newport Arms, Corn Market, Newport. On 14

th July 1835, the Society

Rules were similarly certified by John Tidd PRATT. These had been drawn up at a General Meeting of members held on 15

th June 1835.

The Rules allowed for age limits of 17 to 30, with no minimum stipulated income. Some local society Rules and other documents are held by the Isle of Wight Record Office, whose helpfulness in the preparation of the talk was acknowledged.

These examples of varying age limits and variations on income levels, together with other constraints, emphasised that although societies provided one basic activity (ie: sickness and death benefit insurance for working men) that experience could be quite different from place to place, even within the limited context of the Island.

There was, however, a further option available, one quite different in form from local friendly societies and this was the County Society. On the Isle of Wight this was the Hampshire County Society. This had a relatively small combined membership with the largest Island branch being at Ryde in 1827 - the first to be established on the Island. Management of the County Society attracted many local Anglican parish priests who often served as branch chairman. Records of the Hampshire County Society are held at Winchester Record Office.

More significant were the Affiliated Societies, or Orders, of which there were many. Principal amongst them was the Independent Order of Oddfellows (Manchester Unity). In 2010 the Manchester Unity celebrated its 200

th anniversary, revealing how adaptable friendly societies had had

to become in order to survive changing social, economic and political conditions. Characteristics of the Orders varied; in the Manchester Unity, for example, it was compulsory for a local lodge to be associated with a District.


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The Isle of Wight District of the Manchester Unity was formed in 1846, by lodges formerly part of the Devizes (Wiltshire) District. At its greatest extent there were 9 male lodges across the Island, at Bembridge/ St Helens, Calbourne, Cowes, East and West, Freshwater, Newport (where there was also a lodge for female members), Ryde, Sandown, Shanklin, and Ventnor. Today the Vecta Lodge meeting in Newport is the sole remaining Island Manchester Unity lodge.

Another friendly society Order once prominent on the Island was the Independent Order of Rechabites (Salford Unity). This was a temperance friendly society Order with branches called tents. Further research is needed to uncover the story of local Rechabites.

The Ancient Order of Foresters was the second of the great friendly society Orders to have branches, called Courts, on the Island. The first two of these were formed at Newport and West Cowes in 1845. The Isle of Wight District of the Ancient Order of Foresters was established in November 1878 from the majority of Island Courts (4 out of 6) then belonging to the AOF South Western District.

During the 19th century fifteen Foresters Courts were founded across the

Island, mainly in the larger centres of population; Cowes, East and West, Newport, Ryde, Shanklin, Shorwell, Ventnor and Yarmouth. Three of the Courts were for females only, in West Cowes, Freshwater and Ventnor.

The work of individuals and, in particular, Court Secretaries was fundamentally important to the efficient administration of the local contribution and benefit arrangements. Citing just two examples, Roger illustrated the level of commitment made by ordinary working people in this capacity. John JOLLIFFE was Secretary of Court Foresters‟ Isle, No. 1822 of the AOF, at West Cowes. Due in great part to his efforts, the Court became both the largest numerically and financially in the UK for a period. Born in 1835, he became an orphan at the age of 9. He joined the Cowes Court on 9

th March 1857.


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Becoming an active member he passed through the several Court officer positions, becoming Chief Ranger (branch chairman) in 1862. In the latter part of 1865 he was appointed Court Secretary, a position he held until his death in 1918. Frances Annie (Fanny) HURDLE (photo taken 1957) became Secretary of female Court “Lady TENNYSON”, at Freshwater in 1900. She continued in that office until 1961, only ceasing to hold the post when the Court amalgamated with Court “Yar”. Despite spending some 6 weeks in hospital during 1959 at the age of 83 she returned to continue her duties. Her attainments at District level were equally impressive. Elected DCR in 1912, it was some 44 years later that she was again elected to the post. In the summer of 1969, at a nursing home in Freshwater, she died at the age of 93.

The value of Friendly Society data to family historians remains substantially un-recognised, in part due to the loss of documentation over the years, and also to lack of awareness as to what does remain. On the Island a short run set of data relating to the Godshill Union & Hand in Hand Benefit Society offers enlightening details of the lives of members in the late 1830s and 1840s. Occupations, ages at joining, home locations can be identified for the majority of the 208 society members in the period 1838-47. At an individual level, the practical value of membership can be seen in information about sickness benefits paid.

Edward ATTRILL, a labourer of Princelett, joined the society in June 1838. On five separate occasions during the period he received benefit at the standard rate of 8 shillings (40p) per week, the equivalent of 1 shilling and 4 pence (7p), per day from the society whilst off work. There was no state sickness benefit scheme at this time, so that the aggregate income of £5/1s was all that he had to see him, and possibly his family, through a total of 12 weeks and 3 days sickness, Other society members benefited more substantially from their membership. John COTTON, from Niton, also a labourer, appears to have been what might be termed today, chronically ill. No less than 9 separate claims were paid to him between July 1840 and July 1846.


