Surviving are his wife, Betty, whom he married Aug. 27, 1940; daughters, Gayle Broom, Carol Howell, Judy DePeal, and Janice Pekema; sons, Dr. Jim Barnes and Rodney Barnes; sister, Esther Cain; 15 grandchildren, and seven great-grandchildren.

[For the record, James was a great, great grandson of George Barnett and Mary Brangwin].

Jen's Christmas Day

The alarm goes off at the normal time. Another year and yet another one that I am rostered on to work. Work? The day begins as any other: preparation of breakfast and lunch. Unlike other days, most residents come in to the kitchen for a chat and to wish me a happy Christmas. Breakfast preparations are very interrupted but everyone still expects their breakfast to be ready on time.

The general atmosphere at work on Christmas Day is much more relaxed than on other days.

After breakfast, those residents who are spending the day with their families are collected and leave.

The dining room is rearranged and decorated for Christmas dinner for the residents remaining at Clarinda. Christmas placemats are laid out, Christmas serviettes, bonbons (the Christmas hats come out of the bonbons) put out for each diner and the dining room generally decorated. The cook is the most unChristmas looking individual on the day as I need to wear my normal work clothes and not add bits and pieces, such as tinsel in my hair as the other staff do, as it may find its way into the food.

Christmas lunch (dinner) is very traditional: turkey and ham with roast potatoes and pumpkin, steamed peas and carrot straws followed by plum pudding served with brandy custard.

And where do I work? I work at Clarinda Centre, an aged care hostel. [Click on the following link to learn more about the Clarinda Centre http://www.monash.vic.gov.au/services/clarinda-centre.html] We currently have 42 residents ranging in age from the mid 60s to 101. I have been at Clarinda for 3 Christmases now. Prior to that I had worked at the Gippsland Base Hospital, Sale, in the food services area, for almost 20 years. I seemed to get rostered on for most Christmas Days.

And me?

I am Jennifer Williamson, oldest of the six children born to Don and Irene Barnett and older sister of Lorraine. I have four children: Gavin, Helen, Annette and Phillip, and two grandchildren: Hayley and Stephanie.

Jennifer with her family. Front row: Annette, Jennifer with Hayley and Justine (Gavin's partner) with Stephanie. Back row: Helen, Phillip and Gavin.

I have spent many an hour searching cemeteries with Lorraine including a few that had stinging nettles and don’t they sting! We visited Hambleden and were able to enter the church and walk around the churchyard where so many of our ancestors are buried. I was also with Lorraine on the day we discovered that our Barnetts came from Remenham. We were in the Henley on Thames library at the time and immediately went out to Remenham and, yes, searched the churchyard for buried rellies … and found quite a few.

The Boys Own Paper Supplied by Margaret Brangwyn

We give herewith the portrait of "B.O.P." artist who has just received high honours in France. To have a picture bought by the French Government on the advice of experts, and to see it enshrined in the national collection of contemporary masterpieces at the Luxembourg, whence after the painter's death, it will be transferred to the Louvre, is an honour granted to but few; but it has been conferred on Mr. Frank Brangwyn, who is still but a comparatively young man. His "The Trade on the Beach" is a picture chosen by France. "Conjecture," it will be remembered, was the title of his fine painting which appeared as a coloured plate in our last volume. From: The Boy's Own Paper, 27th June 1896 MR. FRANK BRANGWYN

"Trade on the Beach" from Scribner's Magazine

Medmenham and Bockmer

General information about the parish of Medmenham, Bucks, was provided last month. The following information is taken from "The Manor and Parish Records of Medmenham Buckinghamshire" by Arthur H. Plaisted, published by Longman, green and Co in 1925.

Ancient British origins are still traceable in the names of great natural objects, such as rivers and mountains. The Thames, Tamar, Severn and Avon are examples. Local names to designate villages and homesteads belong to a later time, and mostly find their terminology in the language of the Saxon invaders. Some of the names come from habitation such as Ashridge and Blackgrove. Others took their beginnings from the conquerers. Buckingham was a settlement of the Buckings, the descendants of Bock or Buck. Buckden, Buckley, bocking, Bockmer and Buckland (spelt Bocheland in Domesday) all have the same origin.

Mer or mere, meaning a boundary, which is also of Saxon origin, completes the designation of the historical place: Bockmer. Thus, Bockmer finds its interpretation in an early settlement, where some of the Bockings first staked out their claim in a conquered territory in the late sixth century.

When the Normans invaded, about 500 years later, Bockmer (Broch) was in the occupation of one Odo, a tenant of Brictric, who himself was a man of Queen Edith. Broch was about 120 Domesday acres.

