My father, Albert Vivian HERRIDGE, was born on January 14th, 1920 at 18 South Molton Road, Canning Town, in East London. He was the seventh son of John and Violet Mary and attended Beckton Road Infants and Boys School then Ashburton School. He left school at 14 and worked for Carter Patterson’s (Carriers). At 15 he took a temporary job as a delivery boy for a stationers and printers firm in Barking Road, Canning Town. When he was 16 he took a job at Tate and Lyle, the sugar refiners, in Silvertown. After the Second World War he worked at Briggs Engineering and then did twenty-eight years at Ford Motor Company in Dagenham, Essex.

He told me he had an uncle Fred and an aunt Lou who lived in Plashet Grove Road, near Plaistow Station. They had three children – Louise, Alfred (Alfred W. T., birth West Ham 4a 119, Sept. qtr 1910) and Nellie. That was about the extent of his knowledge of his family on his Dad’s side.

On January 20th, 1940 he registered for military service and joined the 24th Medium and Heavy Artillery Regiment at Blackdown, Hampshire. His army number was 972519. He was posted to Active Regt. 20/21 Medium Battery, 5th Medium Regt. Royal Artillery in July, 1940. They assembled in Sherwood Forrest, Nottinghamshire and from there went to Brigg in Lincolnshire. He left there in August, 1940 to take over a coastal defence battery in Ramsgate, Kent. He then moved to Manston Aerodrome then to Four Elms near Edenbridge. He then took over anti tank-guns at Middleton-on-Sea near Bognor Regis. His company were billeted in two houses, one belonging to music hall star Bud FLANNAGAN and the other to George ALLISON, the pre-war manager of Arsenal Football Club. From there he went to Tarporley in Cheshire and was then drafted to North Africa, Sicily, Italy, Austria and Greece.

His family were bombed-out during the war and the survivors moved out to Pitsea, Essex and then to 23 Frimley Gardens, Hornchurch, Essex. My mother’s family (BECKMAN) also left Canning Town because of the bombing and moved to 43 Frimley Gardens. Mum, and Dad’s sister Alma, became good friends and Dad met Mum when he came home on leave. They married on March 27th, 1948 at St. Andrews Church, Hornchurch, the witnesses being Alexander BECKMAN (my grandfather), Dad’s brother Reginald Kenneth HERRIDGE and Kathleen WILD. Dad’s occupation was given as ‘labourer’ and Mum’s as ‘maid.'

They spent the first two and a half years of married life with Mum’s parents. I was born on February 12th, 1949 in Oldchurch Hospital, Romford, Essex and baptized on March 27th, 1949 at St. Andrews Church. My Godparents were Reginald HERRIDGE, Walter EWER and Mary DEACON. My sister, Sharon Lynn was born on April 3rd, 1955 at home at 91, Dunedin Road, Rainham, Essex.

When I registered the HERRIDGE ‘One Name Society’ with the Guild of One Name Studies in 1988 I never dreamt how much time and effort this hobby would consume. I had already made enquiries to other ‘GOONS’ members Rod GENT and Fred FILBY as both surnames featured in the Norfolk branch of my family history. I found them both extremely helpful as they both gave good advice and sent me information on my ancestors and their families. In way of thanks to them, I forwarded any information I came across on their family names. The point I would like to make here is that every family historian should, where possible, contact a ‘One Name Society’ for their surname to make preliminary enquiries. I had made considerable progress before contacting Rod and Fred and experienced many tremendous thrills in my early years of research. I still remember vividly in 1982 when I found my first GENT entry in the 1881 Census for Limehouse in East London. I let out a loud “whoop” in the Tower Hamlets Record Office that brought the Archivist dashing over to see what all the fuss was about. It was a thrill experienced by many genealogists.

I research every surname of direct ancestors and often go off at a tangent on families that marry into those not directly related. This often proves interesting and far from being a waste of time. Distant relatives often turn up in Wills, as witnesses at marriages or they could be the reason one’s ancestors moved to another village, town, county or another country.

My interest in family history started in 1981 when I watched a series of programmes introduced by Gordon HONEYCOMBE, the ITN newsreader, on how he had traced his family history. The series was accompanied by a book written by Don STEEL, entitled “Discovering Your Family History,” which I ordered immediately. The programme and the book emphasized the importance of not just making a family tree but making a “history” – putting the meat on the bones! I was off! I followed the guidelines laid down in the book and as all my family were born in East London, I joined the East of London Family History Society. I was living on the Isle of Wight at the time and noticed a display in a shop window one day whilst walking through Ryde advertising the Isle of Wight Family History Society so I joined that as well. I had no Isle of Wight ancestry that I knew of but reasoned the members would have the same general interests and ideas and I had no idea when I would be able to get up to London to make an ELFHS meeting.

As soon as I started on my new hobby I became “stuck”. On my first trip to St. Catherine’s House I followed the rule of the book and searched through several years and spelling variations looking for my grandfather John HERRIDGE’s birth registration. Dad had told me his father was killed in the Blitz in 1940 aged 60. I searched from 1870 to 1890. As East Londoners tend to drop the letter ‘H’ from the beginning of words I tried ERRIDGE, HERRIDGE, HERIDGE, HERIGE, HERAGE, HARRIDGE, etc. No luck! Dad had never met his grandparents as he said they had all died before he was born and never knew their names. From my grandparents’ marriage certificate I discovered my great grandfather was also named John.

I returned to the Isle of Wight thoroughly dejected. What should I do now? Give up? No! The bug had bitten me. I had the family historian’s disease…I thirsted for more knowledge. It was becoming an obsession. At this point I dropped the HERRIDGE research and decided to try my other ancestral family names. I collected what information I could from my Mum and her brother Alex. I interviewed their father on his life and have five hours of those conversations. Unfortunately, my grandmother Elizabeth “Lizzie” BECKMAN (nee SHELDRAKE), died just before I got interested in genealogy. I could do no more until my next trip to London. Stuck again! At this point I discovered the International Genealogical Index at the local Records Office. I had never heard of any other HERRIDGEs apart from my own family. Dad was one of twelve children. His two eldest brothers died very young and one of his sisters was killed in 1940 with her father. So apart from these remaining uncles, aunt, cousins and sister, my knowledge of HERRIDGEs was non-existent. Surely there must be others?

What did I know of my grandfather? Only what dad had told me. He had been put in the “boy’s navy” when quite young and was on the training ship ‘Ganges’ or ‘Arethusa’. He served for some time in the Navy although it was not clear if that was Merchant or Royal. Lord SHAFTESBURY had set up a charity in 1866 to try and rescue some of the many boys who were homeless in London. He invited 200 to a “feast” and asked if any were interested in training as seamen on a ship to be anchored in the River Thames. The response was overwhelming from these “wild Arabs” and the hull of a ship, the 50 gun frigate “Chichester,” was acquired for the purpose. Within two to three years 400 boys had been drafted to the ship and many more applied. This caused the Committee to consider expanding. The Baroness BURDETT COUTTS gave five thousand pounds towards this undertaking and the new ship (T. S. “Arethusa”) was loaned by the Admiralty. The “Arethusa” boys were much sought after by Captains and owners of ships because of their high level of training. This could be part of the reason why “Britain ruled the waves” in Victorian times. The steamships were taking over and the Committee had to move with the times as less men were needed to crew the ships. More specialist training was needed and given. At one of the last speeches Lord SHAFTESBURY gave aboard the “Arethusa” he said, “Napoleon once said that ships, colonies and commerce will make a nation great. He was wrong. What will make England great will be ships, colonies and “Arethusa” boys!” Stirring stuff! Grandfather possibly saw service in the Boer War (1899-92). The only highlight Dad knew of in his nautical career was that he was stabbed in the arm in a brawl in Naples, Italy!

