Welcome to the November edition of our family newsletter. This month we will look at some early references to Brangwins and speculate what happened to them. I'd love to have the answer. Perhaps we will stumble across the missing bit of linking data one day.

• A profile of Dennis Brangwyn
• We take a look at Elizabeth Brangwin Dodwell thanks to Alan Hudson
• Margaret Brangwyn has supplied an article on St Aiden's, Leeds. Why is it important? Find out ...
• Finding Cliff ... Gloria does some more sluething onn our behalf.
• Some more odds and ends including a look at Herfordshire
• The Will is a follow up from last months' look at the remaining Long Crendon part of the family: Alice Mary Phillips.

I hope you enjoy learning more about your extended family.

I would like to thank Alan and Margaret for their articles. Also, Dennis for his profile. Gloria, keep up the good work in searching out family members!

Contributions to the Newsletter are most welcome. If you find something that you would like to share please send it to me so that it can be included. My email address is lwuth@hups.net

Lorraine Wuth

Editor

Oddington in Oxfordshire lies just across the border from Bucks and about 10 miles north west of Long Crendon

Harlow in Essex lies just south of the border with Hertfordshire and a very short distance south of Bishop's Stortford.

Herfordshire gets a number of mentions: Bishop's Stortford, St Albans and Cheshunt. And where is Hertofrdshire? See belong for an explanation. As you will notice, it shares a border with Buckinghamshire.

Kingsey is in BKM and lies a short distance south of Haddenham.

Hertfordshire (or Herts), an inland Co. in SE. of England, bounded N. by Cambridgeshire, E. by Essex, S. by Middlesex, W. by Bucks, and NW. by Bedfordshire; greatest length, NE. and SW., 35 miles; greatest breadth, E. and W., 26 miles: 465,141 acres, population 203,069. In appearance the county is hilly, but interspersed with fine pasture lands, arable farms, and picturesque parks and woods. The Lea, the Colne, and the Ivel are the principal rivers; the Grand Junction Canal likewise passes through a part of the county. A large number of the inhabitants are employed in husbandry, and in addition to grain of choice quality, hay, vegetables, and numerous fruits and flowers are extensively cultivated, especially for the London market. The greater portion of the commerce of the county is supported by the trade in corn and malt. Manufactures are few; paper-making silk-weaving, and straw-plaiting being the principal industries. Railways penetrate to all parts of the county; no place is at a greater distance than 5 miles from a station. Geologically the greater part of Herts consists, of Lower, Middle, and Upper Chalk; in the S. is the London clay. The minerals are of no commercial importance. Herts. comprises 8 hundreds, 138 parishes, and parts of 3 others, and the municipal boroughs of Hertford and St Albans. It is almost entirely in the diocese of St Albans. For parliamentary purposes it is divided into 4 divisions, viz., Northern or Hitchin, Eastern or Hertford, Mid or St Albans, and Western or Watford, 1 member for each. It sent 3 members till 1885."

(Transcribed from Bartholomew's Gazetteer of the British Isles, 1887. -C.H.)

From Alan Hudson

Are you sitting comfortably?? Then I will begin!
(I was actually asked to write about Elizabeth Brangwin Dodwell - but all will be revealed)

In January 2000, my youngest daughter, Thea, who was 10½ at the time, came home from school having been given a homework task to trace her family back to her great grandparents. I remembered that many years ago when I was a teenager (as I’m 53 now it certainly was a long time ago) I had copied down the contents of the flysheet of a large family bible owned by my father’s cousin Martin JOHNSON. Although Martin is my father’s cousin, he is actually 17 months younger than I am.

I happened to be between contracts. Such is the lot of a telecommunications consultant. Thea’s task fired up my imagination and off I went, purchased some software and started working on a topic, genealogy, about which I knew nothing apart from the contents of that fly sheet, and my own memories.

Perhaps I should introduce myself. My name is Alan Derrick Hudson - so there’s not a lot of Brangwin there then. It still appears a mystery when you look at my parents: Edwin Derrick Hudson and Audrey Maud Elvin. And then there's my father’s parents, long since dead now unfortunately, my Granny, Gladys Irene Johnson, and my Grampy, John Druce Hudson. So, no big surprises there then, not a trace of Brangwin.

But you’d be wrong. My Granny was one of eight children, some of whom I knew very well as a little boy. She had a brother, Percy Dodwell Johnson (Percy was Martin’s father) and a sister, Ruby Brangwin Johnson. Ruby was always very particular that about the spelling of BRANGWIN. Woe betide anyone who spelled it any other way! I knew my Great Uncle Perce and Great Aunty Ruby very well, in fact, they both came to my wedding to my first wife Gillian. Unfortunately, I am currently working on a contract in Saudi Arabia, so the many photographs I have of some of these family members are not available to me to include in this article.

Percy and Ruby’s parents were Thomas Bertie Johnson and Ada Fowler. Oops, we seem to have lost the Brangwin name again! However, when we come to Thomas’ parents, we hit the jackpot, Thomas Edwin Johnson, and Elizabeth Brangwin Dodwell. Unfortunately, that was as far as I as a new person to genealogy could get. I had no idea how to find out who Elizabeth’s parents were.

Towards the end of January 2000, I joined the OFHS (Oxfordshire Family History Society), and became an avid reader and occasional contributor to the lively list than the society runs. One day, I received an email from an unknown lady from Australia, a certain Lorraine Wuth. She had noticed from my signature file when contributing to the Oxfordshire list that I lived in Stonor (it rhymes with the “or” in blood donor) in South Oxfordshire. Lorraine was investigating relatives that lived in the Hambleden Valley (now in South Buckinghamshire). The Hambleden Valley is the next valley to the Stonor Valley in the Chiltern Hills.

