Illustration by Christine Fuller 24 year old May Bush lived with her parents and siblings at Rookery Farm, Great Ellingham. May worked in the dairy for her father, farmer William Arthur Bush. She was proficient in dairy skills. Indeed, in the July of 1911, May received a commendation at the Butter Making Championships held at…
Category: Places and Buildings
Fined for Taking Fish out of a Pond
Illustration by Christine Fuller The Norwich Mercury of Saturday 23rd July, 1881, reported on the recent cases at the East Harling Petty Sessions. Amongst the defendants were Great Ellingham labourers, Frederick Sharman, Robert Carter, Henry Lake and John Lee. They were charged with taking fish from a pond in the village of Great Ellingham. All…
A Double Wedding for the Carter Sisters
1903 ‘Double Wedding’ Jacob Beales & Isabella Carter and Alfred Harry Osborne & Kate Carter. Courtesy Carolyn Boatwright The wonderful Edwardian photograph captures the ‘double wedding’ of sisters, Isabella and Kate Carter. The joint nuptials took place during 1903 at the Baptist Church, Great Ellingham. Looking at the photograph, on the left is 31 year…
John Carter follows his father in the ‘Pub Trade’
The following report was published in the Lynn Advertiser on the 14th November, 1930: THE LATE MR JOHN CARTERThe Rev. E W Hardy (vicar of St Mary’s) officiated on Wednesday at the funeral of Mr John Carter, who passed away on the 8th inst., being in his 68th year.For nearly 38 years he was the…
John Robert Barnard buys The Crown
Purchase On the 23rd November, 1810, carpenter, John Robert Barnard purchased The Crown Inn (together with nearby properties and land) from Benjamin and Frances Dennis. Barnard purchased the property with a mortgage of £500 from beer brewer, John Stephenson Cann of Wymondham. A survey of of Great Ellingham dated 1817-1819, shows ‘John Robert Barnard (son…
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’s Recreation Ground’s Byelaws
On the 28th February, 1931, the Parish Council purchased a piece of land known as ‘Town Piece’ for the purposes of a recreation ground. The blue arrow on the below map shows the location of this ‘L-shaped’ piece of land. Extract from O.S. Map c.1945. Courtesy Ray & Maureen Beales Although the Parish Council purchased…
A Recreation Ground for All!
At a meeting of the Parish Council held on the 20th May, 1932, it was agreed that the Recreation Ground is free “to any party in the parish for useful purposes, providing application is made to the council for their sanction”. A year earlier, and as trustees, the Parish Council had purchased land for the…
Luther Beales – a ‘Man of Many Talents’
Joan Barnard is one of many people who have several family connections to Great Ellingham. What’s more, her family retained many of the memories and stories about members of the families, as well as photographs. What follows is Joan’s account of her family member Luther Beales: Luther Beales was born Great Ellingham 1893. He was…
The W.I provides Great Ellingham with a Bus Shelter
Photograph taken February 2012 It has recently been announced that the village will benefit from an improved bus service. I wonder how many of us who have stood in the shelter waiting for a bus – or just passing by, have ever wondered when the bus shelter was erected? I found the answer in the…