FENLAND
FAMILY HISTORY SOCIETY

24 January 2008

Facilities available at the Wisbech Museum

28 February 2008

Eels, Punts and Poaching – A Fen Family Tale

27 March 2008

When We Were Children

24 April 2008

Funny Blood

22 May 2008

Life on the Lincolnshire Salt Marshes

26 June 2008

Sutton Bridge Church

24 July 2008

East Coast Floods

August 2008

No meeting

13 September 2008

Fenland Family History Day - St Peters Church Hall 10am – 5pm. Family History Society Stalls. Researchers. Displays

25 September 2008

AGM. & Talk about Herbert Coates - picture postcard publisher

23 October 2008

Halloween & Myths

27 November 2008

A Festive evening – a Talk. Competitions

December 2008

No meeting

The speaker for our first meeting for 2008 was Robert Bell from the Wisbech Museum. Many of our members have already used the museum to look up the local Parish Registers for their family B. M.D’s, and Robert was able to tell us what else was available.

There were many early maps on display, of Wisbech & the surrounding areas, which in some cases also showed who owned the land. Books such as Council Minutes, sanitation inspector’s reports, early Kellys trade directories & old newspapers were also shown as were copies of Bastardy orders settlements & removal papers, old sale notices & much more to help us to fill in our family history.

Robert said that the museum is hoping to get an online catalogue of what is available at the museum in the future but advised that if anyone wanted to look at large documents, an appointment needs to be made to enable the museum staff to allocate adequate space.

After a question & answer session, the donation of the 100-year-old wedding dress, first seen at our ‘Weddings evening’ in November, was made to the Museum. The 23-year-old bride was Edith Letitia Spanton of Cambridge, daughter of Emery Spanton a Baptist Minister & her groom also 23 years was John Dickens Groome, son of Charles Groome, a farmer in Wellingborough, Northants. The wedding took place in the September quarter of 1903 in Cambridge. J.R. Glass. Milliner Draper & Ladies Outfitter of Wisbech supplied the material for the bride’s gown & was made locally.

Mentioned also were the generous donations made to the Society by members, Barbara Bullen, of stationary items, Kevin Rogers for his work on the MI’s at the Octagon Church cemetery Wisbech & Heather Stanbury’s gift of CD’s.

Peter Carter, our speaker for the February meeting told of his family going back to the 1500s. This true Fenland family has been mentioned in five books & the skills have been passed down through his family.

Attired in his working clothes Peter fascinated his audience with his knowledge of the country - side. He described the life cycle of eels & how they were caught using wicker traps & special eel forks, & explained how their numbers were diminishing partly due to the large catches made at sea preventing the eels coming into local waters for breeding.

With the aid of a computer pictures we saw different types of punt gun & how they were used to shoot duck, & Peter described the careful approach used in a punt in the early mornings to catch duck as they settled on the marshes.

We then heard how poaching in the past was carried out, always illegal, but if carried out during the daytime & the poacher got caught he was sent to prison, but if caught night poaching then this was a hanging offence! It was presumed that the daytime poaching took place ‘by chance’ but that poaching at night was pre- planned. Peter pointed out that birds & animals were always killed for food & never for fun.

Peter is responsible for willow beds & described the growing & coppicing to maintain their usefulness in providing willow for traps & baskets for the long term.

The Woodland Trust also provides work for Peter as he makes fences & does hedge laying which he much prefers, to the practice of flaying hedges to reduce their height.

Peter also visits schools & instructs the children on the use of willow & how they should treat the Countryside, and his ‘claim to fame’ when he met & spoke to the Queen at the Welney Wild Life Association.

We saw a few artefacts & Peter answered questions, especially on how to trap moles, for the rest of the evening whilst we enjoyed light refreshments.

