Illustration by Christine Fuller Since ‘Lucifers‘ were created in the 1820s, matches have held some fascination for children. However this fascination can lead to disastrous events. Matches were once household necessities – at a time, of course, when there was no electricity! The matter of children playing with matches, is mentioned in The Dublin Weekly…
Category: Colman
George Jude sells land for Recreation Ground
Many of us will be familiar with the large recreation ground we are fortunate to have in our village. But I wonder whether any of us have ever thought how long the village has actually had the recreation ground. Farm Meadows Before the creation of a designated recreation ground, several owners of the larger farms…
Great Ellingham born Alfred Lincoln buys Rookery Farm
1790-1909 Extract from 1906 Ordnance Survey Map. Second Edition. Surveyed in 1881. Revised 1904 From 1790 until 1909 Rookery Farm on the Watton Road to Rocklands, was owned by the Norton family. At the turn of the 18th century, the farm comprised two farms – one of some 50 acres and the other 114 acres….
Henry Norton’s Messuages along the main road to Rocklands
Rookery Farm is a substantial property approached by a short drive from the Watton Road, near to the border with Rocklands. Indeed a very small portion of the land belonging to the farm once crossed the parish boundary into Rocklands. Perhaps this is still the case today. Extract from 1906 Ordnance Survey Map. Second Edition….
Ownership of Land in the same Family for Generations
On the 5th June, 1837, Edward Wilkins purchased the former ‘Town House’ in Long Street. Since the erection of the Wayland Union Workhouse in nearby Rocklands, the ‘Town House’ was no longer needed to house the poor of Great Ellingham. Accordingly, it became surplus to requirements. I believe this property – or at least the…
‘Houses for the Poor’ Sold at Auction
1769 Dwelling House for the Poor In 1769 a house to accommodate the poor was built upon land at the lower part of the common of Town Green. The land was given to the parish by the Lady of the Manor of Ellingham Hall, Margaretta Colman, the wife of the late Fysher Colman. The common…
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…
House with Barn, Yard and Garden at Bush Green
Extract from an 18th century Map. Stalland and Bush Green Commons, Great Ellingham. Original held at Norfolk Record Office. Catalgoue Ref NRO, MC 2213/116. With kind permission of NRO The above extract from an eighteenth century map, shows the position of a house (or rather a cottage) with a barn, yard and garden at Bush…
‘Mass Emigration’ from Great Ellingham in 1836
Illustration by Christine Fuller Borrowing to Fund the Emigration of the Poor Persons of the Parish One of the provisions of the Poor Law Amendment Act 1834, was the legislation which enabled the rate payers of a parish to set up a fund to pay for the ‘emigration of the poor persons settled in the…
A House Fit for a ‘King’
Great Ellingham is fortunate to have several fine listed buildings, with many of them situate in what today is known as Church Street. British Listed Buildings website describes Mill Farmhouse in Great Ellingham as a Grade II late seventeenth century timber framed farmhouse, on a flint plinth with rendered clay walls. The farmhouse also has…