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 News from Zimbabwe
Category Archives: Lin(d)field History
A Short Biography: Arthur George Linfield 1885-1974
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 A Short Biography: Arthur George Linfield 1885-1974
A Black Sheep in the Family – The story of Emily Frances Linfield (1847-1931)
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 A Black Sheep in the Family – The story of Emily Frances Linfield (1847-1931)
Every Man Remembered – New website to honour all the dead of the Great War
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 Every Man Remembered – New website to honour all the dead of the Great War
A New Website to have a look at: The Great War – West Sussex
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 A New Website to have a look at: The Great War – West Sussex
The Lindfields of Chailey, Part 3: Katherine – Saint or Sinner?
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 The Lindfields of Chailey, Part 3: Katherine – Saint or Sinner?
The Lindfields of Chailey, Part 2: The Story of Sarah Bridger
My curiosity about the elaborate dresses in the old family photograph remained and, to find out more about these, it was necessary to dig deeper into the Miles family. Next to the headstones of Thomas and Rebekah Miles in the Wivelsfield graveyard, stands a memorial to Sarah Bridger which reads, formerly of Burgess Hill, died at Hove, November 28th 1895, aged 62 years. Continue reading The Lindfields of Chailey, Part 2: The Story of Sarah Bridger
The Lindfields of Chailey, Part 1: Hasted Lindfield
In my father’s house there was a photograph, which fascinated me. The picture showed a family in a country garden. The man is standing, holding the hand of a little girl and the woman is seated, with a baby on her lap. Although he is not smiling, the man’s face appeared good-humoured to me, the woman looked more severe. But what stole my attention and always brought me back to gaze again, were the elaborately-fashioned dresses of the woman, the child and the baby. How had these country folk come by such clothes and who had made them? It was not until many years later that I was to learn the answers to these questions. The people were Hasted Lindfield and his wife, Mary Miles, taken in 1872. The infant on the lap was, in fact, a boy and my grandfather, also called Hasted. Mary’s distinctive features were to be handed down through several generations of Lindfields. Continue reading The Lindfields of Chailey, Part 1: Hasted Lindfield