Relatives, Antiques and Antique Relatives

Relatives

 

When Dave Wilkey brought a big group to London, we met up with them several times.

First at the Churchill War Rooms.

Then in Windsor, where we took Andrea to McDonalds for dinner...

Her kids were concerned there may not be a McDonalds over here, 

so she had to send a picture to them to prove there was.

 

That McDonalds was right across the street from beautiful Windsor Castle.

 

 

  

Of course, seeing Andrea meant seeing Duane, Cindy and Megan....

Dave, Lynne, Bill, Matt,their wives, and people we know from Nephi and St George.

Duane, Cindy and Megan stayed with us a few nights....

 

If you go to Stansted Airport to rescue their luggage, you may as well see

 

Mountfitchet Castle,

a Norman Village of 1066,

and the

House on the Hill Toy Museum

 

Because you're there.

And you can.

 

 

 

 

 

Antiques

 

Rick decided to take July 24th off

(well, as much as he takes off with a cell phone attached to his hip)

so we drove to the Ardingly Antiques Fair.

 

We've noticed gramophones many times whilst in antique shops, and are quite taken by them.

So when we found one for an incredible price, we had no choice but to consider it.
 

Found some of the old vinyl records for next to nothing, took them back to the stall

with the gramophone, and it worked!

 

So we bought it.
 

Good thing....

 since we owned some really, really, really heavy records.

 

Here's a snippet of the Blue Danube waltz for you....

 

 

Glad we had the car.  Would have been tough to get the

 gramophone and two big binders of vinyl records home on the bus, train and tube.

 

I also picked up some more serving tong thingys.

Now we can play Downton Abbey when we entertain.

 I think I'll need some servants to do that properly.....

 

 

  

Antique Relatives

 

There is a story behind this section.  I love antiques and I love family history.

I am reminded of my friend, mama Carolina.

Since I speak no Spanish and her English isn't always the best, 

we have many funny conversations whenever we're together.

My favorite is talking about old things.

She calls anything older (people, cars, anything)...antique.

So it makes sense to me that ancestors are

Antique Relatives!

 

Now you understand the title of this post.

 

I've been surrounded by relatives, antiques, and antique relatives!

 

My most recent ahah family history moment:
 

On May 22 I did a post about a blue plaque for John Hughlings Jackson,

cousin of Samuel Pitchforth and the father of English Neurology.
 

Last post I showed where William Wallace and protestant martyrs were executed right outside 

St Bartholomew's hospital and near the Priory Church of that name.

 

Looking through a book on Dr. Jackson, he spent many years working at that hospital.

Just a fun moment when I read that.  I'd been there.  Seen it.  Can picture it.

 

We finally got Family History launched in our YSA ward last Sunday.  I'll be teaching Sunday School the next couple of months to train the Family History Consultants.

I'll also begin manning the stake Family History Center on Mondays.

 

Hope I'm prepared for that.
Feeling quite inadequate.


Flowers

And just to prove I can grow things in London,
these beautiful begonias are outside our front door...

Thank you Costco for a pot with dirt and pre-planted bulbs.
 Just add water regularly, wait for forever,
and you get lovely flowers!

Not quite so easy with herbs (say it with the "h", please).
I can only keep basil (say bawzil) alive indoors.

Still working on my British accent.....

 

 



Deaths, Wimbledon, Relatives, More Relatives, Castle, and another church calling....

A week ago we visited the London Museum, which was AWESOME, then took our

"London's Hidden Walks " book.and went on part of the Clerkenwell walk nearby.

 

On our walk we discovered many interesting things.....

like the square where William Wallace (Scotland's "Braveheart")

was hanged, drawn and quartered in 1305...

 

 

Also, in this square, many protestant martyrs were either

burned or boiled alive in the 1550s.  What a place.

 

Close by was Priory Church of St Bartholomew the Great..

begun in the 1100s.

 

 

A bit down the road we went to a 12th century crypt,

 the remains of the Priory Church of St John.

Think of Knights Hospitallers, Knights Templars, crusades, Henry VIII,

Elizabeth I, Shakespeare, and Dickens...different times, different uses for the buildings.

 

This book of hidden walks could keep us busy finding unusual places for a VERY long time...

 

But on to Wimbledon....

 

Twas on my bucket list one day, and checked off the very next.....

 

 

Rick met Dave Wilkey there on Tuesday and decided to take me on Wednesday.

Because we could.

We watched a couple of matches and he taught me about tennis.

One errant ball almost hit the person sitting next to Rick... 

it made a dent in the wood behind her.

Who knew you could serve a tennis ball at 116 mph?

 

Wimbledon was beautiful...purple and white flowers everywhere...just a fun atmosphere...

could wander around and watch numerous matches.  Even if you didn't have tickets to Center Court or the other two pricey venues, there was plenty of tennis going on.

 

And who knew that you MUST have strawberries and cream while there.

 

 

LOVE British cream.

 

And on to Sandra....

 

Sandra Gregory, my Third Cousin Once Removed, came to London.

