It
is with sadness I mentioned to the Group that Chris Saunders has left our
membership, we will miss his expertise and company.
The
last two events we have held in the church were wonderful, but due to bad
weather the attendance has been poor.
The
talk by Jim Woolley and Bob Neal on "Ottery's Sacrifice", the book
tells of the men and families affected by WW1, was well received and very
poignant, seeing the Commonwealth War Graves in France and Belgium. The book is
available from The Curious Otter Book Shop.
Thank
you to Jim and Bob for an informative
evening.
David
has picked up on the name Lady J. Rickman from the Kelly Directories dated 1893
and 1889 each mention her charity of £25 for Public Use. She is a puzzle, and
does not seem to be in any listing on line.
The search is ongoing, so watch this space.
Do
have any suggestions? Where did the compilers of the directories get their
information?
In
a DFHS magazine from 1994 David found in a book shop gave detail of a fire in
Ottery St Mary, a messenger went from Ottery to the station at Feniton to
telegraph the message to Exeter, the cause was children in a cottage playing
with matches in a cottage off Jesu Street was the cause article written by Jean Harris.
He
also found a volume of the Devonshire Transactions containing notes on the
Devon Dialect.
Geoff,
who volunteers in the Devon Record Office, is cataloguing papers from the
Garret Family of Bishops Court, the papers hold details of their taxes. It was
cheaper to hire a coach and horses then to own one, due to the tax. The estate
was sold to John Garrett in 1830, he made his fortune from tea. Of late is was used by W.E. Taylor a paint
company
George
on one of his walks has visited Redlake China Clay, here are a couple of links
to the area:
Alan
tells us: You never know what will turn up from the past, boxes containing
military orders for King Philip’s Spanish Armada have been found.
Even
a “new” type of dinosaur has been found.
Brenda
has found an article in the Western Times detailing the first train to come
down the rail line, stopping at Feniton. It had 20 carriages and 3 trains. The
day was a wet one with fast falling rain and a solar eclipse at the time. Speeches were
made £300 had been spent on the road to Sidmouth. Sir John Kennaway went to lunch with the navies.
Was
the Back Drive to Escot put in to aid access to the station for the railway
access?
This
is disproved by Rev. Swete’s visit to Escot, see below*
Many
commentators say how beautiful East Devon is.
John
Leland came through in 1542.
Celia
Fiennes travelled through in 1698 and remarked what a good road it was from
Exeter to Honiton.
In
1795 the Reverend Swete made his "Picturesque Tour of Devon" and
describes his visit to Escot. *"Northward of the house I came to some iron
gates that opened onto a public road contiguous which was a cottage that had
been formerly used as a lodge.”
Thackeray was at Larkbeare:
Major
Carmichael-Smyth, step father to Thackeray,
retired to Larkbeare, near Ottery
St. Mary, in South Devon, which he rented from the local potentate. Sir John
Kennaway, setting up as a small country squire or gentleman-farmer. There he
reaped his crops, brewed cider, and shot partridges, while his wife drove in
her carriage with a footman
on
the box, to visit the neighbours. Larkbeare was the Fairoaks, Ottery St. Mary
the Clavering St. Mary, and Exeter the
Chatteris of his novel “Pendennis”.
Jenny
has been asked to help with a film covering the Battle of Fenny Bridges, using
her research as a basis.
There seems to be “Treacle Mines” in Feniton
according to a post on Facebook page Feniton Focus.
KENNAWAY
Sir John Bt. Passed peacefully in Worcester Royal Hospital on October 22nd,
2017, aged 84 years, after a short illness. Published in the Malvern Gazette on
10th November 2017