Unfortunately, I have lived in Stonor for only 10 years and did not have any of the information that Lorraine was seeking. However, I noted that amongst her surname interests she had listed Dodwell and Brangwin. With Lorraine’s assistance, and some unbelievable details supplied by Gordon Keith Hazell (Keith is a font of knowledge that anyone would be well advised to tap), I was then able to trace further back through the family for several more generations. Elizabeth’s parents were Richard Dodwell and Elizabeth Brangwin. So, at last we come to a real Brangwin, and why I have an interest in that surname. Richard and Elizabeth were my great great great grandparents.

Now that I have proven that I am a Brangwin descendent, perhaps I should return to what was supposed to be the theme of this article, Elizabeth Brangwin Dodwell.

Elizabeth Brangwin Dodwell was born on the 18th January 1842 at Oddington in Oxfordshire to Richard Dodwell (1805 - 1867 if you believe the 1851 census, 1806 - 1867 if Lorraine is correct) and Elizabeth Brangwin (c1809 - 1870). Young Elizabeth was baptised at Oddington on the 2nd March 1842.

Richard, her father, was a well to do farmer. In the 1851 census, Richard is shown as being 44 years old, farming 603 acres at Oddington with a workforce of 26 agricultural labourers. He is living with his wife Elizabeth - 39 years old, daughter Elizabeth - 9 years old, and sons Edmund - 21 years old and Richard - 11 months old.

Elizabeth Brangwin Dodwell had two brothers and three sisters. The brothers were Edmund Brangwin Dodwell (c1830 - 1894), and Richard Dodwell (1850 - 1867), and the sisters were Mary Spencer Dodwell (1833 - 1867), Fanny Dodwell (1838 - ?), Julia Dodwell (? - 1849).

Elizabeth Brangwin Dodwell married Thomas Edwin Johnson on the 29th December 1860. The marriage was solemnised in the Parish Church in the parish of St George, Hanover Square, in the county of Middlesex, entry number 149. Thomas was of full age, occupation Esquire living at Princes Street, the son of William Johnson, a wheelwright. Elizabeth was a minor living at Oddington, Oxford, the daughter of Richard Dodwell, occupation, Esquire. The marriage was by licence. The witnesses were William Styles, and Ann Andrews. The minister was A B Whatton LLB.

Elizabeth Brangwin Dodwell and Thomas Edwin Johnson had 7 children, Charlotte Florence Sarah Johnson (1861 - 1956), twins Thomas William Johnson (1863 - 1863) and Edith Julia Johnson (1863 - 1864), Thomas William Holyfield Johnson (1865 - 1867), a further set of twins Thomas Bertie Johnson (1868 - 1951) and William Percy Johnson (1868 - 1920 or 1922), and Ada Salina Johnson (1870 - 1870). On the 18th December 1870, Elizabeth Brangwin Dodwell died and was buried at Holywell Cemetery Oxford on the 27th December 1870. So, in a little under 10 years of marriage, Elizabeth Brangwin Dodwell had 7 children and then died.

At this point we come to a skeleton in the ancestral cupboard - albeit on the Johnson, not the Brangwin side of the family. Following the death of Elizabeth Brangwin Dodwell, Thomas Edwin Johnson had three more children with his new wife Ada Rebecca Habbejam. The children were Ada Elizabeth Johnson (1881 - 1970), Alan James Holyfield Johnsoon (1884 - 1966), and Ernest Reginald Noel Jjohnson (1890 - 1891). That 1881 date for Ada Elizabeth Johnson’s birth is significant, the actual date being 31st August 1881. What makes it significant is the entry in the 1881 census that was taken on the 3rd April of that year.

In the census, Thomas is shown as living at No 16 George Street, 51 years old, and a Wheelwright by trade, employing 1 man. Ada Habbejam is shown as being 32 years old, born in Hampstead London, and Thomas Edwin Johnson's housekeeper. She is not shown as being his wife! Also in the house is Thomas' daughter, Charlotte F, 19 years old, unmarried and born in Oxford. Thomas also has a General Servant, Lydia Breakspear, unmarried and born in Hackney.

Two of Thomas' children are shown as being at boarding school when the census was taken, the school being Howard House School, High Street, Thame. The headmaster was James Marsh, a widower, 62 years old, born in Birmingham. William P Johnson is shown as being 14 years old, born in Oxford. Thomas B Johnson is shown as being 12 years old, born in Iffley, Oxford. The one-year discrepancy in the boys’ ages is probably due to ages being given by class rather than by individual.

It is unclear whether or not Thomas Edwin Johnson and Ada Rebecca Habbejam ever got married. She is recorded as being the mother of Ernest and Alan, but Ada Elizabeth Johnson remains a bit of a mystery. Winifred Gwendoline Iris Devonshire, wife of Percy Dodwell Johnson, who was 91 when I discussed the family with her, is convinced that Ada and Thomas were married. However, this is currently unproven. They certainly weren't married when Ada's eldest child, Ada Elizabeth, was conceived, and try as I may, I can find no record of a marriage.

I suppose that brings us to the sad end - the final resting-place of Elizabeth Brangwin Dodwell. A already stated she is buried at Holywell Cemetery in Oxford.

It would be nice if I could tell you that this is grave E30 at Holywell Cemetery. It contains Thomas William Johnson, Edith Julia Johnson, Thomas William Holyfield Johnson, Thomas Edwin Johnson and his 1st wife Elizabeth Brangwin, and 2nd wife Ada Rebecca.