So why was he on the “Arethusa”? It seemed to cater to orphans and homeless boys and he never fitted into either of these categories that I know of. Dad had said he was “put” into the boy’s navy by his parents and possibly his brother also. Perhaps the family were so poor that they could not afford to keep him and thought the training would benefit him in life? I wrote to the Shaftesbury Homes and “Arethusa” in the hope that they may have had some record of my grandfather. They held Admission Records but could find no trace of him. The records for 1892 and 1893 were missing and these would have included boys born between 1879 and 1889. Drat!

He married Violet Mary GENT on October 30th, 1906 at West Ham Register Office. His occupation was given as “engine driver stationary” – a crane driver. Both parties gave their address as 30 Herbert Street, Plaistow. The witnesses were Rosetta GREEN and Louisa PEARCE. The marriage certificate also gave John’s father as a crane driver and as many jobs in the docks were kept in the family, this was probably how he had gained this employment after leaving the navy.

Their first child, John Frederick William, was born in the Poplar Registration District in 1907 and their second son, Alfred Alexander, in 1909. Sadly, both died young. On May 16th, 1909, John Frederick William died and was buried at East London Cemetery (grave no.29813) aged 2. The family were living at 1a Wharf Road, Millwall. Alfred Alexander died on October 19th, 1910, and buried at the same cemetery (grave no.27771) aged 1 year 10 months. The couple were now living at 4 Guffings Cottages, Millwall. I went to visit the graves but was told they were no longer there as the space was needed and new graves were dug on the site over 50 years ago. I had got the dates of death from Memorial Cards that my Uncle Len had given me, and the addresses from the cemetery records. John and Violet then moved into “The Ship” public house in Westferry Road, Millwall. Violet’s sister and brother-in-law (Emily and Frederick Thomas PAYNE) ran the pub. It was here that their third son, William Frederick, was born on May 23rd, 1911. Henry George (known as Harry) was born on August 9th, 1913.

During the First World War, John was sent by the Government to work as a crane driver in South Shields. He was also an A.R.P. Warden. Another son, Horace Frederick (known as Jimmy) was born on July 30th, 1915. The Electoral List for 1914-15 gives John ERRIDGE living at 18 South Molton Road, Canning Town, an address he lived at until his death in 1940. Ernest John was born November 7th, 1917 and Albert Vivian on January 14th, 1920. John’s occupation on Dad’s birth certificate was given as “crane driver – Port of London Authority”. Unfortunately, he was fired from the P.L.A. for drinking rum at work and never held a permanent position from about 1924-26. He became ‘black-listed’ and could only get casual work on the docks for the rest of his life. This must have been a tremendous struggle with all those children to feed and more to come. They were Leonard James on December 25th, 1922 (what a Christmas present!), Alma Evelyn on August 3rd, 1923, Violet Ann on September 12th, 1925, Reginald Kenneth on December 7th, 1927 and Norman David on December 12th, 1932.

In the “New Survey of London Life and Labour vol.4”, South Molton Road was listed in 1928 as “a road where the inhabitants were living below Charles BOOTH’s poverty line.” In “West Ham – A Study in Social and Industrial Problems” (1914) it states: “There is a group of sixteen streets, begun in 1900 and finished in 1904, consisting mainly of two-storied houses with two self-contained flats, each letting at 5 shillings. The upper flat has four rooms and a wash-house…have flat roofs, which, as we are informed by the collector, are liable to leak very much, as they are made of felt or tarpaulin, with sand or earth on the top, coated with pitch…the tenants are mainly general labourers, dockers and casual workers.” The family lived in one of these four roomed, upper flats and between 1932 and 1936 had two adults and ten children living there.

The children’s young lives can be mapped out to a certain degree by the Beckton Road School Admission Registers:

• April 1st, 1920 – William admitted to Beckton Road Boys School
• June 30th, 1925 – William Frederick left school ‘over age’
• April 3rd, 1922 – Horace George admitted to B.R.B.S. (should be Henry George)
• Sept. 20th, 1927 – Henry George left school ‘over age’
• Nov. 12th, 1923 – Ernest John had first medical inspection in school
• April 1st, 1926 – Ernest John admitted to B.R.B.S.
• Nov. 20th, 1931 – Ernest John left B.R.B.S. ‘over age’
• April 1st, 1926 – Horace Frederick admitted to B.R.B.S.
• July 24th, 1929 – Horace Frederick left B.R.B.S. ‘over age’
• Sept. 1st, 1924 – Albert Vivian admitted to Beckton Road Infants School
• Sept. 30th, 1927 – Albert Vivian left B.R.I.S. ‘to boys’
• Oct. 3rd, 1927 – Albert Vivian admitted to B.R.B.S.
• July 20th, 1932 – Albert Vivian left B.R.B.S ‘to Ashburton School’
• Sept. 6th, 1927 – Leonard James admitted to B.R.I.S.
• July 23rd, 1930 – Leonard left B.R.I.S. ‘to Boys Dept.’
• Aug. 25th, 1930 – Leonard admitted to B.R.B.S.
• July 26th, 1933 – Leonard James left B.R.B.S. ‘to Ashburton School’
• Jan. 29th, 1930 – Violet Ann admitted to B.R.I.S.
• July 26th, 1937 – Violet Ann left B.R.I.S. ‘to Girls Dept.’
• Aug. 24th, 1931 – Alma Evelyn admitted to Beckton Road Girls School
• July 21st, 1937 – Alma Evelyn left B.R.G.S. ‘exempt’
• Feb. 18th, 1932 – Reginald admitted to B.R.I.S.
• July 18th, 1935 – Reginald left B.R.I.S. ‘to Boys’
• April 27th, 1937 – Norman admitted to B.R.I.S.
• June 9th, 1937 – Norman ‘taken off’ (this was probably for a hop-picking trip)
• Sept. 21st, 1937 – Norman re-admitted to B.R.I.S.
• March 19th, 1940 – Norman admitted to B.R.B.A. ‘last school Beckton’
• All the children had nicknames:
• Bill – “Stiffy”
• Harry – “Black bastard” (how quaint!)
• Jimmy – “Dollops”
• Ernie – “Ginger” or “Turnips”
• Albert – “Cokie”
• Lennie – “Bugsy”
• Reg – “Ikie Mo”
• Alma – “Spurry-murry”
• Violet – “Wormy”
• Norman – “Niff Noff”

