Extract from an 1802 Abstract of Title to an Estate called the Crown in Great EllinghamCourtesy Shirley Caston Deeds contain fascinating and interesting information. For example, details of the land, premises, owners, occupiers and even lenders. Maps or plans drawn on early Indentures are ‘few and far between’. Accordingly, these early documents describe the position…
The History of The Crown Public House – Part II
In the past, there were at least five pubs in Great Ellingham. Today, The Crown is the only pub remaining. The Crown Public House, the venue for the Heritage Open Days’ events in 2023 & 2024 There has been an inn or public house on either the exact same spot, or very near to, the…
The History of The Crown Public House – Part III
The Crown Public House possible 1960s. Courtesy Tony Brooks The Crown in Church Street is one of at least five pubs and beer houses which were once in Great Ellingham. However, it is now the only surviving public house in the village. The origins of the pub go back over 200 years. The first mention…
Thomas Rix buried in the Grave of his first Wife
White House Farm, Long Street, Great EllinghamCourtesy Justin Wilkins From Great Dunham to Great Ellingham It may well have been around 1839 that Thomas and Elizabeth Rix moved from Great Dunham to Great Ellingham. Thomas Rix purchased White House Farm, which included several acres of arable land. Marriage Prior to moving to the village, Thomas…
Widow Eliza Rix marries her Lodger William Kerrison
Eliza Rix was 33 years old when her husband Thomas Rix died at the age of 76 in February, 1870. The couple had been married nearly 17 years during which time Eliza had given birth to 7 known children. Sadly, Thomas and Eliza’s youngest child (and only son), Benjamin Robert, died at just one year…
George & Louisa Edwards both die from Phthisis
According to Simon Willis in his book ‘How our Ancestors Died‘, at least one in six people died of tuberculosis during the Victorian period. Tuberculosis was also known as phthisis as well as consumption. My own family (as well as those families living in Great Ellingham), were no exception in being affected by this disease….
The Tragic Life and Death of Anna Eliza Rix
There is no doubt that life can be arduous and hard. At the turn of the 20th century, every day life for some of the people in Great Ellingham was no exception. A fair few families found themselves living in squalid conditions. Others suffered the loss of loved ones – the ‘breadwinner‘, the ‘house-keeper’ or…
Legacy funds two cottages at the Baptist Burial Ground
Extract from O.S. Map c.1945Courtesy Ray & Maureen Beales The blue arrow on the above extract from a map dated c.1945, shows the position of the ‘Burying Ground Cottages’ in Great Ellingham. However, the cottages were built over a century earlier. Tithe Map The Great Ellingham Tithe Map of 1843 shows a cottage and garden…
Great Ellingham cattle dealer caught up in ‘daring robbery’ in Norwich
Illustration Christine Fuller The following article was published in the Bury & Norwich Post on Wednesday 21st November, 1832: A daring robbery was committed on Saturday evening, about seven o’clock, in St Stephen’s Street, upon a cattle dealer from Great Ellingham, who was holding his horse at the door of the Two-necked Swan, when he…
William Day, formerly of Great Ellingham
The edition of the Bury & Norwich Post of Tuesday 15th June, 1869, included the following death notice: On the 8th instant, aged one year, the infant son of the late Mr William Day of Eye, Suffolk, formerly of Great Ellingham I endeavoured to find more information about this infant and his father, William Day….