However, this is the picture of an identical grave E15, E15 being right next to E30 in the graveyard. It contains William Johnson, his wife Charlotte, Ernest, son of T E & Ada Johnson, Sarah the beloved wife of the late Thomas Johnson. And who was the late Thomas Johnson? He was Elizabeth Brangwin Dodwell‘s father-in-law. Although buried at Holywell Cemetery, the burial records for William are at Oxford, St Martin (Carfax Tower). At the time of death, William lived at 69 George Street - this contradicts the record of Charlotte, where the address is shown as 59 George Street.

Finally, for those of you who might wonder what this distant relative looks like, this is a picture of me at my birthday party in Santiago de Chile on March 23rd this year (okay - I know my birthday is on the 25th). I’m the one with the hat and cigar, not that the I’d been drinking of course!

A cousin of mine works in the British Museum in London and about a year ago sent me a cutting from 'Art Quarterly' a magazine that normally I would not get to read. In the Correspondence Page were two letters which she knew would interest me; one about the establishment of a Brangwyn website and the formation of a group of enthusiasts to mount an exhibition to mark the 50th anniversary in 2006 of Sir Frank's death, and another letter from a certain Libby Horner who was compiling a 'catalogue raisonné' of all Brangwyn's work, and was appealing to those who might own some of this material.

At the same time, having recently retired, my wife and I bought a computer, so that we could more easily keep in touch with relatives and friends world-wide, and so that I would be better equipped to handle any assignments of a consultancy nature from my old area of business.

From these two strands we established contact with Margaret and David Brangwyn who soon showed us where we belonged in the Family Tree and 'rekindled' our interest in discovering more about our widespread and seemingly growing family. I say 'rekindled' because we had attempted before to draw up a limited family tree years ago, and our children had also done this as school projects. But before the widespread use of computers, it was easy to quickly become bogged down and give up when you drew a few blanks. But Margaret came up with a ready-made job, suddenly making it possible to see where we all fitted in, and Lorraine has taken on the unenviable task of putting together a newsletter which she does so enthusiastically and expertly breathing life into what would otherwise be just a long string of names.

For most of this year we've been sitting back enjoying receiving news of our distant, and sometimes not so distant relations, without a thought as to where Lorraine would get her next candidate for a profile. Our recent change of address and the fact that not many of the family actually live in France must have prompted her to contact us and ask us to describe the change this move has brought to our way of life and use it as a backdrop for a profile.

A quick reference to the relevant part of the family tree will show that I, was born on 18 February 1936 to John Leslie Brangwyn and Dorothy Alice (née Gilbert) married in Gedney, Lincolnshire in 1930. At what stage and for what reason it was changed, I don't know, but my parent's Wedding Certificate states BRANGWIN, whereas my Birth Certificate records my name as BRANGWYN; the same change also seems to have taken place with my uncle, Harry Douglas, but with his family, a generation later.

Photo of John Leslie and Harry Douglas in 1904

Although my father's family home was in Portsmouth, and other places in Hampshire and my mother's near Holbeach in Lincolnshire, they met at Woburn Sands in Bedfordshire and to judge by old photos did most of their courting there. Why they should then choose to set up home in Byfleet Surrey, once they were married, I am not too clear, but it could have been due to the fact that in a difficult time for employment, he was able to get a job there, partly thanks to the intervention of Sir Frank in whose studios he had worked as an assistant several years earlier. My father had been trained at Art School, but found making a living in commercial art at that time too risky with new found family responsibilities; Frank had a niece, Irene who was married to Percy Tarrant owning a large building company in Byfleet and was able to get my father a job as a decorator, where he worked in many of the fine houses in Virginia Water, Sunningdale and St George's Hill which today are homes to some of the rich and famous. Years later, he was to return to one of them to carry out a commission for some landscape paintings for Cliff Richard.

Coming from a family, which was constantly on the move, it is perhaps strange that my father lived all his married life in Byfleet, and from my birth to his death in 1991, in the same house. He was a keen sportsman, an interest which I inherited, and always played for his local teams in both football and cricket, the latter until the 1950's. But his all-absorbing interest was painting which unfortunately he was unable to resume in a professional capacity until 1948, when he got a job with the Ministry of Works in London. This had a department dealing with the restoration of 'old master' paintings in the country's public galleries and national monuments. Again a reference from FB possibly helped obtain this extremely interesting and absorbing occupation for which, although he had the artistic ability, entailed learning a lot more about the techniques of the masters - another area in which FB was able to give him advice. He thoroughly enjoyed this work (and private work of a similar nature in the nation's big country estates) which he did until his retirement in 1968.

After his retirement he was able to devote much more time to his own painting and although he had used almost all forms of medium due to his broad training, his skill in water-colour particularly improved and he became a locally acclaimed and popular artist through his exhibitions within the Walton, Weybridge and Byfleet Art Clubs and was still painting into his late eighties.

As for me, apart from a brief period during the London Blitz 1940 - 1941 when I stayed with my mother's family in Lincolnshire, I grew up in Byfleet, attending the local primary school there till eleven before transferring to the Grammar school in Woking Surrey. Like my father, I was mad keen on sport and played for the school teams in football and athletics, but tennis rather than cricket filled most of my summer leisure hours. Though quite good at drawing and painting it was not a consuming interest - perhaps I was put off by the all-pervading smell of oil paint wafting down from the loft, which my father had converted for use as a studio. I learnt a lot from my father, watching him work, and even did some dry - point etching myself which we printed on an old press from FB, as he was always known at home. Now that I have time and a new landscape to paint and draw I wish I had shown more interest so that I could resume with greater competence, an old interest. I also regret during my teens expressing no interest in accompanying my parents on one of their occasional visits to FB at his studio in Ditchling. My sister recounts that on such occasions, he bundled my mother and her into the sitting room to talk to Lizzie, whilst he would chat with my father about painting. He didn't seem to have much time for womenfolk.