CHILDHOOD MEMORIES

Members recalling their childhood memories took us back in time for our March meeting.. The stories ranged from the war - time, air raid shelters, ration books & the value of the sweet coupons, searchlights & the food that was available, to the games children played. We were told of children, in one case a 14yr old boy, being in charge of a horse & loaded cart that was being taken through town, and having time off school to help gather the wheat & potato harvests (no health & safety in those days)

Mentioned also was the discipline that was the rule rather than the exception, which in retrospect was usually fair & certainly did no harm.

The games we played, even to sliding down a pigsty roof & the bicycle rides & ball games.

The first TV programmes for kids such as the Wooden Tops & Bill & Ben. The radio was important not only for the news but for programmes such Uncle Mack & his way of ending his programme with ‘goodnight children –everywhere’. The Billy Cotton Band show & Workers Playtime with its catchy songs, and Dick Barton –special agent.

Holidays by the seaside, leisure time, liquorice straws & gob stoppers, fruit picking, school time, & friends to share adventures with - all had a mention.

From this evening the memories proved that family, friends, freedom & fearlessness was the order of the day, with common sense prevailing even to learning some of life’s lessons the hard way.

One could wonder today if our children are missing out on such a lot …..

FUNNY BLOOD - a family disease

Ann Simmons’s reason for investigating her family history was medical. At out April meeting Ann, a retired State Registered Nurse, spoke of the ‘funny blood’ disease which afflicted her immediate family & told us how the symptoms presented with pallor, tiredness & a general feeling of being unwell. One member of her family was seen to have ‘white ears’. Ann, being advised that the condition was probably hereditary & with her medical knowledge, decided to try & find out through which part of the family the disease came.

Her search, as with all family historians, began by finding her forefathers. Aided with many beautiful family photographs, hoarded by her Aunt Miriam & interspersed with paintings by Ann’s artistic father, she traced the past family members who had had various medical conditions such as anaemia, renal failure & leukaemia. A diagnosis of a ‘malfunction of the spleen’ (splenic anaemia) was made because the red blood cells became spherical instead of the normal convex shape & the patients were ‘cured’ by blood transfusions & eventually the removal of the spleen. It was often found that a personal stress situation was experienced before the disease became apparent & not all members of the same family suffered the disease.

A vast amount of research proved, with the aid of death certificates that many of her past family had peculiar illnesses, which today would be associated with Sphero-cytosis, Modern medical thinking is that the bone marrow is responsible for the condition rather than the spleen & treated with drugs. The operation, for this disease, is rarely carried out today. We learned that Ann herself has had a splenectomy & many transfusions whilst working as a nurse & now enjoys good health.

Her talk was very knowledgeable & eloquently presented & Ann answered many questions.

LIFE ON THE LINCOLNSHIRE SALT MARSHES

‘Queen of the salt marsh’ is another name for June Barton, for one could not meet a more dedicated & enthusiastic person when it comes to the flora & fauna & taking care of the salt marshes. She was born one mile from Kirton Marsh to farming parents & at six weeks old was taken to the marsh when her father went to harvest Samphire. Her knowledge is such that none have been able to ask a question about the marsh that she could not answer. She is now well known & can be heard on the local radio & has been interviewed for BBC TV programmes. She likes to meet people but says she is just as happy being alone on a 1000 acres of marsh watching birds in flight.

June explained that a salt marsh is an area covered by water twice a day & explained about spring & neap tides, how the creeks can alter course over time & how it can be a dangerous place because of quick sand & the tidal actions. She can also weather forecast by observing nature’s signs.

Her fame spread when she claimed commoner’s rights & succeeded, to harvest Samphire, also known as poor mans asparagus, which the local council wanted to stop. June explained that the correct way to harvest Samphire properly was by cutting & not by pulling up by the roots. She pointed out that the collection should be done by the locals & not turned into a commercial project.

During her life June has been a local government officer amongst other occupations, & her opinion is called for when decisions need to be made about her beloved environ. Her talk was fascinating & was interspersed with amusing anecdotes.