After the redistribution of land which followed the Norman Conquest, many holdings were grouped into a single unit. Bockmer was apparently absorbed into the larger holding of Medmenham. For two hundred years after Domesday the house at Bockmer was occupied by people of whom very small traces remain. During the 15th and 16th centuries, Bockmer was occupied by families with links to King Henry VII and VIII. In 1538, the lord of Medmenham Manor was convicted of treason (his brother had opposed the divorce of Henry VIII from his first wife Catherine among other things) and he was beheaded in the following year along with a number of other family members. Their family estates, including the manor at Medmenham to which Bockmer belonged, then escheated to the Crown.

Bockmer has always been held by the family possessing the manor at Medmenham since the Conquest (1066). On the other hand, States, did not follow its traditional line of ownership.

In the later part of the 16th century Bockmer came into the possession of the Borlase family who rebuilt the Manor House at Bockmer and for some years was the residence of Samuel Backhouse who had married Elizabeth Borlase. Over the fireplace in what is now the drawing-room of Bockmer may still be seen the device of Samuel Backhouse.

BOCKMER FARM

After the death of Sir John Borlase in 1688 the house at bockmer was deserted. It was then let to tenant farmers, of whom the first was Richard Harding 1693-1713; followed by John Keen 1713, John Butler 1729, and other stalwart yeomen who nobly served their generation and passed on. Among the more notable of the latter were Joseph Hobbs (fl. 1840) and Philip Hobbs, whose occupation lasted until his death.

In the process of devolution, by which a country residence becomes a tenant farm, it invariably occurs that non essentials quickly go to ruin, and only utilitarian features survive. This is precisely what happened at Bockmer. The extensive walled gardens fell into decay. Parts of Bockmer were pulled down after its conversion into a farm. The interior was also remodelled. The 16th century panelling which is still one of its attractive features was removed and refixed.

STATES

The barns, stables and dovecots of the manor at Medmenham were situated north of the manor house. The actual buildings have been repeatedly reconstructed. They were the premises of the estate, where tenants paid their dues, where tithes were measured out, and where the business of the manor was conducted. Some parts of the existing house is early sixteenth century workmanship. The house was almost entirely rebuilt about 1850. The designation of the place long ago became abbreviated to States.

After the lands were dispersed among tenant farmers (18th century), States lost its preeminence as the manor farm and it then became what it continued to be until nearly the close of the 19th century, just one of several farms in an agricultural parish. It was purchased in 1895 by Mr Hudson Kearley, M. P. The house had then for some generations been in the occupation of a yeoman family named Hobbs.

Notes

The Hobbs family mentioned in relation to both Bockmer and States are the descendants of Joseph Hobbs who had married Mary Deane, daughter of Daniel Deane and Alice Blake, of Hambleden. A number of the sons of Joseph and Mary continued their assocation with these farms, however it was their son Philip (who married Mary Jane Brangwin daughter of Francis Brangwin and Elizabeth Harriet Dreweatt) who remained at Bockmer until his death in 1894.

Hedley Frank Brangwin

While searching the internet for new Brangwin references I found the following article. It was published in 1919 by Lewis Historical Publishing Co,m NYC and is from "History of Worcester and Its People", Volume 4, by Charles Nutt, A.B.

HEDLEY FRANK BRANGWIN. As representative of the Alexander Hamilton Institute in Worcester, Masschusetts, Mr. Brangwin is aiding in the great work that institution is doing in the United State in spreading sound economic thinking, sound views on business matters and better understanding of business problems.

Hedley Frank Brangwin was born in England, and obtained his education in the English school, and served a term in the British Army. After coming to the United States he also served in the Massachusetts State Guard. He is a member of the Protestant Episcopal church, and interested in the work of the church. He is an enthusiast over out-of-door recreations, is very fond of horses, plays golf iwth a great deal of enjoyment, but perhaps his garden is his real hobby and most favoured recreation. Mr. Brangwin has represented The Alexander Hamilton Institute in Worcester since January 1, 1917, that institutiondating its beginning only from the year 1909. The object of the Institute is to furnish a modern business course and service to men who are looking and moving ahead, to live, keen-witted, energetic men who are ambitious to attain higher rank or position. It brings to such a man's office or home that business knowledge and training which he needs. It matters not whether such a man iswealthy, a college graduate, or whether he be of the great middle class in regard to wealth, education or position, but he must have ability and enough serious purpose to spend a portion of his spare time in reading and thinking. This Modern Business Course and Service is the result of years of study and experience and represents the best thoughts of a group of successful business and university men, and covers the essential subjects on which every business man should be well-informed. Mr. Brangwin is heartily in sympathy with the aims of the Institute, and is its strong, eloquent advocate. He has been very successful in his efforts to bring its advantages to the business men of Worcester, and is justly optimistic over the results which are to follow.