By the time I was 18, I had had enough studying and having passed an Executive Grade examination, chose to go into the Civil Service briefly before being called up for my National Service. At that time (1954) it was compulsory to do 2 years military service but because the pay and conditions were better, I chose to do 3 years, spending most of my time in the Royal Air Force, at Middle Wallop in Hampshire and at Wegberg and Goch in Germany.

Although the places at which I was stationed during my conscription were generally considered to be pretty easy - going (apart from the initial 8 week basic training) nevertheless it was a shattering experience to go from the sheltered existence of a student in a warm and loving family, to the discipline and discomforts of military life. Being thrown together with a mixture of people from all over the UK and from all walks of life certainly opened my eyes, and I grew up quickly in those formative years. Whilst still at school I had made my first trip abroad, at 13 on an exchange visit to Paris to my French pen - pal (50 years on we still write and visit) and later to Switzerland, Italy and Germany. These visits gave me a taste for the exotic and a love of travel and with my forte at school being in languages, I always felt at home in continental Europe. Spending nearly 2 years in Germany in the RAF gave me a good fluency in that language, and with long holidays, I rarely came home, but spent much time seeing as much of Europe as I possibly could, This was made easier by being able to buy my first car for £300. Unbelievably, that was a 1-year-old Mercedes Benz, and I've been going down - market ever since!

Not being able to get the transfer in the Civil Service that I wanted (to the Foreign Office), I trawled the Situations Vacant columns on my demobilisation and found a job with a printer in St. Albans, Herts as an estimator which entailed further education in the Graphic Arts at Watford Technical College. In my 3 years at St. Albans I played Hertfordshire league tennis and football in the SouthMidlands League for Harpenden Town, and was able to swap stories and talk about venues where my father had played when he lived in Bedford 30 years earlier.

With promotion prospects limited, I moved back to Surrey and took trainee manager's job in Esher, Surrey with a book - manufacturing company. Part of my training involved practical 'hands on' experience in printing and bookbinding, which because of Trade Union restrictions, I had to do abroad within a sister company in Sweden. This 3 month training period in Gothenburg and Stockholm proved very interesting and widened my understanding of another European - but different culture.

I stayed with James Burn and Redwood Burn, as it later became, through many structural changes and take-overs, for the next 19 years, ending up as Works Manager of a bookbindery employing 300 people with an annual production of nearly 8 million hardback books, making it fourth largest UK producer at the time.

They say, "if you remember the 60's, you weren't there". Well I don't remember much about the early sixties but I was there, though "Swinging London and the Beatles" largely passed me by at the time. I went on playing football, tennis, going to the theatre and concerts, preferring mainly jazz or classical music to 'Pop'.

However 1964 was a milestone year; I met Lis at a social gathering in a Country Club in East Grinstead, Sussex, and our mutual interests in travel, languages and music soon made it clear that we would see each other again. Despite my astonishment at her ability to knock back a vodka and orange while I was still blowing the froth off my beer, I proposed in Ashdown Forest and we were married at Felbridge Church, in October 1965, close to where we first met.

My mother came from a large family and many visits to Lincolnshire to see all my aunts, uncles, and cousins meant that I knew that side of the family better than my father's side. In fact, I think I only met my paternal grandmother once, as she died in 1940, and only rarely my grandfather, (Ernest Harry,) though he did come to stay with us in Byfleet once or twice in his latter years. Visits to my uncle 'Doug' (Harry Douglas) in Fareham were also rare, but enjoyable as he had a tennis court in his garden and took great delight in making sure I was on the loosing side in any doubles situation on such a compact court - even into his sixties. My cousin Patrick I never really knew until we re-established contact after his second marriage. But it is for his sons to describe about his interesting life if they care to.

Lis' family however was a revelation! What I thought of as distant relatives such as second cousins and great aunts etc, she treated as close family. Her father had come to England from Vienna in 1939 with only a suitcase, after Hitler annexed Austria. Life for Jews was made impossible in Central Europe, and his siblings went to the United States and cousins to both England and America. He met Lis's mother Dorothy just after he arrived in England, and he decided to stay in England with her. As a German speaking exile he was interned in 1940 for a few months, but was released 2 days before Lis' birth. Over the years they had 2 other daughters.

His initial handicap of arriving penniless was soon put behind hind him as he worked hard setting up his own leather goods business which flourished in the 50' s and early 60's. Alas I never knew Kurt, but heard many wonderful stories about him. He died from cancer in 1961, before I met Lis, who by this time was shouldering some of the responsibility of the family business, and was out on the road selling.

Lis and I bought our own home in Worplesdon, nr Guildford in Surrey, thanks largely to a generous bequest (shared with my sister) from a favourite great Aunt Edith (born Edith Mary Brangwin in 1870 who married Walter 'Bill' Rivers). They had no children and rather spoilt Sheila and me, finally making us main beneficiaries in their will. They died within months of each other in the late 50's. Lis and I started our own family with Julia arriving in September 1966 and Nicola in April 1968. We lived in a rural location with farmland, woods and commons all around. Plum Tree Cottage was as idyllic as it sounds and we lived a happy untroubled life there apart from normal occasional problems of a young and growing family. The children went to school at Pirbright in Surrey and later in Mytchett with finishing studies being completed at Brooklands Technical College in Weybridge.