William Frederick married Kathleen SMITH on October 3rd, 1936 and Henry George married Gladys LEGGE in 1938. The Second World War started in 1939 and Canning Town suffered from heavy bombing due to its close proximity to the docks and factories. During the Blitz the family would seek the safety of their air raid shelter. On October 16th, 1940, their shelter received a direct hit and John and his daughter Violet were killed. The rest of the family, except those in the forces, were buried alive and had to be dug out by rescuers. The report of “Bomb Damage in West Ham 1939-40” shows that on October 16th, 1940, an H.E. (high explosive) bomb was dropped on South Merton (sic) Road off Ashburton Road at 22.09. The ARP Warden’s Report (warden 2P 10) shows that “an H.E. bomb was dropped at 22.09, there were no casualties, four houses were damaged and no services were sent.” A supplementary message at 23.15 stated there were 15 casualties. This was confirmed by Warden 2P 12 who stated that at 22.14 an H.E. bomb was dropped on Butchers Road between Ashburton and Watford Roads. He too stated there were “no casualties, four houses demolished and no service sent.” A supplementary message at 23.16 stated there were “15 casualties – trapped in shelter and services were sent.” Both Wardens were clearly reporting the same bomb damage as South Morton Road backed on to Butchers Road and both roads lay between Watford and Ashburton Roads. John and Violet Ann were buried in a communal grave at East London Cemetery. The London Borough of Newham Records Office hold a photograph of the house with the roof collapsed and another of the back garden with the shelter blown out of the ground. I got copies and showed my Dad who confirmed they were of his house.

I spent my “stuck” periods copying out all the HERRIDGE details from the International Genealogical Index by County and assembled them into little family trees. I also started collecting every mention I came across of my surname and all its variants. Shortly after I completed this my cousin Donna announced she was going to get married so the family organized a coach to take us all down to Canvey Island, Essex for the wedding. This was my chance. A captive audience! Wrong! Nobody on the coach could understand why I was interested in the family history. I was greeted with comments like, “What d’ya fink yer gonna find out then?”, “Whatcha doin’ that fer?”, “We never ‘ad no bleedin’ money,” “We never ‘ad nuffin’”, “We were related the DUNN family…the coat ‘n’ ‘at people.” I kept quiet and let my uncles “rabbit on.” I listened as they relived their memories but I had heard most of the stories before and did not learn anything new. When we arrived at the reception hall after the wedding I approached my aunts asking for full names of their children, their wives and husbands, and their children. As usual at a HERRIDGE get-together, a good time was had by all! The alcohol loosened their tongues and I managed to get back on the subject before they lapsed into a “HERRIDGE sing-song” of all the old East End tunes. On enquiring once again about their father I was greeted with, “You won’t find the ‘Old Man’s’ birth registration ‘cos ‘e was born in a caravan – ‘e was a Gypsy!,” “No ‘e wasn’t, ‘e was born in Scotland,” “No, ‘e was born in Millwall on the Isle of Dogs.” All were feasible but which, if any, was correct? It was back to the other ancestors’ families.

I decided to work on Mum’s family. Her great grandparents (BECKMANN and SCHWARZ) were German. Her father’s mother was of Gypsy and Irish descent (FRY and WHELAN) and her mother was of mixed Catholic Irish and possibly Welsh heritage (SHELDRAKE, MEAGHAN and LEWIS). I could see more problems stacking up in front of me. Her ancestors seemed to be on the lowest rung of the ladder in the social scale of London. Many colourful stories about these families have been handed down…but they are to be found in my mother’s family history.

I started by checking through the baptism and marriage registers of St. Lukes, Canning Town, Essex (now part of West Ham in the London Borough of Newham). Mum’s parents were married there so I thought I would find lots of her family. I started from the beginning of the baptism records and to my absolute delight found the baptism of my grandfather, John HERRIDGE! It was dated November 22nd, 1885 and his date of birth given as March 25th, 1881. On November 9th, 1885 was his sister Beatrice Sophia (born October 26th, 1884) and on November 13th, 1885 was yet another sister, Alice Louisa but no date of birth. Two brothers followed; William in 1886 and Alfred Alexander in 1887. The family were residing at 15 Hill Street, Plaistow and John’s occupation was given as ‘engine driver.’ I purchased William’s birth certificate to find his mother’s maiden name to be Louisa FOREMAN. I was on my way! I easily located John and Louisa’s marriage certificate to discover they were married on November 3rd, 1874, in St. Mary Magdellan Church, Peckham, Surrey and came under the Camberwell Registration District. So we were from Peckham? Both parties were 19 and living at 12 Oswell Terrace, Nunhead and John’s occupation was given as “labourer” and his father given as Thomas, also a labourer. The witnesses were Albert FOREMAN, Louise’s brother, and Harriet DUNN…remember the story from my cousin’s wedding that we were related to the DUNN’s, the coat and hat people? John had a sister Harriet so it was probably her. I never followed up on it. I purchased Alice Louisa’s birth certificate (December 23rd, 1875) and checked the address, 12 New James Street, on the 1881 Census but found no sign of them. John’s occupation was given as ‘navvy’ - short for navigator – usually ditch, canal or tunnel diggers.

John died on August 20th, 1904, of “malignant disease of the kidney, haemorrage and asthenia.” His widow was present at his death and they were living at 30 Herbert Street, Plaistow. His occupation was given as ‘engine driver – stationary’ and he was buried at East London Cemetery, grave number 20200 (a common grave).

I checked the I.G.I. for Surrey with no luck but then checked London and found a John that fitted. John HERRIDGE was baptized on January 1st, 1854 at St. James, Garlickhithe in the City of London. His parents were Thomas and Eliza. Checking through the I.G.I. I found baptisms of more of his brothers and sisters: Elizabeth Ann, December 15th, 1850 (born November 15th, 1850) 1850; William Thomas, March 21st, 1852 (born January 2nd, 1852); Harriett Sarah, April 24th, 1859, all at St. James, Garlickhithe. A baptism for another son, Thomas, May 3rd, 1857 (born April 1st, 1857) was found at St. Michael, Queenhithe, City of London. A photograph taken of the riverfront and wharves, c.1859, shows that the scene never changed greatly until the 1950s. This area was just to the west of Southwark Bridge, on the north bank of the Thames and just a little southeast of St. Paul’s Cathedral. I visited St. James Church and photographed it (as I do with all family churches) and signed the visitor’s book. I mentioned in the remarks column that I was descended from John and added his baptism date. Some weeks later I received a letter from the churchwarden who had seen my entry and he kindly sent me details of the other children’s baptisms. I wrote back and thanked him and also mentioned the baptism at St. Michael’s. In his reply he told me he had access to that church’s records and that the family were living at 16 Trinity Lane in 1857. Trinity Lane ran parallel with, and between, Cannon Street and Upper Thames Street.

I purchased John’s birth certificate and found the address to be 4 Kennet Wharf Lane, Lower Thames Street, a tiny lane running from Lower Thames Street down to Kennet Wharf on the banks of the Thames. As this was mid-way between Census years I purchased William’s birth certificate and found the families’ address to be 5 Worcester Place, Upper Thames Street. This too was a tiny lane running from Upper Thames Street down to Worcester Wharf and contained about eight houses and some warehouses. There was no trace of the family at that address in the 1851 Census but they were living in the same lane that John was born in but at number 13 Kennet Wharf Lane. William’s birth certificate gave me his mother’s maiden name, Eliza JOSEY.