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His first claim covered a continuous sickness period of 45 weeks, from July 1840 through to May 1841 with benefit payment of £14 2s 8d. The last recorded payment was 12 shillings for three weeks sickness in July 1846. Data such as that in the Godshill records offers an insight into the lives of ancestors not available elsewhere. The talk ended with the display of the First World War Roll of Honour of AOF Court “Providence”, No. 5134 at Ventnor, on which the names of 12 members killed in action were recorded. Some of the large sashes worn by friendly society members at their annual parades and fetes, together with a sample of the medals and jewels awarded for meritorious services provided, were also displayed. Concluding the evening, the Chairman commented on the helpful explanation of how working people had survived in times of sickness in pre „Welfare State‟ days and thanked Roger for his presentation. Lesley ABRAHAM (IWFHS Member: 0540) Email: [email protected]

Earthquake – Christchurch, New Zealand

The clock stopped at 4.35am on 4th September 2010

As a descendant of Isaac STREET, born on the Island in 1844 and whose surname can be tracked back to circa 1685, I thought I would write to the IWFHS about experiencing the power of a 7.1 magnitude quake, which occurred recently in Canterbury, New Zealand.

This experience does not relate to my past family history, but it will be included in my family history at sometime in the future. This was an unnerving experience, which displayed the awesome power of nature.

I went to sleep about 11pm on Friday 3rd

September and slept soundly until 4.35am. I am uncertain if my wife Helen woke me first or the noise and shaking was the cause. I realised that we were having an earthquake and a reasonably strong one at that.

I would estimate that it started about a force 5 quake. After about 5 seconds or so, it moved up to about a force 6 quake.


46

I recalled thinking this is going to cause a lot of damage, as the shaking at that stage was quite violent. I had visions of the older buildings in the inner part of Christchurch city sustaining considerable damage. This degree of violence went on for a while, perhaps 10 seconds.

Then the magnitude increased too, what we found out later to be a 7.1 quake. A force 7 is many many times stronger than a force 5. My poor wife was petrified; I had one arm over her holding her down onto the bed to stop her being thrown out and my other arm was gripping the bed head to stop myself being thrown out as well. We were thrown up off the mattress a number of times quite violently as the energy waves ripped through the sub-strata.

All one could do was hold on and hope; I have still to meet anyone who said they were not desperately afraid during the quake. The noise of millions of tons of Teutonic rock ripping itself apart was incredible, associated with shaking so violent I was convinced the house was going to collapse. During the quake, we could hear the sound of cabinets falling and the smashing of breakable objects. It was an unbelievable nightmare and hard to believe that this terrible thing was actually happening. This went on for about 30 seconds or longer until the angry earth fell silent. The longest 30 seconds in my life.

For the last forty years, I have always had a torch beside my bed and this was the first time I had ever had to use it. I was very pleased that I had the torch, as there was no power. My immediate concern once I was aware that Helen and I were not physically harmed was the brick veneer of the house. I ventured outside, with Helen screaming at me to stay with her. It was with disbelief that the house had not sustained any structural damage. In hindsight, we can be thankful that the building code has reasonable tough requirements and in many cases, this prevented any damage to many houses.

It was fortunate that our house was built on a naturally compacted clay base interspersed with small stones and boulders. This created a natural base for the house. However, not even the best of codes will prevent severe damage to buildings if they are in the way of the incredible energy that is released outwards during these events.

Later seismologists determined that the energy released by the quake was equivalent to 67 large nuclear bombs all detonating at once 10 kilometres in the bedrock below the surface.


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Our house is about 8 kilometres away from the epicentre of the quake. I am still amazed today that the houses in our area did not suffer any structural damage. The local pub, which is about 130 years old, lost its chimney and that was about all the damage that occurred. Our area is about 40 kilometres west of the centre of Christchurch, where much of the damage occurred. A number of the older buildings in the inner city were destroyed or damaged to the extent that they were later demolished. Certain sections of the city where residential homes had been built on sandy soils went into liquefaction. This event occurs where the grains of soil have a high water content surrounding them due to the soil not been compacted. When the shaking starts the sandy soil liquefies and houses sustains considerable damage. Damage ranges from houses split in half, foundations sinking, older homes slipping off their piles.

Once I had quickly checked the outside of the house, an internal check revealed a couple of large cabinets had fallen over shattering their contents, plus other damage to contents. It was still dark with no power or water. The next thing that I thought would be great was a cup of tea. I did have a gas BBQ out on the patio and there was a trickle of water coming from the kitchen tap. Twenty minutes later, I had a lovely cup of tea. The local civil defence people dropped in about 30 minutes later checking each house as they went. All they could do at this stage was to check that there were no injuries or deaths. The amazing thing with this quake was that no one was killed and there were very few injuries. There were still many people in the inner city that had been out on the town and had escaped injury.

Later that morning I drove into town to see what services were available. Most of the supermarkets were shut because of most of the contents on the shelves had spilt onto the floor. Most were shut for a couple of days. One main supermarket in town was open and operating like nothing had happened. Possibly, they were built on a good spot. It was surreal experience moving around the town and most people had a slightly dazed look, a look of disbelief.

The civil defence had moved quickly and any area that had buildings that looked like they were going to fall down was quickly cordoned off. In some parts of the city where liquefaction had occurred there were hundreds of cubic metres of blue sand that had risen to the surface and took days to clear away. Many of the university students came out in their droves with shovels and wheelbarrows to clean the sand away from driveways and paths.


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There were some lovely expressions of humanity where complete strangers would help others they did not know. Bearing in mind during all this there were quite violent aftershocks happening, about three or four each hour. These after shocks went on for many weeks. They are less frequent now, but we still get the occasional one. The normal reaction with most people is they tense up waiting to see if the quake is going to worsen.