Sandra and I started communicating on Family History 4 years ago

 and were thrilled to finally meet.

 

Her great-great grandfather, George Gregory, 

and my great-great-great grandmother, Ann Gregory (wife of John Wilkey),

are brother and sister.

She was born in Beaulieu, Hampshire, England, where the Gregorys had lived for generations.

(See earlier posts for our trip to Beaulieu.)

 

She spent a lot of time in London, but has lived near Washington D.C. for 20 years.

Has worked for BBC, National Geographic, Discovery Channel....

So lucky she came to London while we are here and wanted to meet!

Had a delightful chat over coffee and juice.

 

 

On Friday Dave Wilkey called and wanted us to meet his pre-tour group at the

Churchill War Rooms.

So we did.

Dave and Lynne, Duane, Cindy and Megan, others we know from St George and Nephi,

but especially....

Andrea!

So glad to hug her and spend some time.

 

 

Today was Warwick Castle,

a family-friendly castle where kids can have a more hands-on experience...

Knights fighting demonstration, birds of prey demonstration,

Trebuchet Fireball show, princess tower, etc.

 

 

Soooooo, for our children's information, we bought a years pass.

With those passes came 8 free tickets.

Wonder which of our children and grandchildren will be using them.....

Thinking it's worth the 1 1/2 -2 hour drive from London for the kids!

 

We also walked into Warwick and had to go to

St Mary's Church and Cemetery.

Love cemeteries.

 

 

Whew! Busy, fun, eventful week.

 

AND, I was sustained to another calling on Sunday....

Assistant Stake Family History person...

will be getting the YSAs going on Indexing and Family History...

and helping to open and staff the Stake Family History Center.

Will be good.

 

Life is good!

 

 



Antiques and Gardens

I have two BIG problems:

 

 #1....  I LOVE antiques...but am mostly drawn to big, hard to ship, antiques.

#2....  I LOVE English gardens....but my home is in the desert.

 

Such trials.

 

Especially since I know about the Ardingly Antiques Fair which is held 5 times a year.

Just hop on a train to Heyward Heath from Victoria Station, catch a bus or taxi to

 Ardingly Showground, and you have acres of antique heaven. 

Of course, it took much of the day to understand what really grabs me, and what types of things I may be interested in looking for in the future.

 

My finds:

 

French Coal Bucket...thinking a plant in it, or just out in the garden.

 

 

Bugle, ricer, and serving tong thingys.

 

 

I know.  Random and unrelated.

 

Was a little nervous bringing home the bugle to a trumpet player.

 

 

Twas much more exciting after doing research on it. 

The lion holding a cross is the Regimental Insignia from the Kumaon Regiment, which is the most decorated regiment of the Indian Army...can barely read "Kumaon" under the lion.

 

 

Looking forward to going back on July 24.

 

Next problem, English gardens.

 

Rick had a meeting in Birmingham, so of course I went. 

The Winterbourne House and Gardens were awesome!

Especially the 7 acres of gardens and having lunch overlooking them.

 

 

 

My favorite....filbert nut trees made into an arbor.

Nuts drop onto the path...much easier than gathering little nuts in the grass like my Mom did.

 

 

So much beauty.

 

There were a bunch of different gardens separated by tall hedges or walls

 with openings to get into the next garden. 

So charming.

 

So why are English gardens a problem?

They don't have to water them to keep them green.

Just not sure we could do this in Utah.

(figure this out for me, Ryan)

 

Then work for Rick and off to the Birmingham Botanical Gardens for me.

 

 

LOVE columbine....

 

 

Fun way to support climbing things....

 

 

Fun times!  Beautiful things!

 

 

 



Liverpool, Manchester and Halifax

If your husband is driving to places in England for the week,

it's advisable to hop in the car and go with him!

 

Liverpool

 

Having never been this far north, I was surprised to find the sky looking like this at 10:15 p.m...

 

 

...and like this when I woke up at 4:30 a.m. because we'd left our curtains open.

 

Sooooo....what to do in Liverpool.....
 

Cross the Mercy River by ferry and do Family History on the Wirral Peninsula, of course.

 

 

 

After 2 days, several cemeteries, Wirral Archives, churches, walking, etc.,

I found no new info...

all I have is a little better feel for where Harry Hughlings' daughter Ann and her family lived.

 

SO, time to focus on Liverpool!

And what's Liverpool famous for???

 

 

The tour was quite pricey for what you got.

This part was much cooler....

The Cavern....where the Beatles were discovered!

 

 

What do you do there?  Walk down 2 stories, enjoy a drink (don't worry, it was juice for us),

listen to a performer doing a nice job singing Beatles songs,

watch the mostly overweight, balding, graying,  aging clientele re-live a portion of their youth (swaying, dancing, singing),

and wonder how people could stand being stuffed in this small place back then---with cigarette smoke (banned now), alcohol, dancing/swooning/sweaty bodies,

 walls dripping because of lack of ventilation.... 

we were happy to be there but happy to leave before it got REALLY crowded!

 

 

I also went to the Maritime museum....

