May 2004

THE SEARCH FOR FAMILY: GENEALOGY IN LINCOLNSHIRE

High House Farm This is our B&B owned and operated by Carol and Paul. It is four hours north of London, but just a few minutes from Tumby Woodside a very small hamlet where my great grandparents John and Mary Ann [VAMPLEW] Porteous stayed as they were about to sail to America in April of 1870.

The B&B is a mid-1700 farm house restored. Our room was very spacious. It had a small bathroom tucked in the corner. We had tea service in the room. In the morning Bob and I were served a full English breakfast... eggs, sausage, ham, hashbrowns, mushrooms, tomatoes, juice, coffee and bread. It was great.

The steel pole in the picture is one of the guide lights for Royal Air Force jets landing at RAF Coningsby and Battle of Britian Museum.

First 50 Years of the 20th Century For many years, one of Paul's hobbies was collecting war items. Then he decided to share all his stuff. He has five quansit huts filled with displays of cultural items, music playing, war memorabilia, sound effects of war, lighting effects, bunkers, cottage rooms bombed from the war, bomb shelters, manicans dressed in period clothes. It is very well done and a must to see if ever in Moorside near Coningsby.

At the end of the huts, Paul has even dug out trenches, fox holes that gave you the feeling of what it was like during the war.

Cost is a donation. It is his private collection which he shares with his guests and visitors.

At the end of May, he and a group of military buff's were headed to celebrate D-Day in France.

Tumby Woodside is not much more than you can see in the picture. This was my first sighting of the village where my great-great grandparents James and Anne [ROUSE] Vamplew lived. We wouldn't find the place they actually lived until a couple days later.

My Vamplew researcher Mike lives just beyond the sign. I got to know him through the internet while researching the Porteous and Vamplew lineage.

Fenland We are outside Tumby Woodside limits heading north towards Mareham le Fen.

This was such an interesting sight, I just had to take the picture. In the foreground are very old hedges, probably over a hundred years. In the background is one of the many yellow fields which were just beautiful in contrast to the green fields and hedges.

These fields are of Oilseed Rape which is used in making of canola oil.

The Fenlands The area of Lincolnshire where my PORTEOUS and VAN PLEW families lived was known as the Fens. Long around the middle 1600s this part of England was swamp. The king hired people from the lowlands of the Netherlands and Belgium who were skilled in draining these fields and reclaiming the land for farming. This drain/canal is one of hundreds which disect the fenland fields to keep the encroaching seawater out. This particular one is called the Tumby Allotment drain which is one of the later reclamation drains.

Some of the larger drains are canals on which the farmers would use to ship their goods to market in some of the larger cities like Boston, Lincs.

The Fenlands The marker in the water below the dam on the Allotment drain measures the height of the water above the dam. In other words, it measures backwards. In contrast, there is a marker above the dam, which measures...that's right, the depth of the water below the dam.

I found this quit interesting as well as odd. No one was able to tell me any different.

St. Helen's - Mareham le Fen is where we visited our first churchyard in search of headstones of my ancestors.The oldest part of the church dates back to 1270. It is constucted from sandstone. The Doomsday survey of 1085 mentions a Saxon church and evidence shows this church is on the same sight.

Bob and I searched the graveyard for headstones for family names. None were to be found...but we do know this is where g-g-g-grandparents Joseph and Mary Portas are buried.

The headstones are made of sandstone and most of the older inscriptions have weathered away. This is what we will find at so many other church graveyards for the remainder of our visit to Lincs.

Outskirts of Mareham le Fen was another cemetery with more modern stones. But of interest is the border of old headstones most likely from the churchyard. This would be a common occurrance. As the graveyards filled up, they would be cleared to make room for new burials and headstones. Most of these were unreadable...we did try to find familiar names.

As we were disappointed, churchyard after churchyard, we finally decided our family being farm labourers, may not have had enough money for a proper headstone, or maybe the marker was of wood and has not withstood the years.

