Another lively
evening!!
I have been contacted by a gentleman asking if
he could do a Talk on Dowsing,
Mr Palmer, was
decided to look at this later in the year as we are rather busy over the coming
months.
Our Events:
Railway Display in
the Nog Inn on Sat. 18th March, we can sort the detail next meeting. There will be 30 to
40 guests. This is for the General Steam Navigation Locomotive Restoration
Society AGM.
We have the Church
Screen talk on Thurs 20th April we will need to set this up at the March
meeting.
Brenda has some excellent
articles in the magazine of late, hope you have read them.
Love the one entitled
Feniton’s Very Own Dad’s Army, by Brian Carnall. Alan’s article on 19th Century
Travel and the Feniton Inn, aka, Parr Cottage history is fascinating too.
Thank you Jenny for
helping with the school project on the Battle at Fenny Bridges, we have both
received a lovely “Thank You“ cards from the whole class, one pupil told us we
will make wonderful teachers when we qualify!! We found the youngsters so
polite and interested.
The Feniton Neighbourhood
Plan Group are looking at unregistered heritage assets and green spaces, it was
thought that most towns have wonderful parks, but not so in the villages.
Will tells us he is starting
a Geological job in London so won't be down in Devon for many, many months. He
will make contact when job ends but it may be next year. Very best wishes to all at the History Group.
We will miss his company, take care Will.
Chris Saunders can
report to the meeting that the funding level for the Patteson Cross
refurbishment project has now met the
expenditure thanks to a donation from Patteson House at The King's School and a
grant from Ottery Town Council. The latter does still have to be ratified by
full council sometime soon. The Commutation and rededication took place this
month.
Chris attended the Tony
Beard Memorial Service in Exeter Cathedral, many memories of a fine Devon man. Sadly,
missed by all who knew him, personally and as a presenter on Radio Devon
Geoff reported on the following finds while
volunteering in the Devon Heritage Centre:
Records from
the Exeter camera club now in DRO, he gave
details of an outing to Powerham Castle with a heavy plate cameras, they got lost, left
the camera on the train, fell
over the wall in the deer park, got off
at the wrong station on the way back ! Their trips were always an escapade it
seems.
Archaeological papers
detail a Neolithic dew pond and pebble
bed road.
Army recruiting letters
and copies and replies in Muster rolls for Devon Napoleonic wars and later.
Caster Castle, the
cottage where the gardener for Feniton Court lived, past the Old School on the
right on the Curscombe Road. Alan went
there before the war with his father as keen gardeners, the sub gardener lived
there. The head gardener lived in Thorn Cottage, Mr Hapgood. Christopher Flood was a Honiton Banker and had
financial interests in mauch of the property in Feniton.
Christopher Flood notes, he was called “King Caster” one of the Pot
Wallop voters. More on this at this link: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Potwalloper Honiton was one of these seats.
His daughter
is mentioned in the List of Feniton Rectors.
Henry
Erskine HEAD 1828-1860
He was born on 9th January
1797, the seventh son of James Roper Head of Rochester. He married Elizabeth
Flood of Honiton, daughter of Christopher Flood, on the 15th December 1823. He
was at one time Chaplain to the King of Hanover. He was installed on 4th July
1828 - presented by John Rogers of Honiton, Druggist. During his period in
office the church was in a bad state of repair and urgent restoration was
carried out in 1836. He either died in Feniton on 16th May 1860 aged 63 or in
London on 17h May 1860. (There are two accounts giving different locations and
dates!) There is a memorial to him on the North wall of the chancel. Not buried
in Feniton. He and his wife
had 5 babies die between 1830 and 1836 in Feniton, 4 boys and a girl. Just one
child survived, Margaret.
We nattered about how researching has changed
over the years, from looking at the actual documents, and trailing to London, now it is all on line, back then you had to
trawl the actual files.
Bob’s holiday saw the 1st snow in Spain for 91
years. He told us how important the “right” language is in Valencia, it must be the local lingo.
Brenda, asked if we could advise us of anyone who
were at the Feniton school 50 years ago when it moved to the new site. Pupils in
1950s and 1960s may have memories.
Alan was asked to find the origins of the The
Hardy Wine family, they seem to hail from Stockland, not Gittisham, as thought,
but of course they could have lived there before he emigrated, the enquirer thanked us
for our efforts.
A point was raised by Jackie as to how the
village streets are named? Found this on a government website:
City, borough and district councils
allocate postal numbers to houses and buildings in their area. They
also name new roads and streets.
The council involves the land
developer in the street naming process. They invite suggestions and possible
alternative names from the developer. These street names with postal numbers go
before council for approval.
But over the years these change due
to new developments and war damage etc.
Thanks to all for a fascinating
evening.
Next meeting in the Nog Inn on 2nd
March 2017.