The Census return was a major breakthrough. It told me that Thomas was 23, a ‘carman’; Eliza was 23 also and Elizabeth Ann was 4. Eliza’s brother, Thomas JOSEY, was also staying with them, a 22 year-old soldier. Most importantly it told me the three adults were all born in Purley, Berkshire. They shared the house with James and Elizabeth CARTER, Elizabeth’s children (George and Catherine READ) and three lodgers – George DAVIS, George NEWMAN and Robert CORNWELL. It would seem a little overcrowded!

The 1861 Census found the family living at 1 Black Swan Alley (don’t these addresses sound romantic – like something out of Oliver Twist!). I could not find Black Swan Alley on any of the old maps I had so I wrote to the Greater London Record Office to ask them. Black Swan Alley had been the old name for Kennet Wharf Lane. Thomas the father and Thomas the son were missing from the Census. Had they died? A quick check at St. Catherine’s House showed a Thomas death had been registered in the March quarter of 1858. As Eliza was given as married and head of the family in the Census I had to purchase the death certificate to see if she was a widow or not. At least that was my intention on my next trip to London.

In the meantime I joined the Berkshire Family History Society and attended their Open Day at Reading Library. There I met Jean DEBNEY who was in charge of the Society’s library and bookstall. I got talking to her and soon discovered she lived in Purley and had a wealth of knowledge on the village and its history. She kindly let me photocopy all of her notes and they added greatly to my knowledge of the HERRIDGE family in the area. Amongst her notes was the burial of Thomas in Purley on August 25th, 1861. I purchased his death certificate and discovered he had died of “Diseased lung. Two months certified.” His occupation was given as ‘farm labourer’ and his age as 34. This then made Eliza a widow and the Thomas that died in 1858 was probably her son. He had certainly been living in a very unhealthy atmosphere in London. Living only a matter of yards from the rat infested wharves on the Thames, it must have been damp, foggy and extremely smelly! Cholera was rife in London at this time and 35 public wells were still in use in the City of London in 1866. The ‘Great Stink’ of 1858 was a “combination of an unusually hot, dry summer and the newly installed sewers which belched into the Thames. The stench was so bad that the river excursions had to be stopped and…nobody went near the river unless they had to. The same problem occurred occasionally until the late 1860s when BAZALGETTE’s drainage system came into operation.” (‘The London Encyclopedia’ – Weinreb & Hibbert, 1983).

So where was Thomas in April when the Census was taken? He was not in London or Purley. Had he left Eliza? Had he had enough of London? Was he working away from home? I know his son John married in Nunhead, Camberwell but as yet have not located Eliza’s death or re-marriage or his other children’s marriages. Not knowing whether the family stayed in London or returned to Berkshire after Thomas’ death, I have left that line of enquiry open at the moment.

The fact that Thomas and Eliza had both been born in Berkshire and the River Kennet ran through the County and they lived in Kennet Wharf Lane seemed a coincidence. As Thomas’ occupation was given as ‘wharf carman’ at the baptism of his daughter Harriett in 1859, I thought it possible he could have worked at Kennet Wharf or Worcester Wharf. A letter to the Bishopsgate Institute in London was rewarded with a reply and photocopies from the 1852, 1854, 1861 and 1863 Directories covering Kennet Wharf. They showed William D. & Frederick G. WHITE, Wharfingers, running barges from Kennet Wharf to Basingstoke, Andover, Odiham and Alton via the Basingstoke Canal. Running close to the Hampshire/Berkshire border, this would have been an easy way to visit home in Purley from London.

Working backwards from Elizabeth Ann’s baptism I located her parents’ marriage certificate at St. Catherine’s House. They were married on February 3rd, 1850 at St. John’s, Praed Street, Paddington. Both parties gave their address as Praed Street and both were of full age. Thomas’ occupation was given as ‘labourer’ and he signed with an ‘X’. The witnesses were J. HERRIDGE and E. JOSEY and Thomas’ father was given as William, a ‘labourer’.

Joining the Berkshire Family History Society certainly paid dividends. As soon as I joined I made contact with Diana WETHERELL (formerly JOSEY) and Michael YOUNG. Diana was doing a study on her maiden name and Michael had collected much information on his mother’s maiden name – HERRIDGE – and traced his family through Hampshire back to Berkshire. At this point I must add there were many others that furnished me information, too many to name. I would like to take this opportunity to thank all of them for their help.

Having traced my family out of London I was now back in Purley, Berkshire. Having listed all the HERRIDGEs on the I.G.I. some months earlier, two names stuck out – William and Leah of Purley. For some reason they just struck me as nice names. Little did I know that of all the hundreds of names I copied out I would be descended from these two people. Re-checking the I.G.I. details gave me the baptisms of the children of William and Leah in Purley: Sarah, June 15th, 1806; Hannah, October 8th, 1809; Elizabeth, November 3rd, 1811; Richard, August 14th, 1814; Edward, September 29th, 1816; William, December 26th, 1818; Anne, October 28th, 1821; James, July 17th, 1824; Thomas, January 28th, 1827 and in Jean’s notes I found John, May 16th, 1830, who was not on the I.G.I. There was no marriage on the I.G.I. for William and Leah. I started listing all the variants and found their marriage listed under HARRIDGE. William married Leah SIMPSON in Purley by licence and both signed with an ‘X’. The witnesses were William CURTIS and Benjamin HUMPHRIES.

Jean’s notes proved invaluable at this point. William had 26 mentions as a Juror and Inhabitant on Court Leets in Purley and Tidmarsh from 1808 to 1847. I could see from these entries that I was going to encounter difficulties with name variations. Those I came across as well as HERRIDGE were HARIGE, HERIDGE, HERAGE, HIRIDGE, HERIGE, ERRIDGE, HERGES, HIRGES, HEREGE, HERDAG, and HEREDG. As I traced the family further back I encountered even more surprises in spelling variations.

From the Census returns of 1841, 1851 and 1861 I discovered that William was an ‘agricultural labourer’ or ‘farm labourer’ and that the family lived on the Oxford Road and Purley Village. As with all ‘ag. labs.’, work could be short at times causing hardships within the family. The Purley Church Warden Accounts show they paid out “5/- for midwifery” when William’s son Thomas was born in 1827. The Minutes of the Board of Guardians of Bradfield Union (G/B 1/3) state that on August 21st, 1827, “the R.O. reports that William HERRIDGE (54) wd. not accept relief on loan.” From November 27th to December 12th, 1827, William was credited 1/-per week towards relief on the loan. It was noted that William belonged to a Medical Club (August 7th, 1837) and that he applied for relief on a loan of four shillings and five-pence halfpenny on August 14th, 1837 as he was “ill from a fall.” The Accounts state he had “a wife (52) and three children aged 12, 11 and 7. Wife is reaping, James earns 3/- and Thomas 2/6d pr week.” On January 1st, 1838, he “pd. five-pence halfpenny, balance of loan.”

