Our Military Ancestors by Malcolm Linfield
Peggy Champ by Malcolm Linfield
Joe Poole and the Braintree Branch
Archaeological Miscellanies by Malcolm Linfield
Apprenticeship Indenture
It Could Be You!
In the days before the National Lottery and the football pools, people no doubt used to dream of inheriting a fortune from some long lost relative. Tracing the heirs of deceased clients is a task which still falls to solicitors and their clerks, and which I have always assumed must explain the number of young men and women who used to appear in the search rooms at St Catherine’s House talking on their cellular telephones while frantically searching the births, marriages and deaths. Naturally I hoped that I was the lucky relative they were searching for!
I was intrigued therefore, to receive from the Family Origin Name Survey, several entries from publications which list heirs to unclaimed estates, and searches for next-of-kin. The first was published in 1878 and lists two Lindfield entries, Henry Lindfield, and Spencer Lindfield. As to Henry, we cannot tell which Henry is referred to, though it may be that a search of the original documents might help. The Index seems to have been compiled from Chambers Index to Next of Kin. Spencer Lindfield is much easier to identify, particularly as she also appears in another of the FONS references as Mrs S Lindfield of Walworth. She died in 1857 and I recounted her story in a previous article (Crime and Punishment LONGSHOT Vol 4 no 2). It would be interesting to know how much money she left and whether it represented the proceeds of the crimes with which she was charged!
A Lindfield Coat of Arms
One of the questions often asked of family historians is whether their family has a coat of arms. Until recently, I had to say that we had found no evidence of any grant of arms to anyone bearing one of the name variants we are researching. Until that is, I had a surprise visit from Ernest William Lindfield of Shearwater, Tasmania, who was in England on holiday. Ernest left with me a photograph of the coat of arms, or more strictly, the Armorial Bearings, which had recently been granted to him in recognition of his public service.
Our printing process cannot really do justice to the colour photograph, but I have copied out the wording of the Warrant, which readers may find of interest. There are plenty of good books around on heraldry which will provide a translation of the rather arcane terminology!
ARMORIAL BEARINGS GRANTED TO ERNEST WILLIAM LINDFIELD
His Grace’s Warrant (Earl Marshal and Hereditary Marshal of England) and by virtue of the Letters Patent of My Office granted to Me by the Queen’s Most Excellent Majesty do by these Presents grant and assign unto the said ERNEST WILLIAM LINDFIELD the Arms following that is to say:- Quarterly Azure and Or in the first and fourth quarters a Martlet wings displayed and addorsed in the second and third a Mullet all counterchanged on a Pale Ermine a Caduceus Gold And for the Crest upon a Helm with a Wreath Argent Or and Azure A Tasmanian Tiger rampant holding in the sinister paw a pair of Scales Or and in the dexter a Cutlass proper Mantled Azure doubled Party Or and Argent And I further grant and assign the following Device or Badge that is to say: Upon a Aboriginal Spear and a Didgeridoo in saltire proper an Eagle displayed Or all within a wreath of Greater Bird of Paradise Tail Feathers proper as the same are in the margin hereof more plainly depicted to be borne and used forever hereafter by the said ERNEST WILLIAM LINDFIELD and by his descendants with their due and proper differences and according to the Laws of Arms.
Our congratulations to Ernest on achieving this honour, and on being, as far as we know, the first Lindfield to be entitled to a coat of arms.
The Avery and Beard Connections
Reading a Will made some 300 years ago, is rather like having a letter from a friend one has not seen for a very long time. How interesting are the items mentioned and those who were to receive them!
ANN BEARD, the daughter of JOHN BEARD of Woodmancote, was baptised there in 1613. She was married at Woodmancote on the 30th September 1641 to a certain JOHN LINDFIELD. And now, at the age of 62 – and from the Land Tax Records we know her to be a widow – she is making her Will. She may be already ill and in need of nursing, for the Will is witnessed by two women, one is ELIZABETH DOVE and the other is SUSAN AVERY, the eldest daughter of NATHANIEL AND SUSAN AVERY of Knowl’s Tooth, a very old farm house still standing in Langton Lane, Hurstpierpoint.
