3 and 4 December 2011 - family gatherings and then my Gran's old home!

With the dawning of the new morning, it was time for me to start bidding farewell to both Mum's cousins, and to Somerset.

The view from the lounge window of John and Shirley's home. Rather an attractive outlook. It was interesting that at one stage Shirley's mum (who has also ticked off her 100th birthday) was living in a home across the park , so in a sense they were able to "keep an eye" on her in terms of general things, but also that it meant that they were close to her and thus able to be there for her if she did need them in a hurry. She has now moved into a facility where she has more care than before as just before I left to go to the UK she took a turn for the worse, and now needs that additional care.

This is a clock that John and Shirley own and it was rather interesting. At each hour it would mark the hour with a different bird's call. It was actually only either on Friday afternoon or that Saturday morning that I realised that it looked like this - and that the calls that were chimed were as the birds on the clock face!

I was under strict instructions from Mum to document as much as possible in terms of taking photos of all that I could on my trip as a whole so that she could see the details for herself. It gave me a wonderful excuse to take dozens of photos, and where people might have objected, they were told quite firmly that this was because I was under instructions from Mum, and so they just had to "deal with it" :-)

The other side of the coin is that it has meant that I have been able to bring back a lot of pics that will forever remind me of this trip - and I think that I am starting to get the measure of finding a balance between seeing places through the lens of a camera and without the camera - just taking in the aspect of just "being in a place and feeling it".

Before departing for lunch, I had a chance to look over some of my pics with John and Shirley - both those taken during my trip and then some of the family and pets that I had on my netbook and external hard drive. It was a strange thing to be sharing those things then, and for the first time, that day made me very conscious that this wonderful and magical time in my life was about to come to an end and I had to start coming to terms with that and start gearing myself for the various farewells that would follow in the next ten or so days. It was not a great feeling, as I have become very attached to the people I was fortunate enough to spend time with! I know that there is always a way to stay in touch, but it is not really the same - and I can say that with absolute conviction having just been in the middle of an IM chat with Silks and realising how tough it is to stay "on top of the goings on of people you care about".

Anyway, back to Somerset. As part of a treat for Uncle Dave, Dee and Dan had managed to secure a booking for the five of us to spend a night at Cutsey - on 3 December. The reason this would be so special was two-fold. Firstly, Uncle Dave knew nothing about it, and secondly, for all of us it was a wonderful chance to spend an evening in the place that had once been the home to my Grandmother, Uncle Dave and Mum's mother, and her family. So, all in all very special. I had had the chance of seeing it from afar on my "family history tour", but to actually be able to go into the home and spend time there was also something special. I also found it interesting to think of the notion of the fact that this had been Rosie and Pat's home for many years, and so there was a strange feeling that while I was stepping back in time, I was also stepping into the home of Rosie, Pat and Marianne - all a little weird. :-)

So, all was packed and then we all bundled into the car to travel to a pub that Rosie had thought would be a good place to meet and have lunch. Rosie, Pat, John and Shirley did not know at that stage about the intended Cutsey stay, and I had thought it best to keep it that way as that would ensure that no-one would "let the cat out of the bag" for Uncle Dave. What story the family spun him as to why he needed to pack an overnight bag, I really do not know - and then he and Dan were also going to be playing some golf, so I can just imagine the story!

The pub was a lovely old fashioned place, with wooden bench tables and seats. It was wonderful to see Aunt Pam, Uncle Dave and Dee again; and a pity that Dan had not been able to join us for lunch as he had to go to Cardiff to do something for the charity with which he is involved. "The cousins" were so looking forward to meeting him, but I am sure that that will happen in time.

John, Aunt Pam and Pat at the pub

Dee, Shirley, Uncle Dave and Rosie at the pub

Following a lovely lunch at the pub, Rosie invited all back to her home for coffee, and so off we all bundled to go back to Rosie's before setting off on our various ways for the afternoon. It also gave a chance for us all to spend a little time, sheltered by Rosie's conservatory, to chat about various things and generally "catch up". And then it was time to see whether I could get the timer to work on my camera so that I could get a photo of the whole family who were in attendance that lunch. I would have liked to have taken another, but the family were not too keen on the whole "photoshoot" idea going on for too long - but it is a nice memory taken at the front of Rosie's home.

