By the time Lois Cook (née Drake) had reached the age of 35, she had married, given birth to five children, suffered the heartache of the deaths of three of those children, and experienced the despair of widowhood, when her husband, Alfred Cook, died of tuberculosis in 1894. However, Lois was not the only woman…
Author: Heather Etteridge
William Bird Proves his Case
Chequers Lane. Date unknown. Postcard courtesy of Carol Ewin In 1891, William Bird had a grocer’s shop in Chequers Lane, Great Ellingham. He was also a coal dealer. William’s wife Anna minded the shop whilst her husband delivered coal to his customers by horse and cart. County Court Case One such customer was John Hawes….
Sarah Thompson Reeder 1874-1951
Sampler stitched by 12 year old Sarah Thompson Reeder in 1886. Photograph courtesy of Rosemary Jones In 1886, 12 year old Sarah Thompson demonstrated her needlework skills by stitching a sampler at her school in Great Ellingham. By the time the girls at the Board School finished their education, most (if not all) of the…
Harriet Stubbings née Barnard
Harriet Stubbings née Barnard. Image extracted from a Wilkins family photograph. Courtesy of James Margetts Emigration at 52 Widow Harriet Stubbings was 52 years old when, in December 1913, she left Great Ellingham for a new life ‘on the other side of the world’. Harriet accompanied her daughter Florence, and Florence’s extended family, on the…
The Wilkins Family Emigrate
Auction In 1913, Bertie Wilkins offered his butchers shop, cycle shop and dwelling-house for sale at auction. He had plans to emigrate to Australia. Did Bertie successfully sell his premises and emigrate? Emigration Florence (née Stubbings) and Bertie Wilkins. Courtesy of James Margetts What prompted Bertie and Florence to emigrate? Did they respond to an…
Mixed Fortunes for the Warren Family
Everyday life in Great Ellingham was particularly difficult for many of its inhabitants during the 1830s. James Warren and his family were no exception. James Warren Marriage Postcard of Church Road, Hargham with the Church of All Saints in the centre. Author’s own collection On the 21st January, 1814, James Warren of Great Ellingham married…
Messuage built upon the tenement Greenhouse – Part I
Copyhold Tenure Until the abolishment of copyhold tenure in 1922, Great Ellingham (like many other towns and villages throughout the country), was a mixture of freehold and copyhold land. Copyhold land was subject to the customs of the manorial court. Any change of ownership had to go through the Lord (or Lady) of the Manor,…
Messuage built upon the tenement Greenhouse – Part II
The delightful thatched house on the corner of Church Street and Chequers Lane. Postcard possibly dates from the early 1900s. Courtesy of Carol Ewin We continue the story of the owners (and some of the occupiers), of the delightful thatched house in the centre of the village. Before c.1862, the house was copyhold of the…
Messuage built upon the tenement Greenhouse – Part III
The delightful thatched house on the corner of Church Street and Chequers Lane. Postcard possibly dates from the early 1900s. Courtesy of Carol Ewin The Story of the Owners and Occupiers of the House In Part I we began to explore the owners and occupiers of an early 18th century house, which stands in the…
The Case of Hart -v- Wade
Attleborough County Court – August 1861 The Norfolk News of the 10th August, 1861, published a report of a recent case at the Attleborough County Court. The case centred around an action brought by Mark Hart, a higgler, of Great Ellingham against John Wade, an innkeeper, of Little Ellingham. Hart was seeking to recover £8…