I too did some management courses at the same college, to prepare me for further responsibilities in my work - but not sufficient for the bombshell, which shattered our carefree existence in 1978 with my being made redundant and the subsequent closure of the Esher manufacturing site. Jobs were becoming scarcer by that time, especially for over 40s, and I spent a difficult summer first doing local unskilled work before deciding to work for myself as a consultant in management Techniques, Production Planning etc. However most of such business - or the most lucrative, was in the London area, which entailed horrendous traffic and very long days away from the family. Whilst I was kept busy, I soon realised that such a hectic life was not for me and obtained a job first of all as Production co-ordinator to a Diary Manufacturing Group in Wimbledon and later in 1979 as an Executive Secretary within a Trade Association, namely the British Paper and Board Industry Federation, with its HQ in the City of London. Despite the hassle of commuting, this suited me much better. I could use my language skills again at international meetings, indulge my interest in travel (at somebody else's expense), and get to know London, which despite having lived in the Home Counties all my life, was more or less a closed book. Much of my printing and publishing knowledge was also an asset and with Lis now doing a bit of work in catering we could be more relaxed again about our financial position.

The children grew up, and we were forced to involve ourselves in the 70's and 80's pop culture - and I might add, begin to appreciate the Beatles and the Stones from the decade earlier. I broadened Lis' taste in music to jazz - particularly traditional, whilst she has taught me to enjoy folk music - and even a little opera. She was a fanatic of the latter, standing for hours as a teenager at the Vienna Opera House to hear the greats of the time, when she was supposed to be learning German.

The family holidays were mostly spent under canvas, alternating each year between Wales and France, the latter being the beginning of our long love - affair with this beautiful country. We visited Brittany and Normandy frequently and also enjoyed the mountain scenery in the Pyrenees, the Auvergne and the Vosges.

The children too have inherited our love of travel with Nicola (the younger daughter) working her way round the world solo in 1993, (my! What a worry that was, before the days of e-mail and cyber - cafés) and Julia finding herself in Australia two years later.

By this time my company, The Paper Federation, had moved out of London and decided to set up shop in Swindon, Wiltshire. This is an old railway town 80 miles West of London with little character but a thriving fast growing area for new technologies. Not wanting to live in a town, we looked for a house in the country which would enable us to keep in close touch with friends and family in Surrey, whilst allowing me to drive through the lovely Wiltshire downland country of Pewsey Vale and Marlborough Downs to work each morning.

We picked on Everleigh, a small hamlet near Pewsey and in the adjoining parish to Ludgershall. Ancestrally, this was like a homecoming, for my father had lived in Ludgershall as a boy and recounted stories of their playing in nearby Collingbourne Woods. We were fascinated to read Mike Collins' account in the August Newsletter with many references to Ludgershall and the connection with the Queens Head pub. My father had told me that his mother (Rebecca Weeks, before she married Ernest Harry Brangwyn) had been licensee of the Prince of Wales Hotel in Ludgershall at what would have been about the turn the of the last century. If that's so there must have been quite a family monopoly of the liqueur business in that area. Mike also referred to the village of Goodworth Clatford near Andover and of the Irvings. This also taps a note in my memory of a schoolmistress maiden 'Aunt Mabel' who was a frequent visitor to our house in Byfleet and must be the MABEL IRVING Mike refers to. If only we'd known when we lived in Wiltshire that Mike had family still in nearby Tidworth, we could have established contact. We also should have spent more time researching the church records in Ludgershall, but were at least able to trace several Brangwyns and Weeks.

In Everleigh, we soon settled into the very rural community though by this time (1988) both children had left home. Julia trained as biologist and worked in the Animal Virus Research Lab in Pirbright, where she met her future husband Jef. They married in 1989 and Jef who got his PhD while working at the lab was headhunted in 1994 for a job with CSIRO in Geelong, Victoria. Julia went with him and managed to get a job in the same organisation - but their marriage was gradually breaking down and the move down - under was unable to patch up their relationship. The separation forced Julia to return to the UK in 2000, but such is her love for the open spaces and the outdoor life of Oz that she's now back there studying for a degree in Environmental Management in Melbourne University.

Nicola has lived mostly in Surrey and London where she has worked in catering and supermarket retailing, taking management responsibilities in 1995 and winning the National competition for the Best Fish Department in the UK.

Lis and I have continued to travel as much as possible with several trips to friends in Canada in the early 90's and to the Caribbean, as well as visits to Julia in Australia. My job took me regularly to most of the capitals of Europe and larger conferences enabled us both to get to some of the most interesting haunts such as Cap d'Antibes, Venice, the Amalfi coast and the Black Forest in Germany.

When I decided to retire early in 1999, it was inevitable that we should want to do a round - the - world trip and so for the first 3 months of 2000 we took in South Africa, Australia, (where we spent 5 weeks) New Zealand (both Islands) Hawaii, Canada and briefly some of the mainland USA. When we went, I was a little jealous of the fact that Lis had relatives in nearly all these places, but had our newsletter started appearing a year earlier we perhaps could have made contact with many members of the Brangwin Family who we now know to be dotted round the world - perhaps next time!

When I retired I said that I would be willing to do a bit of consultancy work in the paper industry, but our world trip rather messed up the continuity, and indeed I was not particularly enthusiastic. We both liked being retired. Spending time gardening, walking, going to concerts and seeing the sights of our own county and country. We also appreciated being within walking distance of the 'Crown', our local hostelry and the convivial atmosphere there.

However, last year, I was persuaded to take on an assignment for the government relating to the competitiveness of the British Paper Industry. This proved very interesting and was also a challenge to Lis who was busy transferring my thoughts to the computer, and kept us occupied much of last summer. (Yes I'll come clean; I was among the last of the computer illiterate managers, and it's really Lis who is keeping us in touch with all the family). Julia also returned to live with us and worked in Marlborough before going back to Australia.

We had long harboured the desire to go and live in France, and this seemed to be the time and opportunity to do it. The previous October we had been invited by my European Industry colleagues to a final farewell dinner during a conference in Nice (at the famed Negresco hotel) and we made our way back slowly through Southern France, lingering in the Tarn and Lot areas where we thought we might want to set up home. This really sealed it for us. After our world trip, and then the work assignment, we decided to burn our boats sell up, and go as soon as possible without keeping a foothold in the UK.