 

 

which also houses the....

 

Posted specifically for our granddaughter Macee...

you MUST ask Brooke if you don't understand this reference...HYSTERICAL!

 

This is all located at the beautiful Albert Dock on the Mercey River.

 

 

Must do one church in Liverpool....The Anglican Cathedral, took 70 years to build, was finished in 1974, is 4th largest cathedral in the world.

 

 

 

 

View from the top....our hotel was by the space needle thing.

 

 

 

Manchester

 

Manchester was a cleaner city than Liverpool.  Quite liked it.

I enjoyed the John Rylands Library the most.  Beautiful and full of really cool old, old books.

 

 

This is a copy of a papyrus fragment from the Gospel of John.  It was in book form, not a scroll, because it was written on both sides.  This shows both sides....  Yup, saw the actual fragment, and it's translation is nearly the same as the King James Bible...cool.

 

 

 

Halifax

 

This was a nice day...no business meetings, just taking me to do Family History. 

 

First plan:  Find 50 Hopwood Lane,

where Harry Hughlings (brother to Ann) and his family lived...

 

 

 

2nd plan:  Find Holy Trinity Church,

where Ann Hughlings and Solomon Pitchforth were married. 

 And other relatives.

And Samuel Pitchforth (my g-g-grandfather) was christened.

And all of Harry Hughlings children.

And where Ann's mother is buried.

And several of Ann and Solomon's children.

And Ann's brother Harry and wife Mary.

And several of their children.

 

It took asking many, many different people, but we finally found it!

 

 

It is no longer used as a church.  The cemetery is gone, probably just paved over.  Underneath the bin are headstones in the blacktop.  Against a wall by the car park are headstones precariously placed.  At the side, headstones propped against the building.  At the back of the church, one nice section where a few headstones have been placed.

 

 

 

 

May have shed a few tears. 

 

 So much of our family history happened here and is no longer findable.

I tried contacting the vicar (this congregation merged with his) but no response.

 

Kind of heartbroken.

 

At least they left some of the stained glass windows and are fixing the spire....

 

 

 

Sigh.



Finally!!!!

It has finally happened.....we got the car on Friday!

 

 

It's a dark gray Honda Accord.  Complete with GPS, which is a necessity here.

Only problems....steering wheel is on the wrong side of the car...

...and they drive on the wrong side of the road...

...and my sweetheart almost sat on me after pumping gas because

he forgot which side to get in on.

:)

Rick's a good driver.  Me...still unknown if I'll ever dare drive here.

 

So we got out of town.

 

Friday we went north to Hertford (say it Hartford or Heartford).

John Powell Hughlings (brother to Ann) lived there for 8-10 years where he was a Chemist...

...which is a pharmacist.

While there he had possibly 5 children, only one who survived.  Still couldn't identify 3 of those who died as his....but probably are.

The Hertford Directory for 1837 and 1838 AND

 the 1841 Census place him on Fore Street. 

There is a building that has been a pharmacy since 1804 on Fore Street.

Notice "Chemist" below the window.

 

 

There were two Chemists on Fore Street...

Did they work together?  Is this the place?  Could be.

This building is probably 3-400 years old.  Some claim it's haunted.

 

Think on this.  John Powell Hughlings worked here then moved to London before his sister,

 Ann Hughlings Pitchforth died crossing the plains in 1846.

Utah wasn't even settled yet.

 

Saturday took us south to Beaulieu (say it Bew-lee, think beautiful place)

which is about 2 hours away and is near Portsmouth.

Beautiful drive....fields of yellow flowers.  I'm told the crop is rapeseed, which makes canola oil.

 

 

Love the deer crossing signs....much cuter deer than in Utah.

 

 

 

John Wilkey is from Portsmouth and married Ann Gregory from Beaulieu.

We didn't really go to do family history, just to get a feel for the place.

This is what we found....

 

 

Remains of Beaulieu Abbey...founded in 1205 by Cistercian Monks.

 

 

Beaulieu Parish Church, formerly part of the Abbey, still in use.

This view is from inside the Abbey grounds.

Gregory relatives in Beaulieu most likely attended here.

 

 

 

Inside....

 

 

 

There is also Beaulieu Manor which has been owned by the Montague Family since the 1500s.

It is currently used as a residence, but they allow tours of part of it.

 

 

Looking from the grounds towards Beaulieu is amazing!

 

 

We also went to the National Motor Museum which is part of the ticket, 

and the Lotus 7 rally was going on...

 

 

The hotel, The Montague Arms, where we ate lunch....

 

 

Cool thatched roof...notice the detail at the top.

 

 

Sign outside restroom at a Car Park in town.

 

 

Twas a very enjoyable day.

 

We were home about 10 minutes and got a call...

extra tickets to the London Philharmonic Orchestra playing

songs from Oscar winning movies....

 

brush hair, eat a banana and run out the door.

 

Monday, London Symphony Orchestra.

Saturday, London Philharmonic Orchestra.

Hertford.

Beaulieu.

Pretty awesome!