St. Benedict - Haltham This is nearby Mareham le Fen. It was just an interesting church which is still being used. And there just might have been a family name on a stone in here so we stopped to take a look. None found.

I couldn't help but notice the wild flowers growing undisturbed in the graveyards. Some of the churches have a program specially devoted to planting native plants in the cemetery. There was a lot of activity from the bees, butterflies, and birds yet it didn't disturb the serenity of the grave sites.

St. Mary - Kirkby on Bain is where g-g-grandparents James and Anne Vamplew were married. And most likely the church Mary Ann was christened in.

As shown, the churchyard was in full bloom. It was a most beautiful sight. Off to the left of the church way in the back ground is the river Bain, a small river lazily cutting through a farm and fen while the cows ate grass undesturbed.

St. Peter - Wildmore (aka Frog Hall and could have been Thornton le Fen church) is near the hamlet of New York, Lincs. It has been said, this is a relief Church which services are held for locals because the main parish church is too far away. Baptisms and marriages, etc. were usually held in the main church.

There are a lot of Vamplews buried here, but then again, no names could be found on the sandstone tablets.

King's Lynn Our day with Bruce was cool and windy. Here he and I are standing by the statue of Capt. George Vancouver who served with Capt. Cook. Vancouver commanded an expedition of discovery of the northwest coast of America. Vancouver, BC, Canada was named for him. The old customs house with the white tower is in the background.

Bruce is the publisher of The Porteous Research Project... the worldwide migration of Porteous families... quite an undertaking.

Bob, Bruce and I spent a wonderful day looking at historic buildings and just plain talking.King's Lynn was an important port town at the bottom of the Wash. It is located on the edge of Lincolnshire just into Norfolk county.

Bolingbroke Castle (pronounced Boling-brook) What it would have looked like during King Henry IV's life.

Link to more information on the castle.

Wyham-cum-Cadeby All Saints This is the church we were looking for and couldn't find. This photo was taken by Paul Fenwick-UK. He told me it is down a road that looks private. We saw that road and didn't want to venture on.

This area was part of the Wolds. The hills were hugh seas of green and yellow waves.

Alford Oh, look! Three wheels! And it's for sale! Do you think Bob is interested?

We had just parked in this lot across the street from St. Wilfrid's church where my g-g-g-grandparents were married.

St. Wilfrid's - Alford This is the church Joseph Portas and Mary Dennis were married in on May 15 1809. We were there May 11 - 195 years later.

There were few if any graves in the yard. All were moved to other cemeteries and church yards.

St. Wilfrid's - Alford The inside of the church was very quaint. It was not a cathedral but yet a nice sized church. There were two graves beyond the 14th century carved wooden screen behind the pulpit. These were a rich landowner and his wife. They had carved marble box with full-sized likeness of them on the top of the vault. Quite impressive.

The church was embellished with hand stitched banners, cloths, and kneeling cushions. Each cushion was unique unto the other.

The stained class was beautiful. One window was in memorium for the war dead.

I stood there imagining Joseph and Mary saying their vows.

St. Wilfrid's - Alford The tomb of Sir Robert and Dame Elizabeth Christopher. He was a well-to-do landowner who lived at Manor House in West Street and died in 1667. The monument is made of Derbyshire alabaster and black marble.

St. Wilfrid's - Alford On the wall was an exciting discovery. A plaque in memory of a Mary Portas. The dates are very close...but can't verify she is g-g-g-grandmother.

We headed out to Bilsby to find the vault. None was to be found and we couldn't go into the church -- it was chained shut.

Alford Thatch-roofed cottages lined the street. The thatching is almost two feet thick. There is a heavy mesh on top of it to keep the cats and dogs from burrowing in the thatching. Because this commonly happened, when it rained hard, the animals would be flushed out, falling past the windows to the ground... now you know why when in a downpour, it's "raining cats and dogs!"

Each roof has a pattern seen at the peak and around the eves. The thatcher has his own trademark pattern so he can be distinguished from others. These roofs can last decades with little patching over the years.

Thatched roofs aren't as common as they once were since the clay tiles became readily available.