---oooOooo---

Who was Hedley Frank Brangwin?

In the May 2001 newsletter mention is made of Thomas Brangwin, son of Edmund Brangwin and Mary Deane. The first wife of Thomas was Mary Dreweatt and their son, Thomas Dreweatt Brangwin, was the one who commenced the Brangwynne variation of the family name. To learn more about Thomas Dreweatt Brangw... see the January 2001 newsletter.

Following the death of his first wife, Mary Dreweatt, in 1836, Thomas married twice more. His second wife was Ann Curtis. Ann was born in Hughendon, Bucks. Thomas and Ann married on December 4, 1838 at Great Marlow. They had two children:

1. Lucy born 1841 at Mill End, Hambleden. She married John Williams at Maberly Chapel, Ball Pond Road, Islington, MDX, on July 28, 1863. The chapel was a Congregationalist one. The marriage entry stated that John was a grocer of Riverhead, Seven Oaks, Kent, at the time of his marriage. His father, John Williams, was deceased and had been a dissenting minister. John had been born at Yaxham, Norfolk around 1841. At the time of her marriage, Lucy was living at 17 Cambridge terrace, Kingsland. Her father, Thomas, was a deceased farmer. Witnesses to the marriage were harriett Williams, Frank Brangwin and Martha Curtis.
   
   In 1881 Lucy and John were living at 24 Almack road, Hackney, London. I have not found any children for Lucy and John. Nor do I know when and where they died.
2. Francis born in 1845. More later.

Ann died on October 24, 1851 at Mill End, Hambleden. She was 38 or possibly 39. She was buried at Hambleden and the headstone, whilst difficult to read, states: Sacred to the memory of Ann Brangwin, wife of Thomas Brangwin, who died Oct 24 1851 aged 38 years. Also of Thomas Brangwin, husband of the above, formerly of this parish, who departed this life Jan 20, 1857 aged 53 years.

Thomas was a farmer. The 1851 census recorded him living at Mill End, Hambleden. He was 48 and a farmer of 310 acres employing 7 labourers.

Following the death of Ann, Thomas married again in 1852. Thomas's third wife was Sarah Ann Drew. There was one child of this marriage: Robert Hudson Beare Brangwin who was born about 1856 in Marlow, BKM. Robert married Ada Maude Hignson on September 30, 1889 at Corrimal Street, Wollongong, NSW, and they had a daughter, Jessie Louise Brangwin, born in 1891 and dying on August 14, 1976, aged 85. Jessie's death notice was published in the Sydney morning Herald: BRANGWIN, Jessie Louise - August 14, 1976, formerly of Brighton-Le-Sands, former employee of Lodak. Sadly missed by all at Missionholme, Redfern, aged 85 years. At rest. Robert died in 1932 at Rockdale, NSW.

As can be gleened from the monumental inscription above, Thomas died on January 20, 1857. His place of death was Burford Farm, Great Marlow. He was 53. He was buried at hambleden on January 24, 1857. According to the Probate Index, Thomas left a personal estate of a mere £40 by the time his estate was left unadministered by his widow, Sarah Ann. The original grant was made in the Perogative Court of Canterbury in March 1857. Further, administration was granted to Francis Brangwin of 278 Richmond road, Hackney, Middlesex, Manager to Brangwin & Company Ltd, the son and one of the next of kin, on April 29, 1886.

Francis Brangwin was the son of Thomas Brangwin and Ann Curtis. He was born on September 11, 1845 in Mill End, Hambleden, BKM.

In 1868 he married Eliza Russell Rawlings at Royston, HRT. Eliza had been born in 1848 in Melbourn, CAM (although the 1881 census has Francis as being born in Melbourn, Cambridge and Eliza born in Hackney - I believe this to be an error as Eliza's sisters Jane and Sarah were both born in Melbourn, Cambridge and one is older and the other younger) and died on June 6, 1898 at "Oakfield", Enfield highway, MDX.

Francis was an ironmonger by trade. The 1881 census records him living at 258-260 Mare street, Hackney, along with his wife the the younger of their children.