Pat and Uncle Dave in the conservatory

Jasper (looking far more fierce than he is) and Kizzie had a wonderful game in Rosie's lounge while we were in the conservatory

The family gathering - Dee, John, Pat, Shirley, Aunt Pam, Uncle Dave, me and Rosie, with Jasper (front) and Kizzie (behind Jasper)

After all of this, it was time to bid farewell to "The Cousins" and bundle ourselves into Dee's car and head off to Cutsey. I think we were all intrigued by what we would find and what it would mean for each of us. I know that for me there was the sense of it being the home where my gran had been raised and a place my dad had visited on his trip to the UK when I was born - so there were two different aspects to it for me.

In a previous entry I showed the entrance pillar to the home itself. From what I have been able to piece together, the home is currently owned by people who have been basically stationed in India and they decided to buy it as an investment where they would then operate the home as a B&B. The man who was in charge, and I have not been able to work out whether he part-owns the place, or what, but he was in the UK military in India.

Cutsey as the sun sets. The windows that are lit is the room in which Dee and Dan were staying

The home is large and like so many large homes in the UK there have been additions and changes over the years. John the "owner/manager", gave us carte blanche in terms of poking around the home. Something Aunt Pam took full advantage of - and I would probably need her to assist if I were to try and create a "map" of sorts, so I am not going to try that.

This is certainly no great shakes when it comes to photography, but I had to include it, as in the foreground you can see the berries on the holly bush/tree - another first time experience for me - real holly with berries! (This was not the first time I had seen it - but my time in the UK meant that right at the very beginning of my time there I saw holly and holly berries.)

There are two sets of stairs in the house, the one led to the rooms in which Uncle Dave and Aunt Pam and Dee and Dan were staying.

The stairs leading to the rooms in which Uncle Dave and Aunt Pam, and Dee and Dan occupied for the night.

At the base of these stairs to the left was what was probably the dining room, and this then led through to a nook room of sorts, before coming out in what was my favourite room in the house - a library.

What we decided must have been the dining room in days gone by. Just look at those chandeliers!!! The door to the right leads to the corridor "nook" room.

My favourite room - the library - the door to the right here is the one that you would come through from the "corridor nook room". The door on the left was the entrance from the downstairs corridor.

Panning around the room

And round the room some more. Dee and I were fascinated by the seating arrangement around the fire!

To the right at the base of the stairs above, one walked along a short corridor. Immediately to the left was a nook room where John had his office. Then there was the room that was used as the dining room for the B&B and next door to that a sitting room.

Dan, Dee, Uncle Dave and Aunt Pam around the breakfast table on 4 December, 2011

Uncle Dave and Aunt Pam

Dee, Aunt Pam and I standing behind Uncle Dave at the breakfast table

Breakfast - and this was after I asked Dan for a "romantic pic" of he and Dee! :-)

The sitting room - have a closer look at the manner in which the fireplace is being used!

The opposite side

Opposite these two rooms there was a fairly modern kitchen (obviously upgraded for modern times), and at this juncture there was the other flight of stairs that led up to my bedroom and a cavernous bathroom/shower/toilet opposite.

The stairs leading up to the second floor where my bedroom for the evening could be found just to the top left and the bathroom was to the right.

The key for my room!

The HUGE bathroom

Okay, to the best of my knowledge I do not have a "loo fetish", but this was another that amused me no end. I really felt as though Cutsey was being run by the British Army! :-)

My room

The view from my bedroom window - isn't the grass a gorgeous green!

There were two other rooms leading off from the landing at the top of the stairs, but, both doors were closed and so I did not go into them. If you followed the passage past "my bedroom" and there were a couple of other rooms that faced out the back of the house (doors closed as well) and at the end of this a room that was now used as a games room of sorts as it had a snooker table in it. This was to the right of this picture, and referenced below when I speak of the courtyard.

I think the one thing that I found the strangest with Cutsey was that it was both what I expected and wasn't. Obviously due to John and his partner/s involvement with India, there was a lot of memorabilia from India on the walls and as furniture. For me that just did not really gel, as for me (and I do stress that this is my viewpoint), if I were going to use an old English home as a B&B I would try and establish some sense of "Englishness" about it. Many of the paintings were of people associated with the army or other such related things. Many of the nick-knacks were Indian - or Eastern - and this tended to jar with me. But, as I said, it was a personal thing, and I am not sure that anyone else would have been concerned or affected by this at all.