Tumby Allotment - the "place" of James and Ann A new home sits on the foundation which held the original cottage on the allotment side of Tumby Road. A hint of yellow field of the fen in the background.

From this spot, in 1870 John and Mary Ann Portus said good bye to their families. With their three children and a few possessions, and steamship tickets in hand, traveled to Liverpool to board the Malta which would sail April 19 to America. They would settle in Diamond Lake, IL (now part of Mundelein).

Tattershall Castle Tattershall is the village bordering on Coningsby, Lincs. This remains of this castle is very impressive on its own merit. The castle was built by Ralph the Third Lord Cromwell, Lord Treasuer of England on the site of a 13th century castle.

We weren't around on the days the castle was open for tours. As we would pass, there would be four or five peacocks sunning themselves on the bridge rail, or just strutting on the lawn. This time we couldn't see them anywhere.

There is also a paddle steamer moored on the Thames in London named Tattershall Castle. It is a pub and restaurant. (pictured in my London page)

A WWII plane over the Tattershall Castle Coningsby is home to the RAF Air Field which houses the Battle of Britian Museum. This museum has working airplanes from WWII. Of these include the Lancaster, Spitfires, Hurricanes, and US Dakota. I don't know which one is pictured here. Probably a Hurricane.

Because our B&B sits next to the path of the landing field, we would hear and see these planes several times during our stay.

Sometimes I could hear the drone of a larger plane, but it was so overcast at times I couldn't see anything until it was too late or the plane was too far away to take a picture.

Mareham le Fen in the distance On a clear day, St. Botolph's "The Stump" Tower can be seen in the distance. That would be almost 15 miles away.

Most of our days were hazy. The sun would peak out but not for long. When that happened, I quickly looked for a photo shot!

Mareham Gate This is the cottage George Wright Vamplew and his wife lived. It is now being remodeled with all new windows, doors, floors and heating elements in the floor.

We were able to go in and look it over. Bob went up a ladder to the second floor, but there wasn't much up there to look at.

This house I think was owned by Birchwood Manor which would be approximately where the trees are in the background.

The signing of the Magna Carte The signing of one of the copies of the Magna Carte is depicted in this miniature scene in one of the museum displays.

One of four remaining documents is housed in a special airconditioned, secure room-vault. We were able to see the document but not allowed to take pictures even if I didn't use a flash.

Lincoln Cathedral This is not a small church. Bob took this picture from one of the towers in the castle. The church sits high on the hill where the "upper" part of town or old town is.

The smaller picture shows the backside's flying butresses...weeee!

Lincoln Cathedral One of the wood sculptures of "The Forest Stations" by William Fairbank. There are 15 stations in all.

Wiliam Fairbank created these as panels "involving intricate carving, inlay, juxtaposition of different woods" from many countries to narrate the journey of Jesus as he makes his way to the Cross and Resurection.

Visit the Lincoln Cathedral website and click on "Exhibitions"

http://www.lincolncathedral.com/

This is The Lion & Snake pub It is the oldest pub in town. We had a wonderful lunch - fish and chips -- don't forget peas!

Old part of Lincoln -- the upper town This was such a pretty part of town it was hard to decide what picture to take.

You can almost see the road going down this very steep hill.

Stamford Market Day Bob and I walked through the city. In the city center, several streets were lined with vendors of fruits and vegetables to trinkets and trash. It was a lively market. We bought some fruit and water for our lunch in the park.

A Stamford Park Our last stop in Lincolnshire. Well, what would my visit be without having lunch in this park among the headstones in a churchyard in the center of town.

We finished our lunch of truely English sandwiches (yes, there was watercress in one), juice, and cake... all packed by our B&B hostess Carol. As we sat there, we looked back on visit to the lands of my Porteous and Van Plew ancestors. It was a rewarding experience. I am hoping to do more research in the near future.

It's May 14.
We'll be in Paris the next day.

Let's Go to Paris

Copyright 2004 Karen (Porteous) Glass. All rights reserved.