Postcard of Chequers Lane. Courtesy of Carol Ewin Although the Chequers Inn is mentioned in the census returns of 1841 and 1851, it is not until the census of 1861 that the name Chequers (or Chequer) Lane appears. It is therefore difficult to establish how many households were living in what we know today as…
Category: People
The Parish Coal House & Coal House Road
The Coal House that once stood in Long Street near to Town Green. Photograph taken in the 1990s 1901 census The 1901 census refers to an area near Town Green and Long Street as “Coal House Road”. Other census returns which provide the street/area names (1851-1911) do not refer to Coal House Road. Accordingly, the…
Death of the “Beloved Wife of Mr Benjamin Barnard of Great Ellingham Hall”
Death Report The Death Reports in the Norwich Mercury of 2nd March 1844 include reference to the death of “the beloved wife of Mr Benjamin Barnard of Great Ellingham Hall“. However, no name for the deceased was given. From the report, the late Mrs Barnard was in her 47th year and she left “an affectionate…
James Beales convicted of Furious Driving – but which James?
Illustration by Christine Fuller Charge In the December of 1865, a James Beales, labourer, of Great Ellingham appeared before the magistrates at East Harling, on a charge of furious driving on the highway leading from Great Ellingham to Attleborough. He was found guilty and adjudged to pay a penalty and costs of £2, with one…
Post Windmill in Mill Lane
Extract from 1802 Map of Great Ellingham. Russell James Colman Plans. All rights reserved Norfolk Record Office. Cat. Ref. C/Ca 1/84. All rights With kind permission of NRO The above extract from the 1802 Inclosures Map of Great Ellingham shows the position of the Post Mill in Mill Lane. Owners of the Post Mill The…
Mrs Lydia Barnard – Grocer & Draper
Great Ellingham had at least one grocer and draper’s shop in 1715. A notice for the letting of a grocer and draper’s shop situate ‘near the Church’ appeared on page 3 of the Norfolk Chronicle of Saturday 3 September 1785. The shop had been a grocer and draper’s establishment for upwards of 70 years. The…
Blacksmith’s Shop occupied by John Steel & Others offered For Sale
Illustration by Christine Fuller A notice for the sale of a dwelling with Blacksmith’s shop in full trade appeared on page 3 of the Norfolk Chronicle dated 7 July 1787. The premises included yards, gardens and about five acres of land which was occupied by John Steel “and others”. The notice stated that the premises…
Burial of Robert Hurst aged 105 – or was he?
Great Ellingham Parish Church of St James The Burial Register for the Parish Church of Great Ellingham includes an entry for the burial of a Robert Hurst on August 9th, 1863. The deceased was stated to be 105 years of age! A life span of 105 years is extraordinary even by today’s standards. But was…
The Sudden Death of Pastor James Cragg
Great Ellingham Baptist Church 2019 The Norfolk Chronicle & Norwich Gazette of Saturday October 4th, 1856 referred to an Inquest held on the body of the Baptist Minister of Great Ellingham, forty year old James Cragg. It was reported that James Cragg had been “perfectly well in the course of the morning visiting some of…
“Pretty Wedding” at the Primitive Methodist Chapel
The Primitive Methodist Chapel at Great Ellingham Marriage Edwin Alfred Clarke of Deopham and Annie Elizabeth Downes of Great Ellingham married at the Primitive Methodist Chapel at Great Ellingham on Wednesday 18th September 1901. The Eastern Evening News of the following Saturday, reported that it was a “pretty wedding”. The bride was “tastefully dressed in…