The light in the window is from the light hanging above the stairs on Dee and Dan/Aunt Pam and Uncle Dave's side of the house. This is an enclosed courtyard and to the far left of the photo you can just see the window of my bedroom. The doors leading out are doors from the dining room (the current one).

A different view of the courtyard, the doors to the dining room bottom right, and my bedroom window top left. The wall running down the left side where the rose is kind of "climbing", was the side where there was the passage and at the end on the top floor the "games room".

The beautiful view from the courtyard

This is on the opposite side of the house - basically walking past the holly tree, the front of Cutsey and then around into another courtyard. I loved the evocative nature of this picture

It is onto this that the above picture would be on the right hand side of it. I loved the cobbled stones, and generally the sense of history and wondering what had traversed these stones before me!

We did discover that Cutsey has been sold once again, and the person who has bought it is someone living across the motor way. John would be remaining on in one of the cottages on the estate, but he was not sure whether the person who had bought it intended carrying on Cutsey as a B&B; running it as a farm; or what the plans were. So, I guess come April 2012, all will be revealed when the new owners take ownership.

After a lot of noseying around, it was then time to go into Taunton to collect Dan from the railway station, as he was catching the train from Cardiff to Taunton, and then into Taunton to try and get dinner. Dan's train was right on time and we were ready and waiting when it came in. Then we bundled back into the car, and off into Taunton.

Then the fun began.

We had not really thought much about getting in anywhere in terms of dinner, and so, after parking in one of the parkades, we started wandering around, and as we saw a place we thought looked a good bet in terms of dinner, we ventured in. The first place asked whether we had made a reservation, which of course we had not, and so a polite shake of the head and we were informed that they would only have a table at about 8.30pm. The next place was the same story, and then Dan pulled out his cell and started phoning around. I even pulled out the credit card slip from the lunch at the Happy Harriers that John, Shirley and I had had the day before in the hopes that they might be able to accommodate us. Still no luck.

Eventually, after we were starting to think that we might be doing a Burger King dinner, we found a delightful (and small) Italian Restaurant that could accommodate us - Ciao Roma (http://www.ciaoromarestaurant.co.uk/). We had just five minutes to get there, we were informed. So, of course, we reckoned that this meant they were also almost full, or would need our table cleared before the next sitting. Surprisingly, I think that this restaurant is a good little secret in Taunton, as it was neither full, nor chaotic. Service was stunning and most important, the food was really good. We were genuinely quite impressed by the whole thing. We did come to the conclusion that the cook was probably also the owner - and he seemed to run a very tight ship, but we had a lovely evening with lovely food!

Finally the evening drew to a wonderful close, and despite fears that we would not be able to find the place where the car had been parked, we did - and then it was a night sleeping in my Granny's old home. Weird! I am still not too sure what feelings that evoked in me - I tried to understand it at the time, and again now as I write this, and it is still something that I cannot wrap my head around.

The following morning Dan and Uncle Dave dropped Dee, Aunt Pam and me in Taunton while they went off to play some golf. The three of us had a lovely time scurrying in and out the shops and finding and buying various things - either as gifts or mementos.

And thus my time at Somerset came to an end. Following the golf game, Dee and Aunt Pam had grabbed a "lunch on the run" and we all piled into the car and travelled back to Thatcham. What a special time - and so many wonderful memories! I really cannot thank everyone enough for the wonderful generosity with which I was showered during this week. It was truly memorable and I have returned with such wonderful memories!

2 December 2011 - a lovely evening

Following the trip around the various "haunts" of my family, John Shirley and I stopped here for lunch. It is a lovely pub, and they were definitely "getting into the holiday spirit", as at once stage, towards the end of our meal they were laying tables with crackers and other festive cheer. Unfortunately, on the Saturday evening when Dee and Dan treated us to the wonderful opportunity to stay at Cutsey, this, like many other eateries, was fully booked, but I will get to that later!

Following lunch, we then drove home, and despite feeling rotten, there were a couple of things I still needed to get from the shops, so walked into Ilminster. As I have commented a number of times, one has to have been in the UK (and I would imagine any of the northern hemisphere countries) to really "get" what Christmas is all about with the lights and that "magical feeling in the air".

That done, I walked home, and following dinner, John, Shirley and I walked back to the previously mentioned "church" hall (aptly called "The Meeting House", and it used to be the Unitarian Church in the 1700s http://www.themeetinghouse.org.uk/) where there was a Christmas Craft Faire that was held during the day.