Francis and Eliza had eight children:

1. Charles Holland Brangwin - born in 1869 in Hackney. He died, aged 20, in 1889 at Eastry, Kent.
2. Hendley Frank Brangwin - born in 1870. More later.
3. Jessie Rawlings Brangwin was born in 1871 in Hackney. In 1901 she married Arthur C England. They had at least two children: Jessica Mary and Arthur Francis John.
4. Edith Kate Brangwin. She was born in 1873 in Hackney. The 1901 census records her as a ward sister in a hospital. She died on June 3, 1963 at Worthing, Sussex, aged 89. Her address at time of death was 19 Grafton Road, Worthing, Sussex and she was a spinster. Probate was granted at Winchester on July 3, 1963 to John Lewis Bowron, solicitor. Her effects amounted to £1,436 11s 0d.
5. Hetty Lucy Brangwin was born in 1876 at Hackney. The 1901 census records her living at 22 Hurstbourne road, Lewisham, London. She was 25, single and a clerk. He name appeared as Nellie L. She died on November 23, 1956 at 9 Ripley road, Worthing, SSX, aged 80. According to the probate index, her address at the time of her death was Langdown, Langbury Lane, Ferring, Sussex. Probate was granted on March 10, 1956 her sister Edith Kate Brangwin. Her effects were listed as £1071 17s 1d.
6. James Scott Brangwin was born in 1877 in Hackney. He appears in the 1881 census as a 3 year old. In 1901 he was listed as a farmer in the household of his cousin, Thomas Louch, at Worton, Cassington, OXF. [Ann Curtis' mother was Susannah Louch, hence the Louch cousin connection]. What happened to James after 1901 is unknown.
7. Elsie Curtis Brangwin was born on April 2, 1879 in Hackney. The 1901 census records her living at the same address as her older sister, Hetty. She was 21 and a stenographer. She died on November 2, 1962 at the Royal Sussex County Hospital, Brighton, Sussex, aged 83. The probate index gave her address at the time of her death as 110 Marina, St Leonards on Sea, Sussex. She was a spinter. Probate was granted to her sister Freda. Her effects were £866 14s 9d.
8. Freda Russell Brangwin was born on April 24, 1881 at 250 Mare street, Hackney. The 1901 census lists her living with her sisters Hetty and Elsie at 22 Hurstbourne road, Lewisham. She was 19 and a stenographer. She died on June 1, 1972, in Surrey, aged 91. The probate index gave her address at the time of her death as Ridgemead House, Englefield Green, Surrey.

Francis died on December 24, 1899 in St Thomas Hospital, Stepney, MDX. He was 54.

Generation 3

Hedley Frank Brangwin was born in 1870 in Hackney. He was the second son of Francis Brangwin and Eliza Russell Rawlings.

In 1881, Hedley was attending bording school at Sevenoaks, Kent, under the care of John Jackson, a baptist minister. He moved to the US in 1893 and he married Martha McCartney on May 22, 1895, in Boston, Massachesetts. Martha was the daughter of Thomas McCartney and Margaret Dunn and she had been born in 1867 in Newark, NJ. Hedley and Martha divorced sometime after 1906. Martha died in 1943.

In April 1901 Hedley, Martha and son Francis were in England at 2 Spring Villas, Fullers road, Woodford, Essex (the county in Endland). Hedley's occupation was listed as hardware traveller. The family appears to have remained in England for some time before returning to the US by January 1, 1917 when Hedley commenced his association with the Alexander Hamilton Institute in Worcester.

According to the 1930 US census, Hedley was married to an Anna whose age was given as 52. It would appear that the head of the household, Merton Hopkins, was married to Anna's daughter, Ethel, as Hedley and Anna were listed as father-in-law and mother-in-law. Census place was Greenwich, Fairfield county, Connecticut. According to the 1930 census, Hedley was a promoter in the financial services industry.

At this stage I do not know when or where Hedley died.

Martha

Hedley and Martha had four children:

1. Margaret Brussel [more later]
2. Francis Curtis [more later]
3. Alec Hedley Brangwin was the third child and second son of Hedley Frank Brangwin and Martha McCartney. He was born on December 10, 1903 at 107 King Street, Stretford, LAN. He married Pearl and they had a daughter Nancy who married a Carson. Pearl died on February 19, 1997 and her last known address was Point Pleasant Beach, Ocean, NJ. Alec died on February 20, 1993.
4. Katherine Mabel Brangwin was the youngest of the four children born to Hedley Frank Brangwin and Martha McCartney. She was born on March 15, 1906 at St Albans, HRT. She married Howard Hamilton. They had two children: Janet and Ruth. Katherine died on June 5, 1983 and Howard on July 1, 1992.

