The recent communication from Margaret Abbey has reawakened my interest in the legend of Bramber Castle. Every so often, the story appears in one of the local papers or free magazines but there has never been the slightest evidence to prove any of it actually happened. At the end of my article from 1992, I posed a couple of questions: ‘Who was Herbert Erredge and when did he write his ‘history’ of Bramber Castle, and secondly, did Lord Hubert de Hurst and Lady Maud actually exist? If they did not, then the legend of Bramber Castle is pure invention’. Unfortunately, nothing has changed to alter my view, although I think I now have a better idea of why the ‘legend’ evolved and the reasons behind its creation. Continue reading →
This fascinating newspaper cutting, updating Bill Linfield’s story and his recent celebration of 50 years in aviation, is a great excuse to have another look at his branch of the family. Bill and his first cousin Barry have written about their family previously in our journal, and we apologise for any repetition. However, this is a good opportunity to bring everything up to date and fill in a few gaps. On top of that, we have tracked down some excellent family photographs to accompany the text.
We have recently received an interesting newspaper cutting from Bill Linfield in Zimbabwe, recording his ‘50 years in Aviation’. Bill is a great-grandson of Liberal MP Frederick Caesar Linfield and first cousin of Barry Linfield, our membership secretary. In 1999, Bill wrote an interesting article for ‘Longshot’ about his family and their long association with Zimbabwe and South Africa, which can also be accessed on this website. [1] Bill has also sent us some great photos of himself and his family, showing four generations, which also include his great-granddaughter, Lilly. Continue reading →
Arthur George Linfield was born in Worthing on 18 August 1885, eldest son of Arthur George and Edith Mary Linfield, who were married in 1883. His father was one of the Worthing pioneers of fruit growing under glass, and his mother, Edith was a daughter of a well-known fruit grower in Lancing, Frederick Young. The Linfields were to have seven children in all, five sons and two daughters. They were staunch Wesleyan Methodists and brought up their family in a strong Christian tradition. Continue reading →
Every family has its ‘black sheep’, the wayward individual who doesn’t quite fit in, the person who has done bad things, who may have brought shame and embarrassment to his or her family. They are fairly rare in reality, on average appearing only once in every three generations. They may be completely ostracised by their families and cast out, or shown a modicum of restrained toleration – but everyone knows who they are.
One such individual, whom I have touched upon previously in an early Longshot article, was Emily Frances Linfield. She caused untold embarrassment to her family, mainly through her habitual drunkenness, and was even accused of murder when her elderly mother died after a fall. This article explores her life in more detail and updates her story in the light of more recent information. Continue reading →
Set up by the Royal British Legion, the new website ‘Every Man Remembered‘ has been set up to honour and commemorate every single man and woman who died in the Great War fighting for Britain and the Empire. It is a really fantastic idea, and as a One Name Family History Society, I feel it is essential we should commemorate everyone from the Lin(d)field families who lost their lives. Donations can also be made to the Legion in memory of an individual. Continue reading →
With all the First World War centenary commemorations well under way, I wanted to tell everyone about a new website: ‘The Great War – West Sussex‘.
Financed with a lottery grant, this has been a joint project between the West Sussex Library Service and the West Sussex Record Office, who appealed for volunteers to research case studies on various topics of the war or on a particular serviceman or woman. Far more people came forward than expected – 150 rather than the estimated 80 or so – but the end result is a fantastic learning resource that I can thoroughly recommend. Continue reading →
My father once remarked, when reminiscing about the past that, “most families seemed to have a simple daughter, who was kept at home, to look after the house and care for the elderly parents”. However, despite this, the only unmarried women our researches had discovered so far had been qualified as seamstresses, milliners, and in one case as a teacher. Continue reading →
Researching Linfield, Lindfield, Lingfield, Linkfield, Linville and variants worldwide