From the Will it appears that Ann’s family consisted of three daughters and a son. The eldest daughter Ann, is married to William Stone of The Nunnery, Rusper. Mary, who may later have married John Tilley, and Sarah, also there is a son, John Lindfield. This son was not the eldest child, therefore would have been contemporary in age with Susan Avery. It does seem likely that he was the John Lindfield whom Sarah Avery married – perhaps after the death of his mother?
Ann, who married William Stone, had a daughter Elizabeth, who became Mrs. Thomas Marchant of Little Park Farm, Hurstpierpoint. Thomas Marchant wrote an amusing and informative Diary, which is reproduced in the Sussex Archaeological Collections Vol. 25. It throws much light on the goings and comings of these local families and the name Lindfield is frequently mentioned.
But, to return to Susan Avery now, the wife of John Lindfield, after the birth of their son John Lindfield in 1676, Susan became a widow and Letters of Administration were granted to her on January 28th 1681/2. In 1680, on 27th August, is recorded the burial ofone John Lindfield at Hurstpierpoint. In 1684, on August 27th Susan married at All Saint’s, Lewes, Samuel Savage of Biggs, Cuckfield.
Susan’s mother, Susan Avery, refers in her Will dated 1689, to “the five children of Samuel Savage“. Whether they are all Susan’s or whether Samuel had been married before, I do not know. Susan Savage, in her own Will in 1718, refers only to one Sarah, who was baptised at Hurstpierpoint on 2,4th September 1686 and who married on February 1 Oth 1711 to John Stapley of Hickstead Place – thereby linking in again yet another notable family. John Stapley also kept a Diary and in it he mentions many points of interest which happened among our Ancestors in this locality.
Links
- The Avery Connection Longshot Vol. 3.1
The Royal Navy Patrol Service
The August 1996 journal of the Group contained an article under the heading Full Circle that mentioned the author’s father’s and uncle’s service in the Royal Navy.
Both served on minesweepers and would have been attached to the Royal Naval Patrol Service, a new division of the R.N. with their central depot in Lowestoft in a place calle dthe Sparrow’s Nest. This had the official title of HMS Europa andoperated from the beginning of the war until 1946 when it was closed down.
Lieutenant F R Linfield is named on the memorial at Lowestoft to commemorate sailors of the RNPS lost at sea.. This memorial which is 50 feet high, surmounted by a bronze galleon, rises from a 40 foot diameter base fitted with 17 bronze panels bearing the names of 2,385 sailors lost at sea.
My own service commenced in 1944 as a Royal Naval rating attached to Chatham depot, but within a month I was transferred to Lowestoft and became a Royal Naval Patrol Service sailor. My first draft in this division was to a small minesweeper out of Grimsby, deployed in keeping open charted shipping lanes in the North Sea. At the end of the war in Europe, I was posted abroad and served for two years in the Pacific and Indian fleets before being demobbed in 1947.
I joined the Royal Naval Patrol Service Association last year and have taken part in the last two annual parades, service and wreath laying at Lowestoft. The parade of about 1000 ex-RNPS personnel is through Lowestoft, terminating at the memorial for the service and then to the old parade ground for the final service – a very proud and moving occasion.
It was at the service that I noticed Lieut F R Linfield’s name, and the secretary of the association answered my enquiry with the following details:
LINFIELD, FREDERICK ROY, Lieut. R.N.R. Son of Frederick William and Mary. Husband of Alice Cameron Minter Linfield of Durban, Natal, South Africa. Lost on HMS Sotra, 29th January, 1942, aged 31. The Sotra was a whaler, 313 tons, built 1925, hired as a minesweeper in September 1939. It was sunk by a German submarine U431 off Bardia (Bariyah), North Africa.
In my four years service in the RN the only Lin(d)field I met was my cousin Jack Lindfield who served on the carrier Ark Royal and then on the Royal Fleet auxiliaries throughout the war after his pre-war training at King Alfred, Hove. It would be interesting to hear from any other Lin(d)fields who were associated with the Royal Navy.
The Life of Walter James Burrage
The 1881 Census in Sussex
As some readers will be aware, a major project was recently undertaken by the Church of Latter Day Saints to index and publish the 1881 census returns for the United Kingdom. This has produced an extremely useful resource for family historians, in that we now have a complete, and comprehensively indexed, set of data for that year. In fact the entries are indexed in a four ways, by surname, by birthplace, by census place and finally as enumerated.