The streets were beautiful as there were festive lights up all over the place - the streets had them strung across, and then many of the buildings were decked out in lovely festive cheery lights - all acknowledging that Christmas was coming! Below are some of the pics I took of the lights as we walked to the hall - and in the process I nearly made John and Shirley late for the event! They really were most patient with me, but I also think it was worth the effort! :-)

John striding ahead as I tried to capture the essence of the moment - quite a nice "mood" pic, I think, in retrospect!

Along the main street - I think the wet weather just adds to the whole thing in terms of the sparkling lights being reflected in the water!

One of the buildings that had been decorated

Looking down the main street from what was a kind of square in Ilminster

And then we arrived at "The Meeting Place" in time to enjoy a lovely concert by a group calling themselves "Diaspora" (http://www.diasporamusic.org/). It was just one of those evenings where you could just sit back (much to the band's consternation at times, as they felt that we ought to be doing Irish jigs :-)) and enjoy the music. Some people sang along to the various numbers that they knew, and all in all a lovely way to end my week's trip to Somerset with Mum's cousins! The concert was in aid of some or another charity, but for the life of me I can neither recall the name of the charity, or find any reference to it, so I guess it will have to remain "nameless".

That evening following the concert we walked back to John and Shirley's and while I was having my bath I could hear John playing the Diaspora CD that he had bought on a previous occasion that they had been to watch them perform. (Unbeknown to me, this was the self same CD I purchased as part of my "Thank You package" for John and Shirley, but that has now been resolved by John sending it out to us for Mum.)

And so ends yet another day of my journey!

2 December 2011 - Tracing the family history!

Right, as promised, this will now be done with Mum. She has a couple of household chores that the animals and I end up causing her all the additional work in the house, and that, in combination with her cleanliness obsession, is going to keep her occupied for a little while; which will then give me a chance to upload all the relevant photos that I need to caption or write about.

It also means that I will now have to rewrite much of what was written on this page yesterday in order for it to make more sense and to be more accurate.

So, on the Friday morning of my stay in Somerset, after a good breakfast, John, Shirley and I all bundled ourselves into John and Shirley's car, with John navigating and Shirley driving - and between the two of them making something of an awesome tag-team! We were off to Taunton and environs to go and see places from my grandmother's ancestry.

We headed straight for Taunton, and there we stopped at a War Memorial where two of my great-uncles have their names engraved in the memorial. In the pic you get a sense of the actual memorial, and then a closer image of John and Shirley pointing out the names. These two were my grandmother's brother and half-brother - Hugh and Tom Clatworthy, who both died in the First World War.

The war memorial from a distance with Shirley and John pointing out where the two brothers' names are engraved

A little difficult to see the names properly, but they are there! ;-)

As you can see there are still the wreaths from the Poppy Day events - and that was something that was also so much more poignant in the UK than the somewhat half-hearted attempts at it that we have in South Africa -and I think I worked out why.

It wasn't until Dee spoke to me about the guards who were at Windsor Castle during the "Changing of the Guards" ceremony that I started to see things through different lenses, I guess one could say! She mentioned that the guards were serving members of the armed forces - or had been - and some were just young, young men. And then she also spoke of the fact that they were people who could have served in Afghanistan and/or Iraq, and so they were people who were currently fighting wars (no matter one's moral feelings on the matter), and so were actively involved. People who die in these wars are not the people referred to in so much of the "War Poetry" that we cover in the syllabi at school - dating back in time, these are young people who are sometimes putting their lives on the line now! This also caused a sudden whiplash back to the days that my own brother, all of eighteen (and to me such a young, young man) who was now being put in the unenviable position, like so many others, to be able to take the life of another human being during his days of conscripted army duty.

This also gave me an added emotional impetus particularly concerning the two young Clatworthys on the stone memorial remembered for being in "The Great War" (which I recall from my history days at school, where people believed there could never be another world war of such proportions and involving so many - and they say we learn from history?) - makes one wonder all over again about the pointless nature of war!!!

Okay, enough with the philosophising for the time being.