Over the next few weeks the power of the quake was demonstrated in many ways where large rifts were torn open in the land, some a couple of metres wide. Some roads which were straight before the quake had a bend where the land had moved about five metres.

The news media portrayed an image as if the entire city was flattened, but the reality was that 90% got through all right. Many people‟s homes were destroyed, but eventually, will be paid out by insurance. Three months have gone by and the city is returning to normal. Maybe two years ahead and the scars of the shock will have been repaired and it will be part of the history of Christchurch.

Laurence MITTEN (IWFHS Member: 2378)


The Island and an 18th century French Connection

I am interested in finding out all I can about an 18th century Isle of Wight

family with a direct connection to some notable Frenchmen, amongst them French naval hero Marquis Abraham DU QUESNE (1610–1688), Michel-Ange DU QUESNE DE MENNEVILLE (c1700–1778), a Governor of New France and the Rev. Thomas Roger DU QUESNE (born in 1717 at Twickenham, who died in 1793 in Norfolk) vicar of East Tuddenham in Norfolk whose pastoral life in the sleepy Norfolk countryside would now be entirely forgotten if it were not for frequent mention of him in the diaries of his ecclesiastical contemporary Parson James WOODFORDE, vicar of Weston Longville, Norfolk. The diaries were edited by John BERESFORD and published in abridged form in five volumes between 1924 and 1931.

DU QUESNE so interested BERESFORD that he wrote Mr DU QUESNE and Other Essays, published in 1932.


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Thomas‟s parents were Gabriel DU QUESNE, 3rd

Marquis (who was born in 1684 in Paris) and Elizabeth (née BRADSHAIGH), daughter of Sir Roger and Lady BRADSHAIGH of Haigh Hall, near Wigan.

Gabriel and Elizabeth had little to do with the day-to-day upbringing of their five children. Gabriel had an eventful though not always successful career. In 1709 he was appointed Envoy of the protestant Cantons to the States General and came to England to petition Queen Anne on behalf of the Protestants of France. He was naturalized in 1711, entered the Guards in 1712 and in 1717 became Lieutenant Colonel of the 1

st Troop of the Grenadier Guards. Later he went to Jamaica as

Governor of Port Royal under the Duke of Portland. Unfortunately, like many others, he lost his considerable fortune in 1720 which was invested with the South Sea Scheme.

For much of their young lives their five children were put under the care of their good friend Henry NEWMAN. Thomas Roger, the eldest, was a scholar at Eton and subsequently a fellow of Kings. In 1753 his cousin Charles TOWNSHEND, 1

st Baron BAYNING presented him to the living

of Honingham in Norfolk and a year later the living of East Tuddenham, earning him £216 a year. He lived in an old manorial house called Barry‟s Hall. It is from Parson WOODFORDE‟s diaries that we learn of the weekly „rotation‟ dinner held on each Monday when he and DU QUESNE, and various other local worthies, met to dine and afterwards play quadrille or backgammon. In 1783 Thomas became a Prebend of Ely, and kept a second house there.

The loss of the family fortune in the South Sea Bubble disaster blighted Thomas‟s parents and siblings but seems to have no effect on his own life.

According to a letter written by Henry NEWMAN in 1743, one of Thomas‟s sisters Ann, married a Mr John FRENCH, only son of a gentleman of the Isle of Wight, a discreet man in good circumstances who was so pleased with Miss DU QUESNE‟s charms that he told his parents he could think of no other person and that he should think himself happy to have her - though without any fortune.


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Her maternal grandparents Sir Roger and Lady BRADSHAIGH agreed to the proposal and Sir Roger offered them a wedding dinner - but John politely excused accepting it because he had some friends from the Isle of Wight who had complemented him with their company on another occasion and could not be as free at Sir Roger‟s table as at his.

As yet I know nothing about John FRENCH - only that he and Ann had at least two children; Jane married William BURDEN of Newport at Whippingham on 17

th June 1764; and Frances who married Benjamin

POWELL of the parish of Newport, a mason and pavior (later of Portsmouth and Chatham) by licence in Newport on 9

th November 1773.

John and Jane had a son William, born in 1766. It would appear that his parents did not have much to do with their son and may have died early in his life as his paternal grandfather William THATCHER makes provision for him in his Will, leaving virtually all his property to him in trust, with his wife Mary to act as guardian and if she died, which she did, William was to be placed under the protection of William THATCHER Junior of Wackland. It would appear that THATCHER did look after William for a spell but I also have mention in a Will of William being brought up by one „Arthurton‟ who left him £200 in his Will, a somewhat confusing story that I have yet to unravel.

Thomas Roger DU QUESNE died unmarried in September 1793. His 21 page Will is a fund of information. In it he leaves hundreds of pounds to the POWELL family including a few family treasures. Also, “I give the portraits of my father, (Gabriel 3

rd Marquis), mother

Elizabeth and grandfather (Henri 2nd

Marquis, Captain in the French navy who fled France in 1685 for Switzerland, author of Ile d‟Eden) and grandmother (Françoise DU QUESNE née BOSC DE LA CALMETTE) to the Right Honourable Charles TOWNSHEND in trust only and keeping for my great nephew BURDEN if

married not else nor till he does marry and if he shall choose to have them as family pictures but if he should not choose to have them though married then they are to be given to my niece Frances POWELL on a promise from both her and her husband not to sell or part with either or any of them but to go to the eldest son successively”.