Two other sons of William were buried in Purley. They were Edward on November 28th, 1826, and William on April 1st, 1848, neither of whom had married. Apart from Thomas, the only other one of William’s children I have found that married was Richard who married Mary GREEN on August 24th, 1839 in Purley. Mary was also born in Purley, the daughter of William (a shepherd) and Elizabeth. In April, 1828, she was “out to service” and from 1854-71 she was the school mistress of Purley Free School. The couple lived in School Cottage, Purley (Village) Street which was formerly known as the ‘Martins’ and is still standing today (1991). Previous to becoming a schoolmistress, Mary had given Richard five children.

From the Census returns I found William to have been born in Hampstead Norris and Leah born in Whitchurch, Oxfordshire. As yet, I have found no further details of her. There does not appear to be a baptism for her in Whitchurch.

On January 12th. 1867, William died and was buried on the 17th. The ‘Reading Mercury and Oxford Gazette’ of Saturday, January 19th, 1867, mentions an Inquest before William WEEDON, Esq., Deputy Coroner: “On Monday last at the house of Mr. William POCOCK, Purley, on the body of William HERRIDGE, 83 years, pauper, who fell from his chair on the proceeding Saturday and was taken up dead. It appeared that deceased was frequently ceased with giddiness in his head and had had several falls in consequence. The Jury returned a verdict of ‘Death from Natural Causes.”

Purley was recorded in the Doomsday Book as Porlai/ei and means ‘a clearing in the woods for snipe and bittern.’ A school was built in Purley in 1872 and financed by the Rector, the Reverend Richard PALMER, for 45 children of the ‘labouring, manufacturing and other poorer classes of Purley.’ Richard and Mary’s daughter, Ann HUGHES, was recorded on the 1871 Census as a ‘schoolteacher.’ I wonder if her or her mother ever taught in the new school?

The Census returns gave William’s date of birth as circa. 1784. A quick search of the I.G.I. gave William’s baptism as May 28th, 1786, Hampstead Norris, the son of Richard and Sarah.

Richard had married Sarah WELLS on October 18th, 1772 in Hampstead Norris by Banns. Both parties were said to be “of this Parish” and both signed with an ‘X’. Sarah was the daughter of Thomas and Elizabeth (formerly MILTON) and baptized on December 29th, 1747, in Hampstead Norris. I could find no baptism for Richard so I was “stuck” again. Several visits to the Berkshire Records Office did not help.

The I.G.I. gave five children for Richard and Sarah: Elizabeth, December 13th, 1776; Sarah, April 25th, 1779; William, July 10th, 1785; another William, May 28th, 1786 and Thomas, December 16th, 1787, all in Hampstead Norris. The first son named William was buried on April 2nd, 1786. Richard’s daughter, Sarah, married James WOODWARD on October 20th, 1806, in Hampstead Norris.

In 1782 Richard received a ‘Whitsuntide Gift Coat’ (as HERRAGE) from the Church Wardens and again in 1809 (as HERRIAGE) (C/W Accounts D/P62/5/1+2). I wrote to Shire Hall enquiring about these ‘Gift Coats’ and was told at the back of the Parish register was a list of those in receipt of ‘EMERY’s Charity.’ “This consisted of five white fustian great coats costing 25 shillings each, made by a tailor in Leckhampstead and given on Whitsunday as a rule to shepherds and men who spent a large part of their time out of doors or to labourers with large families. The charity was started by EMERY’s Will dated 1690 and endowed by the rents from ten and a half acres of land in the common fields of Crowmarsh Gifford, Oxfordshire, and administered by the churchwarden or overseers of Hampstead Norris.”

Richard’s wife, Sarah, was buried on July 17th, 1796, in Hampstead Norris and seven years later Richard re-married to Ann CHEYNEY, a spinster, by Banns, in Hampstead Norris. Both parties were “of this parish” and signed with an ‘X’. As Ann was not a direct ancestor I have not followed up on her line.

Still “stuck”, with no sign of Richard’s baptism, I thought I had at last come to the end of my research on the HERRIDGE line. I thought I had done quite well to have got back that far and would concentrate on other family lines again.

The breakthrough…the end of the headache…or was it the beginning?

I then received a letter from Berkshire F.H.S. member, Michael YOUNG, who had discovered a major spelling variation for his HERRIDGE ancestors. He too had got “stuck” in the mid-1700s on his line. He could find no baptism for his ancestor, John HERRIDGE, who had married Mary POOR, in 1755, in Hampstead Norris. Tipped off, I believe by Jean DEBNEY, he extended his search area and was surprised to find a variant spelling. In the baptism register of Hurst he found a family whose surname alternated between HERRIDGE and HEADAGE between 1762 and 1782. In Bucklebury he found a baptism in 1725 of a Betty, the daughter of Thomas and Anne HEADACH/HERRIDGE, the surnames bracketed together. He found the baptism of John he had been searching for in 1726, the son of Jos (baptized HEADACH) and Mary HERAGE of Hampstead Norris. He went on to say, “The spelling changed gradually from HEADACH/HEADAGE to HERRIDGE over a period of about thirty years in the first half of the 18th century. It may possibly be derived from Hawkridge near Bucklebury where a number of HEADACH’s lived…I have also found two Wills from Bucklebury; one is that of Joseph HERRIDGE, 1729, and the other of his wife, Elizabeth HEADACH, 1730.”

Following Michael’s theory, I began checking the HEADACH(E), HEADAGE, HEADIGE, etc entries on the I.G.I. for Berkshire and it looked as though there was some substance to it. From the HERRIDGE entries I had copied out and formed into family trees, it was obvious there was something amiss as there were very few entries before 1700 and the HEADACH entries were drying up between 1700 and 1750. The exact same thing was happening in other Counties where the surname was prevalent; Oxfordshire, Dorset, Hampshire, Hertfordshire and London. The HEADACH spelling seems to have lasted longer in London probably because they moved up from the country and being removed from the ‘nest’, did not follow local trends or were not affected by the spelling whims of the country clergy or their clerks. This is given even more credence by those who emigrated or were transported to America or Australia. The largest concentration in any single village was in Gillingham, Dorset, where the spelling varied from HEDDITCH to HERRIDGE with HEDDIGE, HEDDAGE, HEDDEGE, etc. to a lesser degree. There were over 200 baptisms, 100 marriages and 120 burials between 1595 and 1899 from this family!

Hampstead Norris was recorded in the Doomsday Book as Hanstede and has a partly Norman church. Iron Age coins have been found in the village so its history goes back some distance. In the 13th century it was known as Hamsted Sifrewast and by 1667 had become known as Hamstead Ferrers. In 1450 the village had become part of the estate of Sir John NORREYS of Yattendon and therefore became known as Hampstead Norris or Norreys.

Through the I.G.I., parish records and his mother’s Will, I was able to piece together the life story of Richard. He was baptized in Yattendon, as HEADACK, on July 25th, 1720, the sixth child of John and Elizabeth. His mother’s Will (the widow Elizabeth), of January 14th, 1745, left him and his sister Mary BRYANT “all goods and chattels and 1/- each to her sons Thomas and James and daughter Elizabeth MAINE.” As there was no Executor to the Will, letters of Administration were granted and “all goods and chattels to Richard, her son” on May 24th, 1745. Richard HEADACH married Frances LEWINGTON, the daughter of John and Mary, by licence at Speen, May 24th, 1725, in Ashampstead.