Whew! This is a mission. It started off with me trying to get things in place according to my pics, and after Mum and I spending a good hour or more grappling with all the facts and figures, I think I am going to have to do this a little differently, incorporating extractions from family trees and history where possible. Those who are not at all interested in all the complications - and it does get very complicated and convoluted, please do not feel obliged to read on! :-)

The 1861 Census lists family at Cutsey - so the farm was in existence then and was a working farm. (John has since confirmed that the Blakes have been at Cutsey since at least 1700, as there is reference in Robert Blake of Pitminster's will of 1710 to items at Cutsey.)

While Cutsey was a working farm, there were times that the ironmongery business (as mentioned below) probably subsidised the farm to an extent. (I had gathered and portrayed a rather more dire situation, and as John mentioned in his email to me, "if the largest farm in the Parish of Trull was non-self-supporting, then agriculture as a whole in the UK in the first half of the twentieth century must have been in a bad way (perhaps it was!) But I (John) think think that Cutsey suffered from debts incurred by our multi-great uncle Thomas Blake (died 1880). In his will he left legacies totalling £18 000 but liquid assets of only £9 000.  Land had to be sold or mortgaged to meet the difference and some of that mortgage still existed when my grandmother died in 1940.")

Into Taunton proper we stopped off at what seems to be 10 High Street, Taunton - the ironmongery apparently called, "Clatworthy and Cooke". The rooms above formed the family home for a good while, as the family then lived above the shop. (Again, updates from John: "The ironmongery went through various names, "Clatworthy & Co", "Clatworthy & Son" and finally "Clatworthy, Cooke & Co".)

This is probably what would have formed the ironmongery - the red door and the one window below - with the family living in the rooms above. The 1881 census lists ELAND CLATWORTHY and MARY CLATWORTHY (both aged 30 and listed as husband and wife), living there with MARY P. COOMBS, a 22 year old servant. Eland Clatworthy would have been my great grandfather (Courtesy John once more - this MARY, is Eland's first wife, and this my step great grandmother) - and were children to Thomas and Frances Clatworthy mentioned below.

John contemplating in front of what he thinks was ironmongery and home at one time. As you will see, over time this has been completely changed and now houses a department store which would cover a large number of shop/homes

In the same 1881 Census, the records reflect other members of the family living at Mount Villa, 13 Mount Street.

13 Mount Street - and thus I gather what used to be Mount Villa. The Census has living here: THOMAS CLATWORTHY (Head of the House and aged 74); FRANCES CLATWORTHY (Wife and aged 70); ANNIE CLATWORTHY (Daughter and aged 39); PHOEBE CLATWORTHY (Daughter and aged 33); ROSE CLATWORTHY (Daughter and aged 26); MARY NUTT (Cook and aged 64) and HELEN COMBS (Housemaid and aged 20).

Now, I have no factual proof in all of the records that Mum has, and am trying to recall what John told me during this trip and my muggy head. This home is almost opposite Mount Villa, and if I recall correctly was the home to the three daughters mentioned above at a later stage. These were known as the "three aunts" - and never married, so it would make sense that they would have lived in one abode together, while the other members of the family were in their own homes. I stand to correction on this however - and am sure that John or someone else will let me know :-)

And, as I hoped, John has been able to fill in the banks for me. From him: "It is Hawthorne Cottage (20 Mount Street). In the 1891 Census Eland, Mary I and Thomas were living there.  After Eland married Mary Corner he moved to Hovelands on the south side of Taunton, presumably to be nearer Cutsey, and then, after the death of Mary Corner, to Fairlawn, where the family was in 1901.  In that Census Frances and two of "the three aunts" are living in Mount Street (I have "number not given" but I must recheck) and the aunts did go on living there until their respective deaths.  In File DD/CT/65 (which I must send to your mother shortly) there is an interesting letter about how Hawthorne Cottage came to be in family ownership."

Then it was to the Taunton graveyard where members of this part of the family could be found buried.

The first pic is a distance shot of the graveyard as a whole.

A view from across the road to what I think is a beautiful and tranquil setting for the departed family members!

John has done a good deal of work with both Rosie and Pat to try and track down the various sites of our ancestry. At one stage they were trying to track down the various grave sites, as they had no clear indication sense of where was what.

Eventually, I think it was John who contacted the local authorities, and he was able to get a map as to where the graves ought to be. He was also told that the authorities thought that he would not find the actual graves as such, as many of the graves in this grave yard had fallen into disrepair and so the authorities had cleaned up the place, and in the process they might have removed most, or all, of the grave/s in question and so the chances are that they might have a site that was just grass and a number.