As a formally constituted family history society, the Lin(d)field One Name Group is allowed to purchase copies of the microfiche index and we have now bought the set for Sussex. As luck would have it, the other counties which contain significant numbers of Lin(d)fields at that time, are among the larger counties in terms of population and are therefore much more expensive sets of fiche. We will collect the data from those in due course using copies at local and national archives. I have made a start on that process by obtaining copies of the relevant pages from the surname indexes for Kent, Middlesex and Lancashire.
To return to the Sussex data, I have now entered all of the surname index information into a computer spreadsheet, which allows us to sort the entries automatically and to print them out in various formats as required. The total number in Sussex is 381, made up of 248 of the Lindfield spelling and 133 shown as Linfield. Perhaps surprisingly, there are no Linkfield, Lingfield, Linville or similar names.
For those members who are interested in such things, the data is held in an Excel spreadsheet, and I am happy to make a copy on disc for anyone who wants one for research purposes. There is clearly a lot of scope for analysing the information, in terms of the wealth of demographic data it contains. It would be fascinating, for example, to examine the location, occupations, family sizes and other aspects, as they relate to our family names.
Another related project has been started by Geoff Riggs of the Guild of One Name Studies who is collating statistics for the number of occurrences of various surnames in the 1881 census year. When we have completed our search of the 1881 entries, we will be sending the county totals to Geoff for entry into his database. In return, we will receive a map showing the distribution around the country.
When all the data has been collected and entered into the spreadsheet, we hope to publish it in book form, as well as making it available as a computer based resource.
Reflections from the President
In my early researches about the geographical and cultural origins of the Linfields, knowing that we were probably associated with the growing of flax, I wrote to the Linfield Football and Athletic Club, of Windsor Park, Donegall Avenue, Belfast, N. Ireland enquiring if there were any family connections. No link was established. However, since then Linfield Athletic have published ‘LINFIELD- 100 YEARS’ by Malcolm Brodie (1985) which describes its first hundred years since its foundation in March 1886. The following extracts are of interest and show that there are a number of associations with our ancient family name:
“There is no other football club in Ireland quite like Linfield. They are loved and hated. Loved by thousands of fans – some of whom have had their ashes scattered at Windsor Park while others were buried in their Linfield regalia. Hated down the years by the opposition for an implacable enmity, a fierce and relentless sporting rivalry has always existed between Linfield and all other teams.“
“The tradition of Linfield hits you the moment you step through the turnstiles or into the dressing and boardrooms at Windsor. They are a big club who never permit themselves to be parochial in outlook although they jealously guard their rights. Dignity and dedication are two essentials to being a Linfield player or official.”
“It is the proud boast of many Linfield fans that theirs is the bluest of the blue. It is a club with a distinctly Protestant following but, in answer to often-repeated criticism that they don’t play Roman Catholics, club officials point out there is nothing in the rules to prevent this. In fact, many of the distinguished players in the past have been Roman Catholics . . .”
“Everyone wants to triumph over the Blues. “I don’t care who wins so long as Linfield are beaten”, is a comment frequently heard. That has not happened too often for a search of the records reveals few seasons in which Linfield didn’t win a trophy nor have they ever applied for re-election to the Irish League. Supporters look upon success as commonplace and that is the way it has been down the years . . .”
“Everyone owes a supreme allegiance to Linfield but, through the club, they have helped by positive thinking to ensure Northern Ireland football marches on. Another century approaches and no doubt during it the name of Linfield will be in the forefront as it has been since that day in 1886 when the club was conceived in a linen mill . . .”
It was in the latter part of 1885 “that Bob McClurg, an employee in the Linfield mill of the Ulster Spinning Company, led a deputation . . . to ask directors permission to form a team and to use the ground at the back of the mill called “The Meadow”. This was granted and the company even offered the facilities of the dining hall where they had first discussed the prospects of setting up the club.”
“So in March 1886, the club, known as Linfield Athletic, was officially founded; it was decided to limit team membership to employees but it soon became evident that if success was to be attained, the doors had to be opened to all-comers. Therefore six outsiders were welcomed simply because they strengthened the side . . .”