Ashampstead church was recorded as early as 1086 but the present church of St. Clement dates from the 12th century. The village was known as Esshamstede during the 13th and 14th centuries.

Richard and Frances returned to Ashampstead where their first daughter, Elizabeth HEADACHE, was baptized on August 30th, 1747. Their other children’s baptisms were: Richard HEDEACH, January 15th, James HEDEACH, September 23rd, 1750; William HEADACK, April 18th, 1754; Fanny HEADACK, November 9th, 1757; John HEADACH, May 4th, 1760 and Moses HEADACH, January 15th, 1764, all in Yattendon.

Richard’s son James HEADACH married Ann PISSEY on October 21st, 1770 Yattendon; son William possibly married Rachel HARDING in Pangbourne on December 22nd, 1772; daughter Elizabeth HEADACH married Benjamin YOUNG in Yattendon on January 10th, 1780 and son John HERRIDGE possibly married Dinah DAVIS in Burghfield on November 26th, 1786. His son Moses HEADACH was buried in Yattendon on July 10th, 1788. Richard HEADACH (their father) was buried in Yattendon on March 7th, 1790.

Using the I.G.I., parish records and Elizabeth’s HEADACH’s Will of 1745, it was fairly straightforward working back another generation. Richard’s parents, John HERRIDGE and Elizabeth STEVENS, were married by licence at Speen on April 8th, 1705. John was given as being from Stanford Dingley and Elizabeth from Bradfield. Elizabeth was baptized in Bradfield on January 14th, 1683, the daughter of William and Elizabeth. John and Elizabeth’s first child was baptized John HEDDITCH on January 6th, 1706, in Stanford Dingley. John’s occupation was given as “tanner”. This would prove to be a useful piece of information when trying to trace back further. Another child, Elizabeth HEADEACH, was baptized in Stanford Dingley on September 7th, 1708, before the family moved to Yattendon. Further children included: William HEDDAGE, September 6th, 1711; Thomas HEADACH, April 25th, 1714; Mary HEADACH, July 2nd, 1717; Richard HEADACK, July 25th, 1720 and James HEADACK, June 15th, 1724, were all baptized in Yattendon. I could find no marriage of Elizabeth marrying a MAINE (as indicated in her mother’s Will) in Berkshire so broadened my search area and located the marriage in London. Elizabeth HEDDIGE married George MAINE at St. Benet, Paul’s Wharf, in the City of London on May 30th, 1733. Daughter Mary HEADACH married Joseph BRYANT, in Speen on October 29th, 1743.

Yattendon and Stanford Dingley are both beautiful villages. Yattendon was recorded in the Doomsday Book Etingedene and Bronze Age implements have been found there. The village was once a market town. The main street has a fine group of old buildings – the Manor, the Grange, the church of St. Peter and St. Paul (built in about 1450 on an earlier foundation), the Rectory, and the Malt House. The church in Stanford Dingley is named after St. Denys and legend has it that he was beheaded in Paris in the 13th century. After being beheaded, he is said to have picked up the severed head and walked off with it. A church was built to his memory where he stopped and put it down. He was also buried on the site. A Saxon church stood in Stanford Dingley before the Norman Conquest. At the time of the Doomsday Book the village was known as Stanworde. There is also a wonderful 15th century inn – the “Bull.”

I now had to decide which baptism was the one for John. There were three to choose from: April 1st, 1675, son of John and Mary, at Hampstead Norris; December 1st, 1678, son of Joseph and Joan or January 8th, 1687, son of John and Ann, both at Bucklebury. The second was eliminated immediately as he was buried on September 15th, 1675. Working on the assumption that John was the son of John and Ann, I consulted the Will of John HEADACH of Marlestone, Bucklebury, dated June 13th, 1702. In it he mentions his brothers Richard and William, sisters Mary SADGROVE and Sarah DEAN and “my well beloved son John.” He goes on to say that his “brother William HEADACH, Anthony WEBBE…and Giles CARTER of Stanford Dingley in ye said county, tanner” shall look after his “moneys, goods and chattels until my said sonn shall attain ye age of four and twenty years.” At the time of the Will, John the “sonn,” would have been fifteen years old and probably apprenticed to Giles CARTER mentioned in the Will as at the baptism of his first child his occupation was given as “tanner from Stanford Dingley.” William, John’s brother mentioned in his Will, also left a Will dated January 5th, 1712. He was a “husbandman of Hawkridge” and mentioned his nephew John HEADEACH. In his “History of Bucklebury,” A. L. HUMPHREYS stated that “a branch of the IREMONGER family carried on an extensive tannery business at Stanford Dingley.” Unfortunately, he does not give dates.

Convinced my John was the son of John and Ann, I enlisted the help of fellow society member Barbara YOUNG to find out all she could from the Bucklebury parish registers and any other relevant documents. By this time I had purchased all the Berkshire HEADACH/HERRIDGE Wills, which were proving very useful in determining family relationships and for constructing family trees.

Armed with Barbara’s information and the wonderful “History of Bucklebury,” there was no stopping me now! Then I suddenly stopped and thought. My ancestors were from Bucklebury? That name rang a bell. Having read “Lord of the Rings” some years earlier, I remembered Bucklebury was the name of Frodo and Bilbo Baggins’ village in Middle Earth! Were my ancestors Hobbits? Nothing would surprise me!

John HEADACH married Ann SMITH in Hampstead Norris on November 5th, 1670. He had been baptized as HEADACH in Bucklebury on March 23rd, 1644/5, the fourth child of Richard and Rachel. He was mentioned in the Court Baron of October 18th, 1681 – “they present that John HEADACHE has carried soil out of the pond on the Lord’s waste and laid it on Mr. LYFORD’s land.” His brother Richard HEADACHE was ‘constable’ of Bucklebury. On October 18th, 1686, Richard HEADACH had “overstinted the common; if he offend again he shall forfeit 12d to the Lord for every beast every time.” Richard gets three other mentions in the Court Rolls: on September 3rd, 1690 – “officer and tithingman of East End,” the same entry on September 3rd, 1690 and on October 10th, 1692 he was mentioned as “officer – constable” of Bucklebury. So, John’s brother was a fairly important person in the village.

From this point in the family’s history I refer mostly to A. L. HUMPHREY’s book and Court Rolls. Richard HEADACHE, Jr. and Rachel DEANE were married in Bucklebury on November 12th, 1632. Richard HEADACHE had been baptized on August 21st, 1603 in Bucklebury, the son of Richard and Agnes. As yet I have found no marriage for his parents. Richard and Agnes’ children’s baptisms were all in Bucklebury: William, March 7th, 1633/4; Richard, March 13th, 1635/6; Mary, June 13th, 1641; John, March 23rd, 1644/5 and Sarah, who was born on January 10th, 1654. Richard was included in the Homage several times between 1646 and 1662 for Tidmarsh, Hawkridge and Bucklebury. On October 6th, 1654 he was “chosen and sworn as Tithingman” for Hawkridge and in 1662 was mentioned in the ‘Rental of Manors.’ A Will dated October 10th, 1659 (not located as yet) was mentioned in the Admon. of Richard HEDEDG/HEDDAGE, Gent. of Tidmarsh, dated February 14th, 1665. ‘Richard the younger’ is mentioned in this document.