However, much to their happiness, they discovered that there were indeed graves that were fairly "intact". Since then, between the four of them (John, Shirley, Rosie and Pat), they have tried to keep things a little tidier, and more in keeping with a reflection of how they feel the family ought to be remembered.

Shirley and John looking at the grave site that has a total of 5 grave and memorial stones. You can see the broken cross in the centre of the "patch"

Below is the memorial stone of my great grandfather's first wife, Mary Jane, and then an inscription making reference to him dying at the good age of 90! He died just before Granny got married and they did not want to upset her, and so kept this to themselves until after her marriage. Her mother then wrote to her after the marriage and informed her of his death. I have just discovered that Gran then lost her mother at the end of May - her father dying the day before she married in April and her mother at the end of May.

The stone that is to the left hand side at the front of the burial plot and reads:
"In loving memory of MARY JANE wife of ELAND CLATWORTHY who fell asleep December 23rd 1892. Aged 42 years.
And of ELAND CLATWORTHY who passed away April 26 1940. Aged 90 years" 

Mary Jane Clatworthy's manner of being recorded as dying has apparently incensed (mildly, I gather), Teazle. She actually died in childbirth. None the less. She was the first wife of my great grandfather, and they sired Thomas who died during the First World War in 1916. His memorial stone can be found at this grave site as well, as can be seen below. Where he is buried - if at all, I cannot say. (Again from the meticulous John: "Thomas Eland was buried where he died in 1916.  The actual site is lost although Eland did write to the War Office asking if they knew where it was.")

"In loving memory of their son THOMAS ELAND CLATWORTHY who joined the Territorial Forces in September 1914 and served in the ranks with the 1st 5th Somersets at Ambala till he received his majesty's commission in the Indian Army in July 1915 and was killed in action at the Battle of Sheikh Saad, Mesopotamia January 6th 1916. Aged 30 years"

Then to the left of the cross in the picture above is the following shield memorial stone to Hugh Clatworthy, brother to my grandmother and his death in the First World War.

"In loving memory of HUGH ELAND CLATWORTHY 4th Batt South Staffs Regiment. Second son of ELAND MARY CLATWORTHY who was taken prisoner in France May 27th 1918, and died in Darmstadt Prisoner of War Hospital Oct 3rd 1918. Aged 19 years."

On the right hand side, the following shield is found that then indicates the death of my great grandmother - mother. Once again, living to no mean age when one considers the fact that people always speak of how we are living longer lives now in comparison to what the situation was in times gone by!

"In loving memory of MARY wife of ELAND CLATWORTHY, who passed away May 31st 1940. Aged 70 years"

The four (John, Shirley, Rosie and Pat) have also said that they plan to return soonish to try and clean the place a little more and even possibly try and mend the cross that is obviously meant to be a part of the plot. It is good of them - and with Dee's interest piqued in the family history, I would imagine that this will mean that we can ensure that our family does have some sort of "positive" "evidence trail" as it were.

Then it was back into the car and off to All Saints Church in Trull. This is apparently the main church associated with my maternal side of the family in days of yore, and besides the war memorial (standing tall in the centre of the pic), it contains quite a bit of the family history in the graveyard, on plaques on the walls, and even in the three stained glass windows that you can see to the right of the pic (right of the lamp).

I have given captions, and at the end of all the pics I will endeavour to try and make sense of the confusion of names and such like to try and assist people who are trying to follow this muddle of our family history.

All Saints Church, Trull

A rather unclear pic of the war memorial, but it gives a sense of what it looks like a little closer.

The inscription on the side of the war memorial - remembering Thomas and Hugh once again.

Here you can see a collection of the three graves that are found in the graveyard. These are also in dire need of some cleaning, and "the cousins" have said that they intend doing this, which will be great. However, since there is no way you can read this, John kindly transcribed the information and sent it to Mum a while back. So, herewith the inscriptions on the graves.