Generation 4

Margaret Brussel Brangwin was the first child born to Hedley Frank Brangwin and Martha McCartney. She was born on June 28, 1896 in New York. At the time of the 1901 census, Margaret staying with her grand aunts, Jane and Sarah Rawlings, in Hackney, London. Her age was given as 4 and place of birth as Philadelphia, USA. It would also appear that Aunt Jane thought that Margaret's second name was Russell as this is she gave the initial of Margaret's second name as R. It is a reasonable assumption to make that the child carried Russell from her grandmother, Eliza Russell Rawlings. Margaret Brussel Brangwin Margaret's life had a number of complications as her great grandson, Mark Cordz, explained.

My grandfather was not raised by his mother. This is kind of a long complicated story, and I have only been told bits of it, but here goes (as I've been told):

Baby Oliver with Margaret

Margaret was a nurse in a hospital in Upstate New York (which roughly means not NY City). Oliver William Cordz of Washington State was a soldier in WWI, and got gassed or injured. He ended up in the hospital where Margaret worked, and they "fell madly in love." We have been told they got married, but can find no record of this union. Anyway, Margaret got pregnant with my grandfather and Oliver William Cordz supposedly died (that part of the story in a moment). Margaret eventually married a man named Norman John Congdon who was an alcoholic. My grandfather told us he ran away from home when he was 4 years old to escape from his stepfather. There is a letter stating that Margaret had given Oliver up to save him from his stepfather. Whatever the truth, my grandfather was raised by his uncle Alec Brangwin (who was just 16 years old when my grandfather was born) and his grandmother Martha Brangwin.

Now for the part about Oliver William Cordz: he supposedly died in this VA hospital in 1919, but I have found a Washington State census for 1920 that lists a man named Oliver W. Cordz, age 25, occupation: student. I think this is probably my great grandfather. I think Margaret told him she was pregnant, and he skipped town and went back to Washington. The best part of this little soap opera: he already had a wife in Washington State. My grandfather went to Washington while he was training for WWII, and he met 2 women named "Mrs. Cordz." One was old enough to be his grandmother and the other was his mother's age. He told them his story, and asked if they could be relatives as the name is not common. The old one would tell him nothing, but the younger one told him that her husband was in WWI and had been in a hospital in NY. She believed that her husband was my grandfather's father, but could offer nothing to prove it.

My grandfather was very bitter about his mother giving him up, and he rarely saw her. When I was born, my parents sent her a birth announcement. They got a card back, but that was the only contact we ever had with her as far as I know. I believe she died in a car crash, but cannot remember where I heard that.

[Note: In the 1930 census, Oliver is listed in his grandmothers household along with his uncle Alec and aunt Katherine.]

And now for the known bits. Oliver William died on January 8, 1923 in Seattle, WA. He had married Adelaide Martin on January 19, 1921. It appears that Adelaide was not much liked by the Cordz family. One of the reasons is because she broke up Oliver's first marriage.

Margaret married Norman John Congdon - year and place unknown. Norman was born on August 5, 1890, and died on April 9, 1973. Margaret died on May 7, 1981 in Pennsylvannia.

Margaret had five children:

1. Oliver Warren Cordz was born on August 1, 1919 at Newark Memorial Hospital, Newark, NJ. (His father was Oliver W. Cordz). He married Margaret Louise Ball on March 6, 1943 at the Army Air Base, Woodbury Co, Iowa, USA. Margaret is the daughter of Harry Ball and Louise Kulle. Oliver and Margaret had three children: Richard Edward (fahter of Mark), Robert Hedley and Deborah. Oliver died on July 14, 1999, Keswick Pines, Whiting, Ocean County, NJ.
2. Russell Brangwin Congdon born September 28, 1924 and died on February 26, 1998.
3. Katherine Congdon born on March 31, 1926 in New York. She married Robert Scanlon and they had four children: Paul, Mike, Delores and Winnie. Katherine died on January 2, 1986.
4. Scott Hedley Congdon was born on January 31, 1927. He married Venida Miller and they had three children: Susan, Amy and Ann. Scott died on September 20, 1997.
5. George John Congdon

Francis Curtis Brangwin was the second child and eldest son of Hedley Frank Brangwin and Martha McCartney. He was born on September 20, 1897 in the US. He married Gladys Bellwood and they had three children:

1. Lucille Brangwin
2. Betty Brangwin
3. Francis Curtis Brangwin who was born on February 2, 1927, married Bernice Molly Bennington (they have three children: Nancy Anne, Frank Curtis and Judith. Frank is the father of Heather who is a member of our family site), and died in January 1983.

Turville - a Buckinghamshire Parish