This brings us to the beginning of the Family Tree. Richard, Sr. was born about 1550/60 in Bucklebury, the son of Thomas and Elizabeth (formerly LOWE?). Richard and Agnes had at least four children baptised in Bucklebury: Elizabeth, September 15th, 1587; Thomas, September 10th, 1590; Agnes, August 10th, 1595 and Richard, August 21st, 1603. There were possibly two others, John and William, but no baptism dates were found. On November 26th, 1617, Richard’s daughter Elizabeth married John SMITH, who was stated as being “of Hawkridge” in 1619. His son(?) John married Elizabeth AWBRY on February 25th, 1622/3. Both these marriages were in Bucklebury as were all events from here on. Richard’s wife, Elizabeth, was buried on March 3rd, 1626/7. On May 31st, 1630, his son(?) William married Joan HALL. Richard was mentioned in the Church Terriers as a witness – “the marke of Richard HEADACHE an olde man” – on September 2nd, 1634 and buried a few months later on February 7th, 1635.

Richard’s father, Thomas, was mentioned in the Court Rolls on June 20th, 1564 as ‘a free tenant,’ was a witness to a Will on May 2nd, 1565 and in the Court Baron – Essoin – (HEDATCH) on June 6th, 1583. Baptisms of other possible children of Thomas and Elizabeth were: John, November 22nd, 1549; Thomas, December 25th, 1549 (buried September 25th, 1578) and Katherine, December 27th, 1551 and buried July 20th, 1552.

Thomas was probably the son of Richard, buried September 2nd, 1556, and Jane/Joan, buried August 9th, 1558. Other probable children of Richard and Jane were Margaret who married John HUMFRYE on November 20th, 1541; Jone who married Edward FISHER on June 14th, 1548 and Richard, baptized July 10th, 1539. Thomas’ father, Richard, had a mention in the Lay Subsidy Roll of 1524/5: “Assessment of the Hundreds of Redyng and Theles, Co. Berks., to the second payment of the subsidy granted 16 Henry VII Bukelbury: Richard HEDDYCHE, wages – valour 20s subsidy 4d.”

In the notes on families in the “History of Bucklebury,” A. L. HUMPHREYS says of HEADACHE:

“This is the name of one of the most ancient Bucklebury families. As early as 1337, John HEADACHE (ate HATCHE) is mentioned in the Court Rolls by the ale-tasters. Nearly a hundred years later we find Thomas HYDHACCHE in the Roll of 1407, and it occurs in most of the later records, in the register books it is found as early as 1551, in which year John HEADACHE was baptized. The name is not confined to Bucklebury, but appears in Bradfield and in Sulham, where in 1552, Rychard HEDACHE was churchwarden. It seems that Bucklebury was peculiarly their home. HATCH is an early form of gate, and they took their name from the position of their home. Mr. WOODMAN, who has given much time to investigating the history of this family, has a note of a John HYDACHE and Joan, his wife, of Hawkerygge, defending a plea of trespass in 1430. He sends me in tabulated form as much as he can discover of the Bucklebury HEADACHE family.”

An “ale-conner” was someone that tested the beer. This testing was accomplished by pouring some beer onto a wooden bench and then sitting in it, wearing moleskin breeches. If the breeches did not stick, it was regarded as a weak brew. Fellow researcher Vernon HERRIDGE confirmed this as he told me that his mother-in-law’s mother used to work in a pub in Somerset. In her youth she remembered that men used to test beer by pouring some onto a bench and then sit in it wearing leather breeches. If the bench stuck to the breeches it was good beer but if not, they reckoned it had been watered down!

It is interesting to note the spelling variations of HEADACH and Bucklebury as we work our way back through the Court Rolls. On a roll of Views of Frankpledge held at “Julianlond” for “Thacham and other places on Wednesday the 4th day of…9 Henry IV (1407-8) for Burghulbury – Also that Stephen HYDE, who was in the service of Robert HERTRYIG, has moved himself out of the lordship; therefore the said Robert is charged, as several times before, to drive him and have him here at the next court, under a pain of 10s.” In the same roll was “John THOMAS called HYDHACHE took from the lord a messuage and a quarter virgate of land called Halydays, which Richard THOMAS, his father, now holds, paying 12d a year rent, and for the customary works and services 5s; and he shall find a man to do one boonwork (as above). Fine 6s 8d and two capons. Surety for the fine: John YDACHE, the elder. And he shall do suit to the court held at Julianlond; and a heriot shall be payment on his death, if he survives his father. And he shall store all the grain grown on the said messuage on the said land.” In the same year we find “John QUERENDON of the younger took 16 acres of arable land, four of which lie in Querendonsfeld of Rammeslond, two acres of the said Rammeslond in Sandfield, four acres in Sandfield of the demesne land, and six acres of demesne land in Stanfordefeld, which Richard HYDACHE now holds; to hold for term of his life immediately after the death of the said Richard, at a rent of 4s. Fine: 2 capons.”

A Grant dated at Burghildebury, April 20th, 1400 1 Henry IV, by “Walter QUORUNDON of that place, to William GODDARD and Alice his wife, daughter of Walter, of a field in Burghyldebury called Stanputcroft, and land near the rentor’s tenement called Quorunden’s, 2 acres of meadow with all the water belonging to the same” found Richard HYDEHACCHER among the witnesses.

One of the most interesting finds was in the Coroner’s Roll of 1379 concerning the Inquisition on the body of Roger HAKFELD. “Inquisition taken at Burghildebury before John GOODRYCH, the King’s coroner of the Liberty, on Thursday after St. Lucy (December 15th), 3 Richard II. Of the view of the body of Roger HAKFELD found dead in his house called Hyde in that place by the oath of John HOBBES, John STRODE, Thomas GYDEALE, Stephen WEBBE, Simon POYS, Stephen DOM, Thomas LACCHERE, Richard HOLPOUK, William ALBRAY, John SMART, John atte FELD and William DOM, who say that on Friday after the Conception of the Blessed Mary last, strange men came and slew him on the above said day in the said house with a bill, striking him a mortal blow on the head with the said bill, which is worth 4d. The first to find him was Roger SKOTLAND of Burgh, who was mainperned by the tithing. On the Saturday after St. Valentine following John HAKFELD of Burghidebury, brother of the dead man, came to Reading before the said coroner, and appealed Robert HYDACH of his brother’s death. Pledges for the prosecution of the appeal: Thomas atte WELLE and John HALMAN of Burghildebury.”

