Extract from the Book of Family Worship. Downes Family. Courtesy Rita Downes
A Family Bible is a useful resource for family historians. Although the information is usually limited to a list of names and birth dates, it nevertheless helps to piece together members of a family. It may also provide details which would otherwise remain unknown.
I was delighted to see such a book (in the form of a Book of Family Worship), which was (and still is) owned by a local family.
Extract from the Book of Family Worship. Downes Family. Courtesy Rita Downes
The book belonged to a Downes family. It likely belonged to James Downes and his wife Ann. Their names and dates of birth together with those of their children, are listed at the front of the book.
‘John Downes’ and ‘Mr John Downes’ also appear at the very top of the list. Accordingly, I wonder whether at least one of those entries refers to James’s father, John Downes.
Marriage
Perhaps the book was a wedding gift. A marriage between James Downes and Ann Page took place in St Mary’s Church, Attleborough on the 12th October, 1838. James was 22 and Ann 18.
The marriage register tells us that neither James nor Ann could write their names. Instead, they each signed the register by putting their mark ‘X. However with limited access to education, many people were illiterate during this early Victorian period. Nevertheless it does bring up the question as to who actually wrote the details in the book!
Attleborough born
St Mary’s Church, Attleborough
James Downes was born in Attleborough on the 31st January, 1816, to John and Mary Downes. Ann was born on the 12th January, 1820, to George and Sarah Page. She was also born in Attleborough.
Fen Street, Attleborough
The national head-count of 1841 captures the couple (who had been married for less than two years), living in Fen Street, Attleborough. I believe Fen Street was not far from the town boundary with Great Ellingham.
Near the Bounds of Great Ellingham
For the next thirty or so years, James and Ann Downes continued to live in the Swangey or the West Carr Common area of Attleborough – again near to the town boundary with Great Ellingham. All of their children were likely born at the family’s home during that period.
Move to Rocklands
In 1861, James Downes was farming around 12 acres. By 1871, he was farming 19 acres at West Carr Common.
However at the time of the 1881 census, James Downes at 65 years of age, was farming 46 acres in Rockland All Saints.
James with his wife Ann and their youngest son, William, were then living in Buntings Lane. The couple’s 13 year old London born granddaughter Eugenie Lawrence was also with the household.
At this time, James and Ann’s eldest son, John, was farming some 94 acres in Attleborough. John and his wife Maria together with five of their six children, were living at Nobs Corner.
Both John Downes and his youngest brother, William, would later come to live and farm in Great Ellingham.
Methodist
Chapel Street, Rockland St Peter with the Chapel (now a private home) in the centre of the postcard
For many years, James Downes was a lay preacher at the Methodist Chapel in Rocklands.
James Downes Retires
By 1891, James Downes had retired. The census finds 75 year old James with his 71 year old wife Ann living in Scoulton Road, Rockland St Peter. The couple have a boarder, 78 year old widow Mary Elmer.
Their youngest son, William, is at Norrolds Farm in Rockland All Saints, with his wife Annie and four young children.
James and Ann’s eldest son, John, is with his wife Maria and five of their children at Chestnut Grove Farm in Great Ellingham. John’s two year old niece, Gertrude Downes, is also with the household. She is the daughter of John’s youngest brother William.
Book of Worship passes to John Downes
James Downes died in 1894. He was buried at the front of the Methodist Chapel in Rocklands. A plaque in his memory was erected inside the Chapel.
Plaque to the memory of James Downes which was once erected in Rockland Methodist Chapel
Photograph courtesy Joan Barnard
Ann Downes spent the remaining years of her life with her eldest son, John Downes, at Chestnut Grove Farm, Great Ellingham.
She died in 1898 and was buried in the churchyard of St James’s Church, Great Ellingham.
Given that the Book of Family Worship also records the birth dates of John and Maria Downes’s children, the book may well have been passed to John Downes prior to the death of his parents.
Extract from the Book of Family Worship. Downes Family. Courtesy Rita Downes
1901
The 1901 census captures both John Downes and his brother, William, living in Great Ellingham with their respective families.
William Downes (leaning in the doorway) with some of his children at Bury Hall
Courtesy Theresa Downes
Aged 40, William Downes is with his wife Annie and nine children living at Bury Hall. At that time, William leased Bury Hall farm from Lord Walsingham. However, he later purchased Bury Hall and the farm from Lord Walsingham in 1917.
John Downes of Chestnut Grove Farm with his grand-daughter Queenie Downes.
Photograph taken c.1896. Courtesy Joan Barnard
57 year old John Downes was with his wife Maria at Chestnut Grove Farm (Chestnut Farm). With the couple are two of their daughters – 32 year old Kate Pease and 25 year old Annie Downes. Kate’s two sons, 7 year old Reginald and 2 year old Alginald, completed the household.
1911
Ten years later, the national head-count of 1911 reveals William and Annie Downes together with five of their children at Bury Hall. The couple had been married for some 28 years during which time, eleven children had been born. Sadly, one of their children had died.
Kate Melton-Pease (1869-1908)
Daughter of John & Maria Downes of Chestnut Grove Farm
Courtesy Joan Barnard
William’s elder brother John was still at Chestnut Grove Farm with his wife Maria. They had been married for 42 years. Four of their five children were still living. Sadly, their eldest daughter Kate Maria Pease (also known as Kate Maria Melton-Pease), died in March 1908, shortly after the birth of her son Firginald.
The census also reveals that Kate’s elder sons, 17 year old Reginald and 12 year old Alginald, were living with their grandparents. The boy’s cousin, 16 year old Queenie Downes, is a visitor to the household on census night.
Deaths of John & Maria Downes
Maria Lister Downes wife of John Downes of Chestnut Grove Farm
Photograph courtesy of Joan Barnard
Maria Downes died at the age of 80. She was buried in the churchyard of St James’s Church, Great Ellingham on 11th January, 1922.
John Downes died in January 1930, aged 85 years. He too was buried in the churchyard of St James.
What became of the Book of Family Worship?
Following the deaths of both John and Maria Downes, Chestnut Grove Farm was occupied by their grandson, Alginald Melton-Pease and, later, by other descendants of John and Maria Downes.
The Book of Family Worship was likely tucked away and, perhaps, forgotten. It was several decades after the deaths of John and Maria, that the book came to light.
But who actually wrote in the book? Although neither James nor Ann Downes could write their names at the time of their marriage in 1838, James Downes later became a Methodist Lay Preacher. Accordingly, I wonder whether in later life James learnt to read and write. However, the honest answer to the question is I don’t know!
Image from the Book of Family Worship. Downes Family. Courtesy Rita Downes
Sources:
Attleborough Parish Registers. Norfolk Record Office PD 438. Viewed via www.ancestry.co.uk
Great Ellingham Parish Registers. Norfolk Record Office PD 609. Also available www.familysearch.org and www.ancestry.co.uk
1841 census HO107/781/1
1851 census HOR107/1823/22
1861 census RG9/1237/14
1871 census RG10/1841/13
1881 census RG11/1974/1924
1891 census RG12/1550/77, RG12/1549/70
1901 census RG13/1867/69, RG13/1867/80
1911 census RG14/11473/98, RG14/11473/138
GRO Index https://www.gov.uk/research-family-history Also available at FreeBMD website
Thanks to Rita Downes and to Joan Barnard for additional information