Grave 1:

"In memory of THOMAS BLAKE late of Cutsey in this Parish who died November 2nd 1880. Aged 49 years"

"In memory of ELEANOR widow of THOMAS BLAKE of Cutsey in this Parish who died April 20th 1918. Aged 83 years"

On the end pitch

"ELIZABETH BLAKE died November 30 1901. Aged 67 years"

Grave 2:

"In memory of JAMES BURSTON CORNER who died at Fairlawn in this Parish December 10th 1876. Aged 55 years"

"I am the resurrection and the life, he that believes in me though he be dead yet shall he live"

"Also of MARY CORNER his wife who died at Fairlawn November 7th 1899. Aged 63 years"

"Neither shall there be any more pain for the former things are passed away"

Grave 3:

"In memory of WILLIAM BLAKE of Cutsey in this Parish who died 9 January 1864. Aged 66 years"

"Also of MARY his wife who died September 13 1876. Aged 70 years"

Inside the Church, to the left of the stained glass windows I referred to above, and which you can see a little more clearly below, are additional plaques.

In situ in All Saints Church

"Sacred to the memory of WILLIAM BLAKE, Late of Cutsey in this Parish, who departed this Life September 2nd 1826. Aged 60 years.

Also BETTY, daughter of the aforesaid WILLIAM BLAKE and BETTY his wife, who departed this Life January 3rd 1798. Aged 3 years.

Also THOMAS, their son, who departed this Life, February 7th 1813. Aged 11 years.

Also BETTY, Relict, of the aforesaid WILLIAM BLAKE who departed this life November 18th 1840. Aged 70 years"

(By the way: "Relict" means "widow")

"To the ever dear memory of

THOMAS ELAND CLATWORTHY
Eldest son of ELAND CLATWORTHY who joined the Territorial Forces in September 1914 and served in the ranks with the 1st 5th Somersets at Ambala, till he received his Majesty's Commission in the Indian Army in July 1915 and was killed in action at the Battle of Sheikh Saad, Mesopotamia January 6th 1916. Aged 30 years.

HUGH ELAND CLATWORTHY
Second son of ELAND & MARY CLATWORTHY great great grandson of the above WILLIAM BLAKE who joined the Colours in May 1917, crossed to France on Easter Day 1918, was taken prisoner on May 27th and died in Darmstadt Prisoner of War Hospital October 3rd 1918. Aged 19 years."

"Dulce et decorum est pro patria mori"     

The quote at the end of the inscription, for those of you interested comes from a poem by Wilfred Owen and translates "It is a sweet and fitting thing to die for your country" - and if you read the poem you will discover that Owen is protesting against the veracity of this statement - so maybe the quote, when placed on the gravestone actually comes from the Roman writer Horace in one of his Odes where he was encouraging people to fight in wars to defend one's country - in a time when warfare was very different in many ways!

In the central window, near the bottom you can see a section, which you can no doubt not read, so a transcription: "This window is given in memory of the Hawkins family of Sweethay, Trull"
The Hawkins family, from what I can gather farmed on part of Cutsey, and then when the farm was split up actually bought parts of the land - and again, from what I can gather, the family are still farming there.

The references to Fairlawn - this is the home - a beautifully kept and lovely looking home that is owned by someone else now, but she was more than willing to give John and his family a tour of the property a while back when they happened to be researching the family history and trying to find the actual pieces of concrete evidence. Mum has a particular interest in this, as it is where my grandmother was actually born!

One of the many signposts - and one I HAD to include as it has on it "Cutsey" - the home of my maternal grandmother and her siblings for many years, and then passed down to Pat, Rosie and Marianne's father (the eldest son - William Clatworthy), and finally was sold when the M5 highway came barrelling through the property and it seemed intelligent for the family to sell then since the three girls were not planning to do the whole farming "thing" and didn't fancy living on the side of the highway.

The entrance to the Estate now. 

One of those almost clichéd pics of rural England, except what you have here is Cutsey in the background with the sheep grazing happily in the foreground.  

Okay, so for all my family - and to some extent for me, let's try and get some of the family history above into some sort of perspective.

So, I think we need to start with William Blake - my great-great-great-great grandfather. In the family tree he is listed as "of Cutsey, Trull and Plymtree, Devon. Baptised Trull 11 June 1766. Died 2 September 1826". He was married to Betty Farrant who died at the age of 70 on 18 November 1840. They are the ones mentioned in the marble plaque in All Saints Church, with their daughter (aged 3) and son (aged 11) who both died at those ages.

They had only one surviving son, who I can work out from the family tree - and that was the next William Blake, who was baptised in Trull on 30 January 1797 and died on 9 January 1864. He was married to Mary Thomas, who died on 18 September 1876, aged 70. It is their grave (I would imagine they are buried there) that forms one of the three graves in the group in the churchyard at All Saints Church.