We were not able to leave until April 2001, but with money in our pocket were free to go where we pleased and take as long as we liked within reason. We spent a month in a mobile home near Cordes Sur Ciel in the Tarn - a beautiful hilltop town, and a further month at a gîte (a rented holiday home) amidst the vineyards of the Tarn and close to the historic city of Albi. This enabled us to research the territory better but, it was not long before we found something to suit us, a bit further North in the Aveyron department between Villefranche de Rouergue and Rodez. Although out of the wine growing area it is beautiful country with high plateau split by wooded ravines and spectacular gorges of the Aveyron and Viaour rivers and bordered by the lovely Tarn and Lot valleys which had attracted us for many years.

Lorraine asked that we should describe the changes that such a move has made to our way of life - but in many ways the similarities are more surprising than the differences. We lived in Wiltshire in a small hamlet with no shops, no school and a redundant church and Le Théron, where we live now, is the same, only smaller with only a dozen or so families and a few 'holiday homes'. Both are very rural communities, but where in Wiltshire we had racing stables and horses as neighbours, here we have farms and cows, raised for veal. Perhaps what we miss most, is the village pub, and this will perhaps be most felt in the winter where the roaring log fire of the Crown was always so welcoming. For drinks and a restaurant here, we have to go the 3 miles to Rieupeyroux, the nearest small town.

However, we shall have our own log fires. Although we are 500 miles further South in Europe we are 2000 feet up and with well defined seasons including at least as much frost and snow as we had in England, we have open fires to supplement the central heating and have already had our first fires.

Although there are 'pockets' of English people in this part of France - particularly around Cordes, we know of none in the immediate vicinity, though a colleague of mine from work has a second home across the valley about 10 miles from us. We had not viewed this as a problem since our French was quite good and we felt it would force us to integrate quicker with the local community. What we were not prepared for was the almost impenetrable local dialect and the widespread use of the Occitan language, which has made it more difficult to communicate; though we used an English speaking legal assistant in our house purchase.

But to make up for this difficulty, we have wonderful neighbours - the farmer on one side who although difficult to understand, expresses his hospitably with gifts of eggs and potatoes, and a retired couple on the other side who see it as their purpose in life to educate us into French customs in general and local Aveyronnais peculiarities. In particular, I am now adept in choosing and buying wood, finding the best places to gather ceps and walnuts, and how to knock down prices of the local traders.

We don't have a problem not hearing English all day and have even been 3 months without a television, the one we have now picking up only French language programs. We do treat ourselves to an English newspaper once a week, though now the tourist season has passed, these are harder to come by. Living where we do, has also attracted visits from our family and friends and we have already had four sets which gives a welcome change from French voices, or those of each other.

We moved in on 1st July, so are still very much the 'new kids on the block'. But the village celebration on the 14 July, which included an outdoor meal, dancing, and socialising with 300 or so people who had come from neighbouring hamlets, gave us a good introduction to local life and enabled us to meet most of the neighbours early on.

One of the local specialities here is 'TRIPOUX' a tripe dish, which invariably appears as one of the many attractions on any Festival day (of which there are many!). So far we have not steeled ourselves to try it, particularly as it seems to be the custom to eat it at about 8.30 in the morning! but give it time.

Lis and I have long been lovers of French food and wine and we're constantly finding new and interesting dishes and hunting down some wine we've enjoyed in a restaurant by visiting the vineyards and sampling their wider range before buying.

With frequent visitors we've discovered many local beauty spots. Delightful villages such as Belcastel, Najac, Conques and Sauveterre and wonderful scenery in the deep and wooded valleys. and beautiful lakes The whole area is steeped in history, but that would take a volume to describe. The gradients, hairpin bends and rough surfaces of some of the minor roads, ruined the suspension of our car which we had to have repaired before taking it back to England in August to sell. We now have new French one which besides being much cheaper to buy than in the UK, is even more economic to run. when we can fill it up for £25 instead of the £45 that it cost in the UK.

Cost of living generally is a little less here than in England, with a few notable exceptions such as car insurance and electricity. However, I actually enjoy going shopping for food and particularly wine, and the move has given us the opportunity to try out some new products. We are told the Health Care is also much better here, but so far have not need to find out, except in the dental area where I've already paid four visits (perhaps due to the delicious crusty French bread) and learnt a whole new vocabulary which I hadn't needed before.

As in Wiltshire it's difficult to get little maintenance jobs done around the house. Electricians and plumbers seem very obliging over the phone, but getting them to the house is another matter. This far south, I suppose we're getting close to the 'mañana' syndrome, which sometimes can be a bit frustrating - and it doesn't pay to be in a hurry in a local shop. But we're happy to slow down a bit, and adapt. We still have much to see and learn about our new environment, but we're getting much pleasure in that. We haven't for example been to Orange yet to see the collection of Brangwyn paintings there, and that's really quite close.

Sometimes when we wake up and its raining - or fog blankets the hills, we wonder whether we should have moved further south. But other days, as this week, as I write, we're sitting out in bright sunshine and 25° in the middle of October! Perversely, due to bad weather last month, we closed our pool down for the year at the end of September. But we're only three hours from the Mediterranean, and about the same from the Pyrenees, so can always go in search of more sun - or snow, which ever takes our fancy. I think we are going to enjoy it here, and if any of our new - found family are touring in Southern France, we would be pleased to see them.

Welcome to Dylan Matthew who was born on octobber 11th. He is the son of Suzanne (daughter of Irene and Doug Cambridge) and Brent Robinson.

Our thoughts go out to Bill and Leslie Brangwynne on the loss Bill's mother, Carmel, on October 12th.