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For some reason unexplained, neither William nor the POWELL family claimed the pictures. They remained with the TOWNSHEND family until the son of Charles TOWNSHEND; The Viscount BAYNING met in the early 1860s the Rev. Arthur DU CANE, a Canon of Wells Cathedral. DU CANEs ancestors, like the DUQUESNEs, had fled France after the edict of Nantes but had prospered in England, Several DU CANEs had been Directors of the Bank of England and were also successful East India merchants.

The family owned a country estate in Essex and were well established in upper middle class society. Arthur‟s ancestor Richard DU CANE had anglicised the name from DU QUESNE to DU CANE. Viscount BAYNING felt that the DU QUESNE pictures should be with Arthur and so gave him three, those of Elizabeth, Gabriel and Gabriel‟s mother Françoise BOSC. The DU CANEs were puzzled about the possible connection to themselves and after extensive research found that the connection might be as far back as 1532. Gabriel DU QUESNE and Richard DU CANE did meet in the 1720s several times but their family connection seems to have been assumed rather than established as fact at that time.

The DU QUESNE portraits which have since passed down through successive generations of DU CANEs and are now owned by my wife, who before marrying me, was Louise DU CANE. They adorn the walls of our cottage along with some of the DU CANEs and we are proud to have them. It is quite something to consider that these pictures looked down from Thomas Roger‟s walls while the famous 18

th century „rotation dinners‟ were

consumed and that some 250 years later they watch over my family as we tuck into a roast dinner each Sunday.

I would very much like to discover more about the BURDENs and the POWELLs and if there are any direct descendents still on the island, show them the pictures of their ancestors; however the pictures will be staying with us.


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Thomas DU QUESNE‟s father Gabriel, having lost his wealth, attempted to revive his fortune with various ventures, one as a wine merchant, but was unsuccessful. He was declared bankrupt and by 1740 was, according to NEWMAN, “starving”.

By 1735 his mother Elizabeth, according to NEWMAN, was living with her daughter Ann on the Isle of Wight where they lived on the benevolence of their relations. Later she had the inconsolable affliction of being removed by the Duke of BOLTON, the new Governor of the Isle of Wight, from being housekeeper to Carisbrooke Castle. Her father Sir Roger BRADSHAIGH, had done his best for her. NEWMAN hopes that, “the remainder of her life will be made as comfortable as can consist with her infirmities of gout and an advanced age”. She died on 29

th September 1743 and is, I think, buried at Newport.

If anyone has any information about the family I would be very happy to hear from them.

Sources:

The Diary of a Country Parson, edited by John BERESFORD

Mr DU QUESNE and Other Essays by John BERESFORD

18th Century Piety by W K LOWTHER CLARKE

Our own DU QUESNE papers

Glenn SUTCLIFFE (IWFHS Member: 2957)


John COOMBES (1842–1922)

Ryde Rag Dealer

Unlocking a family secret which even my father was not aware of has helped to build up a picture of John COOMBES, a rag dealer from Haylands, who was a recognisable character in the Ryde of the early 1900s.

With his white beard, stick and irascible ways, he was unmistakable as he traversed the streets of the town. His final walk down the High Street took him to the Western Esplanade gardens and it was there on the beach, on a falling tide, that he was found later that evening with sand embedded in his hair and beard.


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An inquest jury in February 1922 determined that he had committed “suicide during temporary insanity” – a verdict which seemed to have shamed the family because it was only after months of research fifty years later that my aunt finally revealed the fact that my great grandfather had drowned himself.

My attempts to trace the COOMBES‟ family history had always been hampered by the difficulty of being sure whether I had found the right John COOMBES and it was not until my aunt‟s whispered comment about her grandfather‟s death that helped to narrow down the search.

Armed with his death certificate and the date of his suicide, a hunt through the inquest reports published by the Isle of Wight County Press finally produced a wealth of information. A detailed account of the troubled end to my great grandfather‟s life filled half a column and provided a vivid description of what happened in the weeks after his discharge from the Workhouse Hospital.

Like his father Henry COOMBES (1802–1862), John COOMBES was a labourer but in later years was variously described in censuses as a “general trader”, “marine store dealer” and “rag dealer”. In his final years, he was a regular sight around Ryde and even the Coroner W H THIRKELL remarked at the inquest about having „known him for many years‟.

Censuses show that he and his wife Ann COOMBES née DIMMICK (1844-1923) had twelve children between 1864 and 1887 and lived mainly in Oakfield (Wood Street and School Street) before moving to Haylands (Upton Road and then Mitchells Road).

His final, fatal walk through the streets of Ryde was the culmination of an unhappy day. At 9.30am that morning his wife Ann said that her husband asked her for some money. “Where do you think I can get money to give you?” she replied. But to save words between them, she gave him 1s. 6d.

John COOMBES told her: “I have seen my 80th birthday and have lived

my time, and now it is all finished.” He took a watch and a clock off the wall and left the house.

Mrs COOMBES, a laundress, told the Coroner that her husband had threatened to take his life many times before, but she thought it was only to frighten her. He was in bad health, suffering from a very bad cough, and after spending five weeks in the Workhouse Hospital, had become an outpatient at the County Hospital.


54

Henry William COOMBES (1870-1933), labourer, of Harding Road, Eastfield, said he saw his father in the High Street at about 5.10pm that evening.

