Walking where our Ancestors walked

During my many years of genealogical research I have usually used a map of the area to find the villages or towns where my ancestors lived. I could then visualise how close they lived to other family members or to their future marriage partners. Even better than a map is being able to visit the places where they lived in person as you then can get a feel for the area and it’s surrounding countryside. My last blog was about my Matrilineal line which I have managed to trace back to the mid 18th Century to the small village estate of Elvetham. As I mentioned in my last blog, Elvetham was located close to the main coaching route from London to the West and some of my Turner ancestors who lived there where involved in the transportation business. Looking at a map of this area I discovered Turner’s Green Farm, Turner’s Pond and Turner’s Wood which suggests a definite link to this family. Elvetham village and Elvetham Heath are now split through the middle by the M3 motorway, and as we were driving down this motorway on our recent vacation to England we decided to take a small detour off the route and visit Elvetham. Pulling a caravan behind your car doesn’t make it easy to do spontaneous stops , but as the exit from the motorway was quite close to Elvetham we decided to go for it. We drove along the old London turnpike road and spotted an old milestone along the way, through the lovely village of Hartley Wintney and towards Elvetham Hall which is now a very expensive hotel. Thankfully just before the gates to the Estate there was a small unused road where we could park with the caravan. Leen Arie remained with the car and me and Leah (my granddaughter) went on an exploration of the Estate with it’s beautiful wooded grounds, the Hall and a lovely little church. The Hall was rebuilt after a tragic fire in the mid 1800’s and the little church was also restored, so it wouldn’t have been exactly as my ancestors remembered it, but nevertheless it was lovely to visit where they would have walked and attended church. Time restricted us (and having a caravan behind the car) from exploring further and looking for Turner’s Green Farm, but I definitely want to visit this area another time.

During our vacation we also spent a week in Cornwall where my Patriarchal line came from, in fact our campsite was located in the village of Gwinear, next to the farm where my 6th great grandmother Bridget Pryor lived and grew up, Trenoweth Farm. As we arrived at our campsite I felt like I had arrived back home, maybe a bit sentimental or maybe something in my genes. Whilst staying at this campsite I was able to go on several walks along centuries old public footpaths. From Trenoweth Farm to Coswinsawsin where Bridget later lived with her husband Robert Stickland and along the close by located farm of Penhale where my 4th great grandmother Mary Penhale probably came from.

There was also a public footpath along the back of Trenoweth Farm which took me over ancient stone stiles along fields full of daffodils and along the lovely old house of Lanyon whose family also come into my family tree via Elizabeth Lanyon who married John Arundel in 1639 and from whom another Prior family descended, Arundel Prior the grandfather of my 3rd great grandmother Grace Morsehead who married John Stickland.

Eventually I arrived in the little village of Angarrack where the widowed Grace Stickland lived with her daughter Wilmot and son in law and nephew John Stickland and where the tragic events of my Blog from June 2016 - Skeletons in the Cupboard occurred. Leen Arie and Leah met up with me here and we ate a delicious Sunday Lunch in the Angarrack Inn which was built in 1755 and was originally known as ‘The Lamb’, It owes its establishment to the Angarrack tin smelting house, which once operated nearby and was owned by William Tremayne the uncle of my 4th great grandfather Robert Stickland.

So many family connections in this small area of Cornwall, and even though so much has changed, being able to walk where they once walked brought me closer to my ancestors and also helped me to realise that a distance that looks really close on a map or travelled by a car is completely different when you walk that same distance over fields and footpaths.