This article was supplied by Margaret Brangwyn

Having a few days leave to take before the end of September, David and I decided to make the journey to Leeds, in South Yorkshire. It's some 200 miles from where we live, but we'd been eager to make this journey for quite some time. What was the attraction?

Well on the outskirts of Leeds, in the Harehills district, is a red-brick Victorian church, built between 1891 and 1894. It was opened on 13th October, 1894 and consecrated by the Bishop of Richmond. The original cost was estimated at £10,000 (the equivalent of £501,400 or US$358,143 today), but actually cost nearer £20,000. It was originally intended that this church should have a tower, but this was not considered important at the time of building and the church still has no tower today.

From the outside it looks nothing special. It certainly didn't look very exciting through the pouring rain on the day we went there. But we knew what a treasure this unprepossessing church held.

There are some remarkable things inside this church. The organ is a splendid piece, built by J. S. Binns of Bramley, with the extraordinary case being designed by Mr. Crawford-Hick, the Church Architect.

The pulpit is built of Bath stone and Caen stone, with Italian marble and alabaster adornments and sculptured panels depicting the life of St Aidan - quite the most splendid pulpit I have ever seen.

The Confessional (although this church is Church of England, it is very High Church) was carved by Robert Thompson, who always carves a small mouse as his "signature" somewhere on his work.

The Stations of the Cross and the Redeemer Statue are by Professor Josef Heu, who fled from his native Austria in 1938 just before the Nazi invasion.

The Baptisery and Font are an amazing mix of Mexican onyx, Irish green marble and Belgian blue marble. The bowl is in red marble and weighs one and a half tons. Over it is a massive wrought iron canopy which is lifted by pulleys and counterweights. It was discovered not long ago that when the plug was pulled from the font bowl the water drained away into the foundations of the church and was causing considerable damage. The water is now baled out and disposed of more carefully.

But we did not go to St Aidan's to see all these wonders. We went to see the mosaic which adorns the eastern apse. Robert Hawthorne Kitson was a nephew of the then vicar's wife and also a great friend of Frank Brangwyn. Kitson offered £100 each year for ten years for Brangwyn to paint a mural on the apse, behind the altar. Brangwyn started this work in 1910 (when the £100 he had been offered was equal to £4719 today) and continued for two years. He was deeply concerned however that the smoke-laden air of Leeds would quickly destroy his mural.

He wrote, "It was a bright summer day in London, but when we got to Leeds, although the sun still shone, it was like seeing things through a moulded glass; no shadows were cast on the ground. I would never have believed it if I hadn't seen it. On my return I suggested to Kitson that no painting could ever exist in such atmosphere and that it would be well for him to have it done in mosaic. He agreed that it was better than wasting the work on what in a year would be like brown paper."

So the vicar, William Mason, agreed that instead of a mural there would be a mosaic, especially as Brangwyn agreed to bear the extra cost himself.

The work took longer than expected and was not finished until 1916. Brangwyn's full sized cartoons had to be reversed and the marble and glass tesserae were stuck in place face down. As each sheet was completed it was sent to Leeds and cemented to the wall. Then the paper was soaked off and the section of mosaic cleaned and grouted.

The mosaic depicts the life of St Aidan, beginning with his arrival in Britain from Ireland. Another part shows him with lepers. On the right hand side is depicted his deathbed. On the left is a little dog, allegedly Brangwyn's pet. All the figures in the mosaic are larger than life size. There are people in highly decorated garments as well as those in plain monks garb. There are flowers, trees and some creatures. The ducks and geese are a delightfully whimsical touch. The colours are still brilliant and shine in the light like jewels. It is a breathtaking piece of work. Whilst we stood trying to take in all the details we forgot the drab, wet day outside and were transported by the feast of colour before our eyes.

The pictures included here do not do it justice. It really does have to be seen to be believed. If ever you get the chance to travel to South Yorkshire, it is worth going out of your way to see this magnificent mosaic. You'd be in good company, as amongst the people who have made the journey to visit St Aidan's is her majesty Queen Elizabeth II!

The Friends of St Aidan's

"The object of the Friends of St Aidan's are to encourage the love and appreciation of the Church and its contained art and to raise funds for the protection and restoration of the building and its contents. Membership is open to anyone who has a feel for the Church and is anxious to help secure its future. Details of membership can be obtained from:
John Drake,
Flat 20, Forest Hill,
11, Park Crescent,
Leeds,
LS8 1OH.
Telephone: 0113 269 2241."

John is also the person to contact if you want to visit the church, as sadly, because of the treasure it holds, has to be kept locked.

This month we look at some early Brangwin references. Unfortunately, during the period we are looking at the records were rather haphazard. Where events were recorded, and many were not, some of the documents have been lost over time making if difficult to piece together the threads.

On March 14, 1578[9], the 21st year of the reign of Elizabeth, Robert Brangwen of Harlow, Essex, painter made his Will. Elizabeth had come to the Throne on the death of her sister, Mary, yoounger brother and, of course, her father Henry VIII. This was a time when artists flourished and one can only presume that Robert was an artist rather than a painter of houses. Was it from Robert that the srtistic talents that were so evident in the family during the 19th and early 20th centuries had their foundation. it is certainly worth speculating on this matter. Given that his Will was Proved on April 27, 1579, a mere six weeks later, Robert obviously knew the end was nigh. Here is a transcript of his Will [courtesy of Margaret Brangwyn]:

From the Will we are given the name of Robert's wife, Audrey, his sons (Matthew, John and Robert) and daughters (Mary, Joan, Elizabeth and Thomasine). That's not all we learn. There is a reference to [Bishop's] Stortford which is actually quite near Harlow, just a little north. It is here, Bishop's Stortford, that Robert Brangwyn married Grace Wilsmore on November 7, 1586. There appeat to be no other Brangwin entries in the parish register at Bishop's Stortford.