So this next William Blake would then be my great-great-great grandfather, and Mary my great-great-great grandmother. They had four children (quite a small family for those times!): Thomas, (another) William Blake (who died at 2), Elizabeth, who lived at Dipford (built by her father years before when he retired there and left Cutsey in the hands of Thomas) and their final child, Mary Blake.

Thomas Blake of Cutsey, Trull (Grave 1 in All Saints Church Grave Yard) with his wife, Eleanor. Thomas Blake then inherited Cutsey from his father. Thomas died when he was 49, but his wife was to live to the ripe old age of 83. (Gravestone 1 at All Saints Church above.) As a result of them apparently having no children, Eleanor moved out of Cutsey to "Broadlands", where she lived until her death.

(more information from John: "After Thomas Blake's death in 1880, Cutsey seems to have belonged to his two sisters, Elizabeth Blake and Mary Corner (who had married James Burston Corner in October 1864).  Elizabeth died unmarried and childless in 1901 and Mary Corner, who had only the one daughter, in 1899.  Mary Corner never actually lived at Cutsey, (except as a young girl) hence the reference to Fairlawn on her grave.  So Mary Clatworthy inherited Cutsey and disposed of it in her Will.  Who actually lived at Cutsey between 1880 and 1912 is uncertain (must check further).  In Kelly's Directory for 1894 there is reference to "Dredge, James, farmer, Cutsey", so presumably he was renting it.  In 1901 Marcus Kidner (Eland's nephew) was [disastrously] Bailiff at Cutsey.  I haven't checked the 1911 Census."

Cutsey then went to Mary Blake who was the second wife of James Burston Corner (Gravestone 2). However, in the citation it records both Mary and James, my great-great grandparents, as being of "Fairlawn". I know that John has been trying to puzzle together exactly who had been living at Cutsey during this time. There are census and other records that suggest that the two sister, Elizabeth and Mary were living at Cutsey at one stage, but it's all a bit of a conundrum.

Mary Blake and James Burston had just one daughter, Mary Corner - mentioned above in terms of No 10 High Street, as she married Eland Clatworthy, the ironmonger and later moving to Cutsey (from what I can work out).

I can recall Gran telling me stories of my great grandfather (also repeated by Mum, so I guess the memory of a "young lady's childhood" could be called into account here). He apparently always had a nap after Church, but this was the time when he obviously wished for absolute silence, and so he seated all his children (5 in all) at his feet and they were to remain sitting there silently until he awoke! My how times have changed!

My great grandfather, Eland, was first married to Mary Jane Bailey - reference the Trull grave yard entry - and they had Thomas - my grandmother's, half-brother. (He is also the one who was killed during the First World War.) Then my great grandfather married my great grandmother, Mary Corner (I guess marrying two women with the same name helped clear muddles in his own head).

So, my great grandfather and great grandmother - had 6 children (although my great grandfather apparently was the 12th of 14 children - so I guess when one looks at things they were cutting down the numbers!). Those children were, in order of their births: William Blake (Pat, Rosie and Marianne's father); Mary Frances (my aunt Sue, and the mother of Aunt Allie and Aunt Marney); Hugh Clatworthy (the one who was who died during the First World War in a Prisoner of War Hospital); James Edward (who was known as Uncle Ted and was the father to John, Richard and Teazle (Teresa)), Lilian Jessie (my grandmother - who was the mother of Mum, Uncle Dave, Uncle Jim and Aunt Wizz) and then maiden aunt - Aunt "B", who was more formally named Ella Phyllis.

And so there you have the complicated and convoluted family history as best as I have been able to put things together. There are a couple of other things that I would like to do some research and ferreting about with, but I am also conscious that this has taken the better part of the day to complete, with numerous interruptions to a very patient mother, and I think that I would like to call it quits here.

So for now people, all for the time being. Those who have managed to read it and possibly were interested, thanks - to the rest of you, I really cannot blame you - especially if there is no real vested interest in this. I will continue my trail a little later - either tomorrow or the next, I would imagine. In the mean time my second niece is flying to Brazil, where she and her friend are going to enjoy ten days or so with her friend's father, who lives there. Wonderful opportunity, and I do hope that she has a fabulous time!

I am now going to face the challenge on my cross stitch once more! Adieu!

(Thanks must go to John and Mum for their meticulous checking and comments in terms of putting this together!)