After greeting him with the words „Hello, old fellow!‟ he asked him how things were. His father replied: “They have turned me out of doors and I shall have to go to the workhouse. This will about finish it.”

After reassuring his father that it was “not his fault”, his son went home to tea. He did not stop and talk because he was frightened his father would hit him on the head with his walking stick.

A verbatim account of the cross examination of the witness provides a graphic illustration of the troubled end to my great grandfather‟s life:

Coroner “Has he threatened to take his life?”

Son: “Yes, and mine too. The man was „proper crazy,‟ and when you have said that you have finished. He ought to have been in the Asylum.”

Coroner: “I have known him for many years and would not like to say that”.

Son: “He has had these fits come on every time the moon changed.”

Coroner: “It is common for people to talk about the change of the moon

affecting a man like that. That is rather an exploded theory”.

The last person to see John COOMBES alive was James HOWLING, night watchman for Ryde Corporation, who saw the deceased enter the Western Gardens at 6.05pm. High tide that evening was at 6.25pm.

His body was found at 11.10pm by George BARTON, a fisherman, who was returning to the Western Esplanade steps after attending his line. He struck a match, looked at the body, concluded that life was extinct and fetched the Police.

PC WARNE told the Coroner the deceased‟s clothes were partly embedded in the sands, as if left by the outgoing tide, and his watch was stopped at 6.25 pm, which was time of the high tide.


55

Dr L Firman EDWARDS saw the body at the mortuary and the deceased‟s hair and beard contained a quantity of sand, and there was also sand in his eyes and mouth.

In summing up the evidence for the jury, the Coroner described John COOMBES as having been of “a very excitable nature, and at times not accountable for his action”. The jury returned a verdict of “suicide during temporary insanity”.

The County Press report had provided a wealth of detail. In her evidence Ann COOMBES said she had five living children, one of whom was my grandfather Frank COOMBES (1882-1971). He often spoke of his brother “Will”, the son who gave evidence at the inquest, but I had found it impossible to trace him until being told of my great grandfather ‟s suicide.

With the use of the Society‟s BMD Index I am in the process of trying to track down details of the other three children who were alive in 1922 and the seven who had died. My grandfather did say that two of his sisters were drowned at Bembridge but again this has proved difficult to verify.

Censuses give the dates of birth of the twelve children of John and Ann COOMBES: John (1864), George Thomas (1866), Elizabeth Ann and Harriet Jane (baptised 1872), Winifred (1873), Alice (1876), Charles Frederick (1878), Oliver James (1880), Frank (1882), Elizabeth (1884), Eva Olive (1887). So far I have discovered that George Thomas died after thirty minutes and that Charles Frederick died aged ten months.

Patricia JONES (née COOMBES) (IWFHS Member: 2980)


Royal Navy Ships – World War I

The following may be of interest, especially if you have ancestors who served in any of the ships listed on www.OldWeather.org. The ships logs may contain more than just information about the weather.

Visitors to www.OldWeather.org will be able to retrace the routes taken by any of 280 Royal Navy ships including historic vessels such as HMS Caroline, the last survivor of the 1916 Battle of Jutland still afloat.


56

The naval logbooks contain a treasure trove of information but because the entries are handwritten they are incredibly difficult for a computer to read. By getting an army of online human volunteers to retrace these voyages and transcribe the information recorded by British sailors we can relive both the climate of the past and key moments in naval history.

Roger LEWRY

FFHS Archives Liaison


Membership Report

The Society ended 2010 with 1,220 members spread far and wide around the world – about 40 down on 2009 but still very healthy indeed.

I am indebted to all of you who have paid their 2011 subscriptions on time – over 820 of you at time of writing this report on 3

rd January 2011 –

and to those who pay by Banker ‟s Standing Order; these reduce the need for me to visit the bank with batches of cheques (though I‟m still happy to receive them!).

But where are the other 400 members??? It has now got to the stage where I just don‟t have time to chase these members so they will not receive this journal in the main distribution that goes out in early February; is that fair enough?

I have usually listed those members who very kindly made a donation with their subscriptions in this February journal but, so as to be able to include any of those 400, this year I plan to do this in the May journal.

Finally, may I make a plea for a good attendance from members at our One Day Conference and AGM on Saturday 14

th May; to „oveners‟ and

exiled „caulkheads‟ alike, why not treat yourself to a week-end during the best time of the year on the Island!

Just like our “first Monday in the month” meetings, this is a wonderful opportunity to „network‟ with other members – indeed perhaps it is the chance put a face to those whom you have only corresponded with in the past?

Jon MATTHEWS (IWFHS Member: 0344)

Membership Secretary



57

New Members

2973 Dr Linda MACKS 25 Arden Street, Clovelly, New South Wales 2031,

Australia; Email: [email protected] SHAMBLER HAM All Areas 18th Century SHAMBLER IOW All Areas 17

th & 18

th Centuries

2974 Ms Shirley GILLIAM 128/200 School Road, Rochedale, Queensland 4123, Australia; Email: [email protected] ST JOHN IOW All Areas 17

