‘High View’ Long Street the former home of the Kerridge family. Photograph taken February 2023
The charming house known as ‘High View’ stands on the western side at the southern end of Long Street. It was likely built c.1912.
In 1921, the house was occupied by the Hall family. However by 1925, the Hall family had moved out and John Kerridge and his wife, Henrietta nèe Browne, moved in.
The Kerridge family occupied High View for at least the next forty years.
John S Kerridge
Born in Stow Bedon on the 3rd February, 1886, John Sidney Kerridge was the son of Walter and Elizabeth Kerridge.
The 1891 census captures 5 year old John with his parents and siblings in Stow Bedon. Suffolk born Walter Kerridge is a farmer. He and his wife Elizabeth have eleven children with ages ranging from 18 years down to 11 months.
Ten years later, John is with his parents and siblings in (Great) Hockham. The Kerridge family are still in Hockham in 1911. At this time – and like some of his siblings, John is working on his father’s farm.
By 1921, Walter and Elizabeth Kerridge along with at least two of their sons (including John), move to Wylands Farm, Great Ellingham. The 1921 census captures 75 year old Walter Kerridge with his wife Elizabeth aged 68 and sons Arthur 33 and John 31, at Wylands Farm.
Marriage to Henrietta Browne
Towards the end of 1921, John Kerridge marries Henrietta Browne. By 1925, John and Henrietta are living at High View – a short distance from Wylands Farm.
Children
It may have been whilst living at High View that the couple welcomed their first child, a son, John Walter Kerridge in 1923. Two years later in 1925 (and by then the couple were definitely at High View), Henrietta gave birth to a daughter, Barbara Elizabeth.
Elizabeth Ann Browne
From at least 1929 to 1931, Henrietta’s mother, Elizabeth Ann Browne, lived at High View with John and Henrietta. Elizabeth Browne died in 1933.
WW2
Kelly’s Directory of 1937, lists John Kerridge as a smallholder in Long Street.
At the outbreak of WW2, John and Henrietta together with their two children were still at High View. However by 1942, the couple’s son, John, may well have left home.
The Great Ellingham Invasion Committee Record of 1942, lists ‘Mr J Kerridge’, ‘Mrs H Kerridge” and ‘Miss B Kerridge’ in Long Street. John Kerridge senior is a member of the village’s Home Guard and, at 59, Henrietta is assigned messenger duties.
It was during wartime that Barbara Kerridge met her ‘husband-to-be’, Frank Barnhart. Perhaps Frank was with the United States Army Air Corps stationed at nearby Deopham Green Airfield.
Barbara leaves Great Ellingham for the United States of America
At the beginning of 1948, Barbara Kerridge left London on a Pan American Airways flight to New York. On the 28th January, 1948, Barbara married Frank W Barnhart in Kalamazoo, Michigan, USA. The couple settled in Michigan where they brought up their two daughters.
Following their daughter’s emigration to the USA, John and Henrietta Kerridge continued to live at High View.
Deaths of John & Henrietta
Photographs of Holy Trinity Great Hockham and the headstone in memory of John Sidney Kerridge & his wife Henrietta
John Kerridge died on the 12th June, 1955, at the Norfolk & Norwich Hospital. Henrietta continued to live at High View until her death at 84 in December 1967. They are both buried in the churchyard of Holy Trinity, Great Hockham.
Death of Barbara Barnhart
Their daughter, Barbara Barnhart (nèe Kerridge) died at the age of 90 in January 2016. According to Find a Grave website, Great Ellingham born Barbara is buried at the Riverside Cemetery, Kalamazoo, Kalamazoo County, Michigan, USA.
New Owners for High View
Following the deaths of both John and Henrietta Kerridge, ‘High View’ would have new owners and occupiers.
Sources:
1921 census RG15. Registration District 231. Great Ellingham Sch 145. Viewed via www.findmypast.co.uk
1911 census RG14/11473/5
1901 census RG13/1868/25
1891 census RG12/1550/4
1939 England & Wales Register. The National Archives; Kew, London, England; 1939 Register; Reference: Rg 101/6590h. Ancestry.com. 1939 England and Wales Register [database on-line]. Lehi, UT, USA: Ancestry.com Operations, Inc., 2018.
Barbara Kerridge in the New York, U.S., Arriving Passenger & Crew Lists (including Castle Garden and Ellis Island), 1820-1957. Departure Port: London, England. Arrival Date: 20 Jan 1949. Arrival Port: New York, New York, USA. Airline: Pan American Airways. Flight Number 3-18. Year: 1948; Arrival: New York, New York, USA; Microfilm Serial: T715, 1897-1957; Line: 1; Page Number: 170
Ancestry.com. New York, U.S., Arriving Passenger and Crew Lists (including Castle Garden and Ellis Island), 1820-1957 [database on-line]. Lehi, UT, USA: Ancestry.com Operations, Inc., 2010.
John Sidney Kerridge in the England & Wales, National Probate Calendar (Index of Wills and Administrations), 1858-1995. Death Date: 12 Jun 1955. Probate Registry Norwich. Ancestry.com. England & Wales, National Probate Calendar (Index of Wills and Administrations), 1858-1995 [database on-line]. Provo, UT, USA: Ancestry.com Operations, Inc., 2010.Original data: Principal Probate Registry. Calendar of the Grants of Probate and Letters of Administration made in the Probate Registries of the High Court of Justice in England. London, England
Henrietta Kerridge in the England & Wales, National Probate Calendar (Index of Wills and Administrations), 1858-1995. Death Date: 23 Dec 1967. Probate Registry Norwich. Ancestry.com. England & Wales, National Probate Calendar (Index of Wills and Administrations), 1858-1995 [database on-line]. Provo, UT, USA: Ancestry.com Operations, Inc., 2010.Original data: Principal Probate Registry. Calendar of the Grants of Probate and Letters of Administration made in the Probate Registries of the High Court of Justice in England. London, England
1942 Great Ellingham Invasion Committee Records. Sue Fay
1929 & 1931 Electoral Registers. Parliamentary County of Norfolk, Southern Division. Great Ellingham.