During the last few months, I have begun research into the life of George Hayler Linfield who left the SullingtonStorringtonWashington area in the early 1840s and worked for many years as a gardener at Brenchley, near Paddock Wood in Kent. He was one of the grandsons of Peter Linfield, the butcher of Storrington (see Longshot, Vol 2 No 1, May 1993 p. 10). I visited Brenchley for the first time earlier this year and I hope to go again in the Autumn. It’s a beautiful little village with a splendid view of the surrounding countryside from Castle Hill. The following is taken from our database and gives his family history in outline:
GEORGE HAYLER LINFIELD born abt. 1816, Sullington, occupation Gardener, married before 1844 in Brenchley, Kent, Anne born abt. 1812 Brenchley, Kent, living 1891, Castle Hill, Brenchley. George died 1892 (reg.Tonbridge). Anne shown in CR91 as aged 79, bn. Brenchley.
Children:
Bertha Hayler Linfield, b. 1844.
Elizabeth Ann Linfield, b. 1846. Occupation: School Matron in CR 1891.
Emma Josephine Linfield, b. 1848. Occupation: Cook domestic, living 1891 at Castle Hill, Brenchley.
Bertha married (i) Thomas Whibley, 21 Nov 1868 at Brenchley (ii) —– Hannaford, before 1920.
Database outlines such as the above give the basic information for my current research. My daughter, Janet Anderson (nee Linfield) lives at Larkfield, Kent about 10 miles from Brenchley.
Finally, a personal memory of my early respect for William Henry Borrer, the famous botanist, of Barrow Hill, Henfield. My family have always been great tree lovers and we valued the grandeur of the cedar trees planted in the little plantation on the left at the top of Barrow Hill. On the flint wall the Borrer family had placed a plaque saying the trees were planted with seed from Lebanon in 1843. I passed these trees every school day for the three years that I attended Henfield Boys (CE) Elementary School, 1928-31 before I began my grammar school education as a rural scholarship boy at Steyning, and often collected pine cones there. I was, of course, completely unaware then of the Borrer/Lindfield connection: William Borrer’s mother was Mary Lindfield (1758-1813), daughter and heir to Nathaniel Lindfield, owner of Pickwell in Cuckfield, which she brought by marriage in 1780 to William Borrer of Pakyns Manor in Hurstpierpoint. William Borrer, botanist, was born on June 13 1781. He died on January 10 1862. The following extract comes from The Story of Henfield by Henry de Candole, Vicar of Henfield (Cambridges, Hove, 1947):
On the upper slope of Barrow Hill, a “new mansion was built by his father for William Borrer the third, a great name in the Henfield of the 19th century. The Borrer family owned, and still own, Pakyns Manor in Hurstpierpoint bought by William Borrer the first in 1783. His son, William Borrer II, was High Sheriff of the county, raised a troop of Horse for defence against Napoleon, and is described as having proved “a very successful caterer for the needs of the crowds of men and horses assembled in Sussex” at the time of the Napoleonic scare. He already had connections with Henfield, and his son, William Borrer III, was born and baptised here in 1781 and showed his devotion to the place during a long life as a generous benefactor to the Church, Schools and village, and an originator of many schemes for their welfare. But his fame was more than local, for he was one of the leading botanists of his time, and a Fellow of the Royal Society. Tradition tells of a letter sent to him, and safely delivered, as “that illustrious man Wm. Borrer, England.” In particular, he was an authority on the plants of his own county and parish as the frequency of allusions to Henfield in the recent ‘Sussex Flora’ by Wolley-Dod (1937) amply testifies. “As soon as he had a home of his own,” we are told, “he betook himself to gardening, and amassed one of the best collections of plants ever grown in the English climate.” The garden at Barrow Hill was indeed famous; in 1860 his gardener made a list of over 6600 plants, the most remarkable of which were given at his death to Kew Gardens. Others of his family shared his interests, and are responsible for the red oaks, and for the cedars brought from Lebanon in 1843 and flourishing opposite Spring Hills. His eldest son William Borrer IV of Cowfold became an authority on ornithology and wrote ‘The Birds of Sussex’, in which may be found his startling record of having once seen no less than 14 golden orioles on a single bush on Henfield Common. But the glories of Barrow Hill are past; the house has been deserted since the death of Borrer’s granddaughter, and the once lovely garden is now, alas! a tangled wilderness.”
The last connection of the Lindfields with the Borrers was in the last century when Mr Lindfield Borrer still lived at Barrow Hill.