th & 18

th Centuries

RUSSELL IOW All Areas 17th & 18

th Centuries

COOPER IOW All Areas 17th & 18

th Centuries

DORE IOW All Areas 17th & 18

th Centuries

BRIGHT IOW All Areas 17th & 18

th Centuries

2975 Ms Kim MYERS 512 E Columbia, Colorado Springs, Colorado 80907, U S A; Email: [email protected] MEE IOW All Areas 19

th Century

MEE MDX Fulham 18th & 19

th Centuries

MARCHAM MDX Fulham 18th & 19

th Centuries

2976 Mrs Margaret RIDDETT 62 Whitehall Parade, Rumney, Cardiff CF3 3DL; Email: [email protected] RIDDETT IOW All Areas All Centuries LOWE HAM All Areas 18

th & 19

th Centuries

LOWE IOW All Areas 18th & 19

th Centuries

2977 Mr Paul ROBINSON 4 Forest Close, Newport, Isle of Wight PO30 5SF; Email: [email protected] ARNOLD IOW All Areas 17

th to 20

th Centuries

BIGNELL IOW All Areas 17th to 20

th Centuries

RIDGLEY IOW All Areas 17th to 20

th Centuries

FOSTER IOW All Areas 17th to 20

th Centuries

ORME CHS All Areas 17th to 20

th Centuries

BRYAN LEI All Areas 17th to 20

th Centuries

BROOKS LAN All Areas 17th to 20

th Centuries

ROBINSON LAN All Areas 17th to 20

th Centuries

2978 Mr Peter KING 106 Buscomb Avenue, Henderson, Auckland 610,

New Zealand; Email: [email protected] KING HAM All Areas All Centuries KING IOW All Areas All Centuries

2979 Col Jim UNDERWOOD 6 Nassau Place, Kaleen, Canberra, ACT 2617,

Australia; Email: [email protected] UNDERWOOD IOW All Areas 17

th to 20

th Centuries








58

2980 Mrs Patricia JONES 29 Granville Road, Barnet, Hertfordshire EN5 4DS; Email: [email protected] COOMBES IOW All Areas All Centuries

2981 Mrs Diane CLARK Lennard‟s Meadow, Halstock, Yeovil, Somerset

BA22 9RX; Email: [email protected] BARKHAM IOW All Areas All Centuries HOWLING IOW All Areas All Centuries

2982 Mr Keith SQUIBB Fairfield‟s, Marigold Lane, Stock, Essex CM4 9PU;

Email: [email protected] SQUIBB IOW All Areas All Centuries

2983 Mrs Christine DAY 29 Waterlow Road, Reigate, Surrey RH2 7EY;

Email: [email protected] BERRYMAN IOW Cowes 16

th to 19

th Centuries

COOK IOW Mottistone 16th to 19

th Centuries

NICHOLAS IOW Mottistone 16th to 19

th Centuries

BLACKLOCK HAM Stockbridge 16th to 19

th Centuries

BLACKLOCK IOW Ryde 16th to 19

th Centuries

2984 Mrs Sybil ADAIR 161 Shelley Road #18, Parksville, British Columbia

V9P 2H8, Canada; Email: [email protected] BEDFORD IOW All Areas 18

th & 19

th Centuries

HEYWARD IOW All Areas 18th & 19

th Centuries

WILLIAMSON IOW All Areas 18th & 19

th Centuries

2985 Mr Simon WEST Flat 6, 101 Sandown Road, Lake, Isle of Wight

PO36 9JZ; Email: [email protected] SALTER IOW All Areas All Centuries DOWNER IOW All Areas All Centuries SNOW IOW All Areas All Centuries BUTLER IOW All Areas 19

th & 20

th Centuries

BUTLER HAM Titchfield/Fareham All Centuries BUTLER HAM Southampton All Centuries DORE IOW All Areas All Centuries BAXTER NFK All Areas All Centuries MEW IOW All Areas All Centuries WEST SRY Epsom/Sutton/Kingston All Centuries VINCENT NFK All Areas All Centuries DIXON SRY Mitcham/Sutton All Centuries DIXON SRY Kingston/Epsom All Centuries DRAPER IOW All Areas All Centuries TUTTON IOW All Areas All Centuries ROACH IOW All Areas All Centuries GREENHAM IOW All Areas All Centuries MARWOOD IOW All Areas All Centuries MILLER IOW All Areas All Centuries



59

WHITTINGTON IOW All Areas All Centuries COOMBES IOW All Areas All Centuries SAUNDERS IOW All Areas All Centuries SPRAKE IOW All Areas All Centuries IRELAND HAM Titchfield/Fareham All Centuries TRELAND HAM Titchfield/Fareham All Centuries FLUX IOW All Areas All Centuries OATS IOW All Areas All Centuries VATCHER IOW All Areas All Centuries DEACON IOW All Areas All Centuries FRY IOW All Areas All Centuries BRADSHAW IOW All Areas All Centuries GRIFFIN IOW All Areas All Centuries HILLS IOW All Areas All Centuries RASHLEY IOW All Areas All Centuries PHILLIPS IOW All Areas All Centuries

2986 Mrs Julia DAVEY 69 St John‟s Road, Warminster, Wiltshire BA12 9LZ; no Email WRIGHT IOW Cowes 20

th Century

RIHAN IOW All Areas All Centuries SOORN IOW All Areas All Centuries

2987 Mr Jay SIVELL 129 Taunton Road, London SE12 8PA;

Email: [email protected] SIVELL IOW Ryde All Centuries WHITTINGTON IOW Ryde All Centuries

2988 Dr David BENT 2 Pilgrims Way East, Otford, Kent TN14 5QN;

Email: [email protected] PINHORN IOW All Areas All Centuries RATSEY IOW All Areas All Centuries