June showed us videos of some of her TV broadcasts & then answered questions, one of which was about her thoughts on wind farms. As much as she dislikes them June said she thinks eventually the coast line will have several & that we have to be prepared to look forward even if the outlook is not as favourable as we would like.

An enlightening evening in the company of a lady whose life is the Lincolnshire Salt Marshes.

ST. MATTHEW’S CHURCH. SUTTON BRIDGE

The Reverend Woods greeted us when the Society held it’s June meeting at St. Matthews Church.

The village of Sutton Bridge came into existence shortly before the Church which was built of Suffolk flint with stone dressings in the Early English style.

The trustees of Guys hospital bought an estate as an investment, which covered most of the Sutton Bridge area.

William Skelton became steward of the estate & was responsible for improved drainage, the building of roads & planting trees.

Thomas Guy, who is remembered for the founding of Guys Hospital, was a bookseller in London who made a fortune selling Bibles in Holland & was a contractor for printing Bibles in Oxford, and it is he who was mainly responsible for the founding & building of St Matthew’s Church.

St. Matthew’s was consecrated on 29th August 1843, the first stone being laid on July 28th 1841 by Benjamin Harrison Esq. Treasurer of Guy’s Hospital.

The church consisted of a chancel, nave, north & south porches & a western tower containing a clock & one bell & was of plain design with no stained glass windows, no side chapels, no heating & only candles for lighting.

After a short talk we were able to look round the church & noted the Reredos, which was commissioned in 1961. This caused great concern amongst the churchgoers, as it portrayed a beardless Christ.

We also saw the RAF chapel of St. Michael, which was incorporated into the chapel of St. Philip in 1956, in memory of the men of 8 countries who are laid to rest in the churchyard. A board close by shows the names & country of origin of the fallen men.

The magnificent east window behind the High Altar depicts the Epiphany, Crucifixion and Ascension.

The yellow west window depicts the Millennium & the blue window is to the memory of ‘All who left Sutton Bridge to work abroad from 1840 –2000’.

We were also able to browse the church registers & visit the tower & the Reverend was kept busy answering questions.

THE EAST COAST FLOODS

John Honor, a retired engineer commenced our July meeting by displaying a map showing which parts of eastern England would have been flooded had there been no sea defences at all.

He stated that the sea ‘was everything’ in as much as it can bring prosperity by creating marsh land which can be reclaimed as useful land & destructive when it causes erosion & destroys the coast line.

Ten thousand years ago we were joined to Europe & the four Fenland Rivers were tributaries of the Rhine.

Five thousand years ago we became separated by the sea, from the rest of Europe

The Romans made the first sea defences & changes to the landscape.

Although global warming is of present day concern with the sea levels rising, we were told that there have been dramatic climate changes over thousands of years & John stated that although there is not the immediate predicted catastrophe that is alarming many people, he does agree that great thought & action needs to be put into the building of adequate sea defences now & in the future & by people who understand the sea & rivers.

The east coast floods were caused by a great storm with low air pressure and started over Scotland which then travelled south along the coastline. The low pressure let the sea rise & with force 12 winds led to the east coast floods.

John showed illustrations of sea movements over the decades & pictures of great devastation, whole villages were submerged & there was a great loss of life.

The appreciative audience had many questions to ask especially about building on known flood plains, the answer being that if this is the case it must be acknowledged & the buildings must be made higher than a predicted rise of water level, which is where the specialists come in such as hydrologists whom John stated are few & far between!

AGM & Talk on Picture Postcards by Andrew Ingram

The Society held a very successful Family History Day on Sept 13th2008.

At our monthly meeting the profit from that day was presented as a cheque to our President the Rev. Wim Zwalf, to go towards the cost of the refurbishment of St. Peters church hall where we hold our meetings. The improvements include a new kitchen & toilets, the old kitchen converted to a small meeting room, new windows in the hall & decoration .

These new facilities are much appreciated & greatly enhance our meetings.

