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…
Category: Long Street
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….
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…
Private G/7208 George Wilkins
The name of George Wilkins is inscribed on the Great War memorial tablet on the west wall of the Church of St James, Great Ellingham. George was a Private in the 1st Battalion The Buffs (East Kent Regiment). Aged just 29, he was killed in action in France, on the 15th September, 1916. Early Life…
1920 Sale of Pieces of Arable Land in Long Street
James Sadd Buys White House Farm James Sadd was already farming and living at White House Farm in Long Street, Great Ellingham, when he completed the purchase of the farm. On the 29th September, 1920, he bought the freehold farm for the sum of £750 from spinster Mary Fortune, of Poplar Grove, Scremerston, Berwick-on-Tweed. The…
William Robert Lebbell – Blacksmith, Wheelwright & Dairyman Farmer
What follows is a short biography of William Robert Lebbell (1884-1965), written by William’s granddaughter, Susan Fay, from her memories of her grandfather: William Robert Lebbell aged about 17 years. Photograph courtesy of Susan Fay, granddaughter of W R Lebbell Born & Bred in Great Ellingham “William was born in the village of Great Ellingham…
W R Lebbell, Shoeing & General Smith & Wheelwright
To the far right of the above postcard is William R Lebbell’s smithy in Long Street. 1911 census The 1911 census shows 26 year old William Robert Lebbell with his wife Lily (née Wigby) and their two year old son, Owen William, living in a 5-roomed dwelling in ‘the Street’, Great Ellingham. Self employed, William…
Robert Brooke’s Farmhouse in Long Street
Robert Brooke (c.1757-1829) Robert Brooke of Great Ellingham died in March 1829. He was 73 years old, a bachelor, and a yeoman i.e. a farmer owning a reasonable amount of property and land, but not sufficient to be classed as ‘gentry’. Variations of Name During my research, I have found that this family’s surname ‘Brooke‘…
Mary Dennis Inherits Property in Town Green
Legacy of Property and Land in Great Ellingham Anthony Porter of Great Ellingham died c.1786, and left all his freehold and copyhold lands in Great Ellingham to his niece, Mary Dennis (neé Willomatt). At this time, Mary was living in the town of Watton, some 8 miles from Great Ellingham. Mary’s use and benefit of…
James & Alice Sadd of White House Farm
Bill Note dated June 18th, 1922. James Sadd of White House Farm, Great Ellingham. Author’s own collection James and Alice Sadd came to White House Farm in Long Street in 1902, probably not long after their marriage which took place earlier that year. The 1911 census captures 32 year old James Sadd with his 31…