2989 Mr Paul PLUMBLY Manor View, Sproughton, Ipswich, Suffolk

IP8 3AE; Email: [email protected] PLUMBLY IOW All Areas All Centuries

2990 Rev Major Phyl FANNING Bay Tree House, 50a Castle Road,

Carisbrooke, Isle of Wight PO30 1DP; Email: [email protected] FANNING ALL All Areas All Centuries

2991 Mrs Ruth WILTSHIRE Orchard House, 26 Mascalls Park,

Paddock Wood, Kent TN12 6LW; Email: [email protected] HODGES IOW Thorley 19

th Century

HENDY IOW Shalfleet 16th & 17

th Centuries

RIDDETT IOW Shalfleet 16th & 17

th Centuries

WOODS IOW Brading 16th & 17

th Centuries


60

2992 Mr Vern MORRIS 31 Place Road, Cowes, Isle of Wight PO31 7UA; Email: [email protected] PARSONS IOW All Areas All Centuries DOVE IOW All Areas All Centuries MORRIS CMN All Areas All Centuries REES CMN All Areas All Centuries

2993 Mr Allan PRICE 1 Elm Way, Heathfield, East Sussex TN21 8YH;

Email: pag@:btinternet.com JEFFERY HAM All Areas All Centuries JEFFERY IOW All Areas All Centuries

2994 Mr David WIMBLETON 17 Yardley Close, Portsmouth, Hampshire

PO3 5TT; No Email WIMBLETON IOW All Areas All Centuries

2995 Mr Roy STRATTON 13 Parkside, Bedhampton, Havant, Hampshire

PO9 3PJ; Email: [email protected] TUTTON IOW Shanklin All Centuries STRATTON IOW Lake/Sandown All Centuries MARSHALL IOW Shanklin All Centuries

2996 Ms Jill BEAUCHAMP 5 Sabot Street, Jamboree Heights, Brisbane

4074, Australia; Email: [email protected] LONG IOW All Areas All Centuries LONG WIL Whiteparish 17

th to 19

th Centuries

SMALL IOW All Areas All Centuries WEBSTER IOW All Areas 17

th to 19

th Centuries

WARE IOW Cowes/Northwood 17th to 19

th Centuries

2997 Mr N GINGER 29 Mortimers Lane, Fair Oak, Eastleigh, Hampshire

SO50 7BM; Email: [email protected] GINGER IOW All Areas All Centuries

2998 Miss Jane LEAROYD 222 Skipton Road, Colne, Lancashire BB8 7AT;

Email: [email protected] WHEELER IOW All Areas All Centuries WHILLIER IOW All Areas All Centuries

2999 Mrs Ceinwen HARGRAVE 22 Queen‟s Gate, Millbridge, Plymouth, Devon PL1 5NG; Email: [email protected] SIRKETT IOW All Areas 20

th Century

3000 Mrs Victoria BURKE 44 Uriarra Road, Queanbeyan, New South Wales

2620, Australia; Email: [email protected] JACOBS IOW All Areas All Centuries ELDRI(D)GE IOW All Areas All Centuries DORE IOW All Areas All Centuries


61

FRY IOW All Areas All Centuries TUTTON IOW All Areas All Centuries LEGG IOW All Areas All Centuries ELSBURY IOW All Areas All Centuries 3001 Miss Lois COOPER Oak Lee, Afton Road, Freshwater, Isle of Wight

PO40 9TP; Email: [email protected] COOPER IOW West Wight/Newport All Centuries TUFFLEY IOW All Areas All Centuries BAGGS IOW Yarmouth All Centuries

3002 Mrs Shirley BULLEY 2 St Albans Drive, Salisbury Heights,

South Australia 5109, Australia; Email: [email protected] PICKERING IOW All Areas 19

th & 20

th Centuries

PICKERING KEN All Areas 20th Century

3003 Mr Richard MEW Little Ridings, Norrels Drive, East Horsley, Surrey

KT24 5DL; Email: [email protected] MEW IOW All Areas 17

th to 19

th Centuries

3004 Mr Michael DENNES 17 Nodes Road, Northwood, Isle of Wight

PO31 8AB; Email: [email protected] WHEELER IOW All Areas All Centuries WILLYAR IOW All Areas All Centuries

Changes to Postal Addresses 2953 Mr John BRETT 32 Kleinstuber Park Road, Picton, Ontario K0K 2T0,

Canada; Email: [email protected]

2387 Mrs Joan CLEEVE 37 Hertford Road, Stratford-upon-Avon, Warwickshire CV37 9AN; Email: [email protected]

1216 Mr Eric HAYLES 17 Mytchett Heath, Mytchett, Surrey GU16 6DP; Email: [email protected]

1055 Mrs Margaret HOWELL 10 Bowdens, Urchfont, Wiltshire SN10 4SQ; Email: [email protected]

1323 Mr Robin & Mrs Margaret JESSUP 3 Wheelwrights, Ryde, Isle of Wight PO33 2XP; Email: [email protected]

1794 Mrs Jean KEENOR 156 Brambles Chine, Monks Lane, Freshwater, Isle of Wight PO40 9SY; Email: [email protected]

2213 Mr Jerry PHILLIPS Groβe Strasse 44, 49134 Wallenhorst, 05407-30447, Germany; Email: [email protected]


62

1787 Mr Ken RANDALL 39 Hamlet Lodge, Heathville Road, Gloucester, Gloucestershire GL1 3ET; Email: [email protected]

2813 Miss Sarah SHENTON Flat 4, 1 Sussex Avenue, Didsbury, Manchester M20 6AQ; Email: [email protected]

1499 Mr Stuart & Mrs Alison WEBB Bridleway House, Ashknowle Lane, Whitwell, Isle of Wight PO38 2PP; Email: [email protected]