After our AGM we were taken on a picture postcard journey from Wisbech to Lowestoft & back. Our speaker was the ever - popular Andrew Ingram who told us that the photographs were taken by Herbert Coates who was born in Skipton in 1883. Herbert was involved in transport during WW1 at the Somme & Ypres. In 1921 he came to Wisbech to set up his picture postcard business after having taken several pictures to sell.

So we ‘travelled’ form the Wisbech Port to Lowestoft via Lynn Rd & the Park where he took a picture of a WW1 tank which was taken by the East Harbour rail track to the park & off loaded onto a ready prepared concrete base. From here we were taken to the village stores at Walpole Highway , to Terrington St. John, to King’s Lynn with the picture of the 3 Bridges & the South Gates at the entrance to the town. There were pictures of boats on the Gt. River Ouse, the Castle at Castle Rising, the Snettisham Woods & the seaside at Gt. Yarmouth. He showed his business was successful by buying a car & showing it in several of his pictures.

But even so Mr. Coates was not above ‘doctoring’ some of his photos, one example given was of the floral clock at Gt. Yarmouth which would appear to have been photographed on three consecutive years- the date having been altered – the equivalent to today’s cut & pasting- but the hotel & the cars in the background remaining exactly the same!

Andrew is collecting the cards all of which have an identifying number & he said that a few negatives are still around. On Mr Coates death the collection was given to the Wisbech Museum where it can be seen today. Andrew was kept busy answering questions at the end of a very enjoyable meeting where several new members were welcomed.

HALLOWEEN & MYTHS

At our November meeting we were entertained with a talk that involved audience participation, the speaker being the ever-popular Brian Jones. He explained that the pagan celebration of ‘Halloween’ had no original date but eventually fell on the Christian date of All Hallows Eve. The churches were often built on pagan sites, as this is where the populace we used to meeting.

At Halloween it was believed that when the sunset below the sky- line it descended into the world of spirits that had gone to hell & on Halloween the spirits came back, possibly as ghosts, for one night to find their earthly dwelling place & fireside. It was a time of danger as witches also practiced witchcraft noisily & could cause evil to human beings. Witches were thought to be able to change their form & become very light, hence having the ability to ride broomsticks, go up & down chimneys & hide in an egg shell. Children were told to turn their empty egg - shell over & make a hole in the bottom to stop a witch from hiding there. Fairies were said to meet in burials grounds on Halloween as this was the only safe place for them because the evil spirits were at large elsewhere.

In the Fens you were advised not to walk alone at night in case you were followed by the devil & should you turn around you would look into his eyes & your soul be lost. You would not hunt or shoot at Halloween in case you harmed a wandering spirit, nor would you tread on your own shadow. Animals were brought into shelter & had a burning twig passed over their backs to ward off disease & evil spirits. A Fenman would protect his house from evil spirits by placing Hawthorne over his door. Pumpkins would be placed outside the door & was supposed to scare away the witches.

The Victorians decided to enliven Halloween & because it was in the autumn when fruit was plentiful, apples & vegetables were used to foretell a young lady about her future. Trying to take a bite from apples hanging from a string, that had identifying marks put on them by the boys, might tell a young girl who her future husband could be and vice versa. Putting apple pips into the grate to see how they burned was another way & baking a dumb cake by mixing eggs flour water without speaking & patting into a flat cake, putting it in the grate overnight would result in cracked crust in which an initial letter of a future husband might be seen. Long apple peelings were thrown over the left shoulder in the hope that it would fall into the shape of an initial letter of your lover, & putting an apple beneath your pillow may cause you to dream of your future. Brain demonstrated other ways that the Victorians celebrated Halloween, with the audience participating & caused much laughter. Today the bobbing for apples is an off-shoot of these actions as is the ‘trick & treat’ which came over from America & to all intents & purposes has now got out of hand.

So just in case…. leave the door open & the fire banked up on Halloween to let the spirits come & go freely, break your egg shells, & don’t go out at night… just in case…