Deeks in Glemsford

The surname Deeks is familiar to all who have looked into the history of Glemsford (and the name even featured in a recent edition of "Who Do You Think You Are?").

Richard Deeks for many years ploughed a lone furrow in recording the real history of the village and its real people, as opposed to other more fanciful romanticised nonsense.

Richard himself did a large amount of research into his family background.

I was more than pleased therefore to receive this note from Sue Bignell, who may be contacted via my email address:

I've recently traced my great grandfather Alfred George Deeks ( born abt 1849) back to Glemsford where he was born, the son of Jeptha Deeks ( the spelling changes depending on which source you're using) and Martha (nee Cocksedge).

I know that Jeptha was born around 1813 and died in approximately 1891. He was probably the son of William and Mary Deeks.

It's all very exciting but there's a lot of 'probablys' and 'abouts'. I would be interested to know if anyone has any information to flesh these people out and make it a more exact science. Given the number of Deeks's in the local area it would also be interesting to know of the history of the name generally as this seems to be the heart of the name in the U.K..

I look forward to any replies.

Pearmans and Browns

Another contact with regard to a couple of the most enquired-about Glemsford families has arrived from Angela Russell.

Apart from other material on this page, Angela is referring to this page about the families.

I am really interested in the story of the William Pearman, I wonder if there is any information on Thomas and Hannah Brown the parents of Susan Brown.

I am researching a Thomas and Hannah Brown (nee Gridley) is it possible there is a link here?

I would be interested to hear from any one about this.

Thanks, Angela.

I know I keep saying it, but anyone can enter a direct comment here, or reply through me.

Steve Clarke

More about the Craskes

Not that I ever doubted it, but it is always nice to get confirmation that people actually read and take note of these entries.

A few weeks ago I published some details about the Craske family and their migration to Lancashire.

Today, I received this from Bill Thurgood:

I was fascinated to read about your research on the Craskes who went to Lancashire.

This is also my family, my mother was a Craske descended from Ellen Craske of Shimpling, very much the same family.

Ellen had a child out of wedlock, in Stanningfield, and the father was William Cornish.

Now, he did not marry Ellen. Instead he married Henrietta Pettit, strangely this is the surname of the family who you discuss immediately prior to the Craskes on your blog page.

Our branch of Craskes went to Essex , but I now live in Cornwall.So imagine my surprise to uncover that my mother was really a Cornish by descent.

Thanks Bill. Anyone who wishes can add a comment or contact Bill via my address.

Hartley, Thompson and Beevis

Not a firm of local solicitors, but a trio of local family names.

Dear All

I have been recently tracing the William Thompson/ Sarah Hartley family and have been in contact with several descendants.

My particular ancestor of their children was George (Hartley) Thompson, who married Mary Ann Beevis in 1865 (daughter of Joseph (a tailor) and Mary Ann Beevis of Tye Green) and moved off to London.

I see that there are still Hartleys, Thompsons and Beevises in Glemsford and wonder if anyone traces their families back to my ancestors.

I would love to hear from you if so.

Regards

Hilary Thompson Dredge

As always, you can make contact by leaving a message under "Comments" or by email through me.

Steve Clarke

Don't blame me

There I was, sure the whole thing was working properly, and getting excited because people had added comments.

Then I posted the item about the Morlings.

Then Sue of Suffolk added a comment.

And it is there, Sue, honest.

But, for some reason which I can't fathom, the "Comments" link at the end stubbornly refused to admit it's there, and read zero. But if you click on the link, up it pops. And, eventually, nothing changed to one (there's a Leonard Cohen line there somewhere).

I suppose that goes to prove something.

Never trust a zero.

Lost contacts

One of the problems with a site like this, and a page like this, is that it has been going so long that some of my contacts have moved on, changed their email address, or given up the search altogether.
These two emails I received from Derek benton highlight this point:

1) I'm writing in reference to the posting made by Janie Richter as I have
direct ancestry with the ALLEN, FARROW and BYFORD names in Glemsford.
If she could email me direct that would be super.

2) I'd also like to write in reference to the posting made by Chris
Bentall/Derek Wordley.
He was asking about the ancestry of Thomas ALLEN who married Maria STEWARD
in 1859.
Thomas' parents were William ALLEN and Sarah TWINNS.
William ALLEN was the youngest brother of my 4th-G-grandfather, James
ALLEN.
I have info on the ALLEN family going back a number of generations.
If he wants to email me that would be great and I can pass over any info I
have.

Unfortunately, I seem to have lost touch with at least two of these earlier contributors to whom Derek refers.

If any of them is still out there, could he or she get in touch with me, and I'll pass the information on to Derek.

Steve Clarke: admin@glemsford.org.uk

Goldings of Glemsford; Morlings of Leiston

I'm always happy to help with research if I can. I only have available the sort of resources that anyone can find online, but I do enjoy the search!

Sandra sent me this query:

I am looking for any information on the Morling family from Glemsford. Ephriam Morling, born 1820, married an Elizabeth, he was a tallow chandler. Any information at all would be most helpful.

In an initial hunt, I was able to find out this (with the usual health warnings about not jumping to conclusions):

In 1841, Ephrem and Elizabeth Morling were living with the family of Philip Golding, on Brook St, Glemsford.
Ephrem is recorded as a Chandler.

Ephrem (sic) and Elizabeth seem to have married in the second quarter of 1841 - it must have been just about the same time as the census was taken - I'm almost certain Elizabeth was born a Golding.

In 1851, Ephraim and Elizabeth Morling were in Leiston, with their children Alfred (9), Edgar (6), Emma (4) and Eliza (10 months). Ephraim is described as a Tallow Chandler. Ephraim and Eliza were both born in Leiston; Elizabeth and the other children were born in Glemsford, so the family possibly moved back to Leiston round about 1850.

In 1861, Ephriam (sic) and Elizabeth were living at Prospect Place, Leiston, with their family, now including Celina and Charles (8 and 5) both born in Leiston. Ephriam was still a Tallow Chandler.

At the moment I can't find Ephraim and Elizabeth in 1871, but I suspect they were still around - I have found death registrations for Ephriam in 1872 and Elizabeth in 1880. But in 1871 they seem to have evaporated!

Possibly this is because someone has misread the names on the online census material - they are shown as Marling in 1851, for instance.

However, in 1871, their son Edgar was living on Sizewell Road, Leiston with his wife Alice, and their daughters Anne and Alice. Significantly, Edgar was a Tallow Chandler.

That's as far as I've got so far, although I have begun to trace the other children of Ephraim and Elizabeth, who seem to have moved around a bit!

It also looks as though there were a number of Morling families in Leiston. Two at least make it into the mid- to late-century business directories.

As usual, if anyone else has anything to add, you can add it as a comment here, or email me and I will pass it on to Sandra.

It works!

At last, someone has added a successful comment to an earlier request - see September 2006, the Oakleys.

It proves the page can work.

So now you can all get commenting.

Steve