1394 Mr Richard WHITTINGTON 2 Church View, Church Road, Doynton, Bristol BS30 5SU; Email: [email protected]

Changes to Email Addresses

2461 Pam BARRETT [email protected]

0876 Patrick BARRY [email protected]

0040 Steve BAXTER [email protected]

0368 Elaine BEVIS [email protected]

0713 Audrey BOLTON [email protected]

2503 Geoff BROWN [email protected]

1025 Elizabeth BUCKLEY [email protected]

0612 Barbara CHAMBERS [email protected]

2418 Kathy CHARLTON [email protected]

2085 John COLE [email protected]

1094 Bill COXHEAD [email protected]

2738 Barry DAVIDSON [email protected]

1999 Lynn DE PLEDGE [email protected]

2659 Caroline DEAR [email protected]

2565 Mike DUN [email protected]

0034 Anthony EWEN [email protected]

0268 Glyn HENWOOD [email protected]

0598 Maureen MOORE [email protected]

1103 Tony MUNDELL [email protected]

1298 Julia PEARSON [email protected]

1950 Derek PRIDDLE [email protected]

2871 Christopher PUNCH [email protected]

2208 June RUTTER [email protected]

1753 David SALTER [email protected]

1404 Ann SCHREER [email protected]

1296 Biddy SHEPHARD [email protected]

1105 Anne VINNICOMBE [email protected]

1499 Stuart & Alison WEBB [email protected]



63

Update to Surnames Interests

1105 Mrs Anne VINNICOMBE 9 Pembroke Close, Blackwood, Gwent NP12 1JL; Email: [email protected] CASFORD IOW Godshill 17

th Century

CASSFORD IOW Brading 18th Century

CASSFORD IOW Calbourne 18th Century

ETHERIDGE IOW Shalfleet 18th Century

ETHERIDGE IOW Porchfield 18th & 19

th Centuries

ETHERIDGE IOW Newport 19th Century

ETHERIDGE HAM Portsea Island 19th Century

GRANT MDX Dalston 19th Century

GRANT HAM Portsea Island 19th Century

GRAY/GREY HAM Gosport/Portsea Island 18th Century

NEWNHAM IOW Brading 17th & 18

th Centuries

NICHOLAS IOW Brighstone 18th Century

PHILLIPS IOW Thorley 17th Century

SHREDDER HAM Gosport 18th Century

STEPHENS IOW Brighstone 18th & 19

th Centuries

STEPHENS IOW Ryde 19th Century

STEPHENS HAM Portsea Island 19th & 20

th Centuries

Deaths

We were very saddened to learn of the deaths of the following members in 2010:

1281 Brenda DOYLE Owen Sound, Ontario, Canada

0483 Robert FERGUSON Cannock, Staffordshire

1219 Gavin MAIDMENT Waterlooville, Hampshire

0570 Ray RYDEN Cove, Surrey

Our sympathies go to all their families.

Irish Research

The Public Record Office of Northern Ireland (PRONI) has just announced that digitised images of entries from the copy Will books covering the period from 1858 to 1900 are now available online, allowing users to view the full content of a Will.

93,388 Will images are now available to view at http://www.proni.gov.uk.



64

Non-Committee Officers

Parish Register and Census Project

Barry Hall

Woodmoor 1a Hungerberry Close Shanklin IW PO37 6LX

Tel/Fax 01983 865243 Email:

[email protected]

Pedigree Index Don and Wendy Hayward

24 Gunville Road Carisbrooke Newport IW PO30 5LD

Email:

don@ wendon.demon.co.uk

Members’ Interests

Sharon Beddard

8 Victoria Road Cowes IW PO31 7JG


Church Burials Index

Tina Lambert

82 St David‟s Road East Cowes IW PO32 6EF


Some Useful Addresses

Isle of Wight County Record Office (Closed on TUESDAYS)

26 Hillside Newport IW PO30 2EB

Tel 01983 823820/823821 Fax 01983 823820 Email [email protected] Website www.iwight.com/library/record_office

Isle of Wight Register Office

Seaclose Offices Fairlee Road NEWPORT Isle of Wight PO30 2QS

Tel 01983 823233 Fax 01983 823563

Email [email protected] Website www.iwight.com/council (and Search for „Registrar‟)

The National Archives

Ruskin Avenue Kew Richmond Surrey TW9 4DU

Tel 020 8392 5200 Website www.nationalarchives.gov.uk

Isle of Wight Family History Society

Website www.isle-of-wight-fhs.co.uk

The Isle of Wight History Centre Website www.iwhistory.org.uk

General Information for Visitors to the Isle of Wight

Website www.isleofwight.com/links.html

Isle of Wight Tourist Information Tel 01983 813818 Website www.Islandbreaks.co.uk



http://www.iwight.com/library/record_office


http://www.iwight.com/

http://www.pro.gov.uk/

http://www.iwhistory.org.uk/

http://www.isleofwight.com/links.html

http://www.islandbreaks.co.uk/

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