In the View of Frankpledge, held at Julianelond, on the Monday after the Nativity of St. John…30 Edward III 1356 – Burghildebur – in both Tithings, members of the family were presented for breaches of the assize of ale. John HIDHACCHE was presented before Richard TRUSSEHARE, the ale-conner and William atte HACHE before John HAMMOND. John HAMMOND also gave 3d to be discharged from the office of tithingman. In the 12th century the village was known as Burhildebur and earlier still in the 11th century as Borchedeberie. The village was named after the Anglo-Saxon princess Burghild and was built close to the River Pang. This frequently flooded and most villagers built their houses on higher ground.

The beautiful church of St. Mary the Virgin was recorded in the Doomsday Survey. The entry in “The Doomsday Book – England’s Heritage, Then and Now” by Thomas HINDE states:

“Bucklebury – BOCHE/BORGE/BORCHE(L)DEBERIE: King’s land; Count of Evreux; Walter FITZOTHERE; Hugolin and Steersman. Mill, church. Church with Norman carvings.”

In the “History of St. Mary the Virgin, Bucklebury and Marlston Chapel” by Keith POOLE, Hon. F. H. S., he states:

“The church has stood on the same site ever since the 11th century, and the manor was held by Edward the Confessor until his death in 1066. After the Norman Conquest the Royal manor was held by the King, as part of the property of the Crown. In the ancient manuscript known as the Testa de Nevill there is a brief entry recording the gift by Henry I of his estate here, which included the advowson of the church, to the Abbot and Convent of Reading.

“The church appears to have been given to the Priory of Wallingford, a cell of St. Albans. Prior Nicholas, with the consent of his superior, gave it to the Abbey of Reading between 1151 and 1154. An annual rent of two marks was preserved to the church of Wallingford, this payment ceasing in 1291. Abbot Hugh of reading gave the church to the Hospital of St. John, which he founded about 1190 outside the Counter gate of the abbey.

“Some time between the years 1173 and 1180 the Abbot Joseph presented the Rectory, as it was then called, to Bartholomew, its first recorded Chaplain. Bartholomew was educated at the famous abbey, which was renowned as a seat of learning. The dedication of the church to St. Mary the Virgin was the same invocation as the great abbey itself.

“Abbot Hugh, who succeeded Abbot Joseph, almost at once began a fierce dispute with Bartholomew, causing him to surrender his benefice for a pension to him and his monks of thirty shillings a year, a considerable sum of money in those days. The Papal officials, however, intervened and the church was once more restored to Bartholomew. In 1191 Pope Clement the Third issued a Bull confirming this appointment and final arrangements.

“The vicarage, which was not instituted until about 1220, had the chapelry on Marlston annexed to it in the year 1270, this joint living remaining right down to the present day.

“Between 1536 and 1540 Henry VIII procured the dissolution of all the monasteries of England. Abbot Hugh, of Reading, would not surrender his abbey to the King, and after imprisonment in the Tower of London, he was executed outside his own Abbey on November 15th, 1539. The King thereafter sold the Manor of Bucklebury together with the advowson and the Vicarage to John WINCHCOMBE, the son of the celebrated Jack of Newbury, for the sum of two thousand, six hundred and nineteen pounds, thirteen shillings and fourpence. The advowson attached to the King’s service as a confidential messenger of Miles COVERDALE, one of the great translators of the Bible, who commended WINCHCOMBE for “his true heart towards the King.”

“John WINCHCOMBE at once pulled down the country residence of the abbots of Reading, who owned most of the land in the Kennet valley, and built a splendid manor house on the site in 1550. In the year 1830 the greater part of this was demolished by fire, the only parts left being the huge fireplace, brewhouse, fishponds and the stables dated 1626.

“The WINCHCOMBE family were short lived, less than two hundred years, and the lordship of the manor under their name lasted only from 1540 until 1703, when the second Sir Henry WINCHCOMBE died.

It was just after this date (1705) that John HERRIDGE married and my branch of the HEADACH/HERRIDGEs moved out of the village. Jack of Newbury was a famous clothier and Newbury had been a wool center. Fulling mills, used to wash the wool, had been built in Bucklebury in the 14th century. Queen Elizabeth I was thought to have been entertained at the manor house in Bucklebury. Bucklebury church was extensively restored in the 19th century but still retains its Norman doorway and holy-water stoup. It also contains a 14th century bell cast by Peter de WESTON of London.

If A. L. HUMPHREYS was correct in thinking the HEADACHE surname originated from “atte HATCHE” and the family took their name from the position of their home – at the gate – then there were several references to the name HATCH in the Court Rolls, maps, etc. In 1583 “Richard UNDERWOODE has not scoured out the ditch in a close called Hatch Croft.” In 1604 “The Hatch Gate is in decay by default of Master PARKINS.” A reference in 1671 tells of “Stephen REMNANT to amend the Common nuisance from the watercourse in Hatch Lane.” In 1714 “The Surveyor of Highways of East End to put a footbridge in Hatch Lane.” Robert BEDDING, the diarist, lived in a small cottage called Avenue Cottage, between the Blade Bone Inn and Hatch gate in 1796. This was situated in the part of the village called Chapel Row. The Blade Bone Inn was named after the bladebone of a mammoth that was found in the Kennet valley in the 17th century. It is encased in a copper case. Two other references were in 1810: Stephen CLARGO to put Hatch Lane Gate in repair” and Hatch Lane Ground was mentioned on the 1840 Tithe map. So, was this finally the family seat? Or did the name originate even earlier? Was Michael YOUNG’s theory about Hawkridge correct? The earliest reference was in A.D. 956 in a Grant by King Eadwig where it was referred to as Heafochrycg and later Haukerugge. Then again, with all the spelling variations I have encountered, King EADWIG could be another variant of HEADACHE! Now that would be a nice start to a Family Tree! “King Kevin” has a certain ring to it! A little to the west of Marlston House is the site of Grimsbury Castle (Camp) attached to which are the sites of two “Gateways”. Perhaps this was where the family originally lived. Near Gillingham, Dorset, another HEDDITCH/HERRIDGE stronghold, there was an ancient fort. Perhaps they too gained their name from living near the entrance to it. Who knows?

The surname has lived on though. In 1608 there was ‘HEADACHES Meade’ in Tidmarsh. In the Tithe Award of 1841 there were references to “HERRIDGES Moor – meadow 6a 0r 17p,” “HERRIDGES pightle – arable 4a 2r 8p” and “HERRIDGES Wood – 15a 1r 6p” in Pangbourne. Just south west of Purley Hall there is still a HERRIDGE Copse (I have yet to walk through it), which is probably the same place. I received a letter from a lady in Australia a few years ago who was interested in another shared family name and as a “p.s.” she added that there was a Rob HERRIDGE living near her that owned a farm in Northam, Western Australia and on it was a large lake called HERRIDGE Lake where she used to take her cub pack. I wrote to him but received no reply. It’s good to see the HERRIDGEs have made their mark on maps in both hemispheres.

Now, in 2002, many HERRIDGE references can be found on the Internet. Just use the ‘Google’ search engine and type in Kevin HERRIDGE and before you can blink, you will know almost as much about me as I do…well, almost. Through all the time and effort spent in research, my family history really has been a HEADACHE from start to finish!

For more information on the Herridge/Headache name, check out http://www.herridge.name