Just how does this family relate to one that is recorded at St Albans, also in Herfordshire? William Brangwin married Agnes Fandingham on June 18, 1562 at St Albans, Abbey, HRT. They had a son, John, baptised on January 31, 1562/63 also at St Albans, Abbey. Did William die shortly after his marriage? An Agnes Brangwin was married at St Albans on August 10, 1564. Was she his widow or a sister or some other relative? We simply don't have an answer.

We have a John Brangwin who was vicar of Kingsey, BKM, a short ditance from Haddenham, and not all the far from St Albans. He appears to have been married to a Joane. The marriage took place at Cheshunt, HRT on February 8, 1590/91. Joane was buried at Kingsey on April 2, 1613. John then married Elizabeth Gregory on December 18, 1613 at Kingsey.

There were at least two children born to Elizabeth: Hester baptised on March 27, 1619 at Kingsey and Margarett who was baptised at Kingsey on September 13, 1620.

John died in February 1620/21 and was buried at Kingsey on the 16th leaving Elizabeth a widow with small children and perhaps others from John's first marriage.

On June 17, 1599, Richard son of Robert Brangwin, was baptised at Chipping Barnet, HRT. Is this Robert the one who married Grace Wilsmore?

As can be seen from the bits and pieces that we have, it would be very easy to jump to conclusions as to who's who. It is fun to speculate and test theories but rather difficult to find hard evidence to piece these fragments together. Some of those mentioned may be anecestors. But who knows which ones.

Over the next couple of Newsletters we will look at early references and try to see how they fit into the puzzle.

It is great to have someone on the ground who is able to track down references. Gloria has proved herself to be quite a family history sleuth and has learned a bit about the local records along the way. It was Gloria who made contact with Bill and Leslie and now she has hit the jackpot again. This time she has solved the mystery of Cliff Brangwynne. I had come across Cliff in a photo of an ice hockey team from Carnegie Mellon - a prestigious university if ever there was one. Perhaps not of the same standing as Cambridge and Oxford, but up there. Margaret posted a copy of the Cliff photo onto our web site posing the question "Who is Cliff?" So, who is Cliff? Here is what Gloria discovered.

[Gloria, thanks for finding the limb to which Cliff belongs]

Last month we were introduced to Alice Mary as one of the twelve children of Jane Brangwin and her husband John Lambourn Phillips. In her Will she names a number of her siblings and also mentions nephews and nieces.

This is the last Will and Testament of me Alice Mary Phillips of 91 Park Street Thame in the county of Oxford made this 27 day of day of February in the year of our Lord One Thousand nine hundred and five. I hereby revoke all wills made by me at anytime heretofore. I appoint my brothers Thomas John Phillips, Richard Lamburn Phillips to be my Executor and direct that all my debts and funeral expenses shall be paid as soon ss conveniently may be after my decease. I give and bequeath unto my Sister Sophie Jane Phillips the interest of all my money for her life or so long as she remain single but in the event of her marrying the money to then be divided as herein stated below. To my brother Thomas John Phillips the sum of one hundred and fifty pounds unto my Brother Richard Lamburn Phillips the sum of One hundred and fifty pounds To my Sister Sophia Jane Phillips the sum of One hundred and fifty pounds To my Sister Ada Harris the sum of One hundred and fifty pounds To my Sister Agnes Sarah Harris the sum of One hundred and fifty Pounds To each of my Nephews and Nieces the sum of Twenty pounds To my friend Elizabeth Sarah Taylor the sum of Fifty pounds free of legacy duty and after all expenses are paid the remainder to be equally divided between the Church Missionary Society and The Church Pastoral Aid Society. My Gold watch to my sister Ada Harris my Gold Brooch to my Niece Gladys the Brooch and Ring that belonged to my Mother to my Niece Dorothy my Silver Spoons plate and all other personal belongings to my Sister Sophia for her life and after my Spoons to my Nephew Frederick and Silver salts to my Nephew Ronald.

Signed by the said testator
In the presence of us present at the same time, who
at her request in her presence and in the presence
of each other have subscribed our names as witnesses

Martha Wooster, Kings Road Thame
Elizabeth Wooster, Kings Road Thame

On the documents filed with the Probate documents we learn that Alice Mary died on August 19, 1909 at her residence, 91 Park Street, Thame, OXF. She was a spinster. The following calrifiaction is also noted. Thomas John Phillips of Thame, Builder, and Richard Lambourne (in the Will written Lamburn) Phillips of 109 Divinity Road, in the City of oxford, Book Keeper, the Brothers of the Deceased, the Executors named in the said Will. The value of her Estate was £1021/11/0 with the net value of her Personal Estate £956/19/7.

From this Will we learn that sisters Ada and Agnes both married and were both using the name Harris. There were at least four children in the next generation as nieces and nephews Gladys, Dorothy, Frederick and Ronald were named.

A further follow up to the tragic Phillips family. Mary Jane, the first child of John Lambourn Phillips and his wife Jane Brangwin, died on April 18, 1859 at North Neston, Thame, OXF. She was 5 years old and her cause of death was given as Diptheria. She was listed as the daughter of John Lamburne Phillips, Vetinary Surgeon and Farmer.

I hope you have found this edition of the Brangwin Family Newsletter of interest.

I would like to thank Dennis (and Lis) for his profile. Also, thank you to Alan and Margaret for their input.

That's it for this month. Next month we will look at another part of the family. There will be another family member in the spotlight. And who knows what else will be featured!

If you have anything you would like to contribute I would like to hear from you.

Until then next month

Lorraine