E is for Elstead Mill

This lovely building, once a mill still stands, and is now a rather lovely and authentic public house in the rural Surrey village of Elstead.

I have an ancestor, Sarah Ellis (nee Hall), born in London who moved to Elstead and is recorded on the 1851 Census as a lace worker. Sarah and her husband John migrated from Elstead to Geelong Victoria Australia as free settlers.

Last September, I attended the funeral of my late Mum's first Cousin. His son held the wake (family gathering) at Elstead Mill public house and was completely unaware of the family connection.
 

I discreetly took a few pictures.

Elstead Mill plaque. Taken September 2014

Elstead Mill - with the wheel still working! - Taken September 2014

The original brickwork at Elstead Mill. Taken September 2014

There was something very special about standing in a room, watching a wheel turn not just with the nineteenth century technology, but knowing that Sarah Ellis and had watched this exact wheel turn in this exact spot more than 160 years ago.

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D is for Dennis

Anyone who lives in the Guildford area will be familiar with the business of Dennis Brothers. Originally from Devon the brothers moved to Guildford and set about building bicycle spares.

A few years ago I spotted this ashtray, which does show signed of use. As I was writing this post I came across the website for The Dennis Society, which was new to me. On that page it shows a picture of the Rodboro Buildings which for all my childhood was derelict despite being sited on some prime real estate. In fact it has only been in the last twenty years that the building has taken on a new lease of life and is the home of the Academy of Contemporary Music.

You can see who else is participating in the A - Z Challenge by visiting the participants lists at www.a-to-zchallenge.com

C is for Compton

Compton is such a pretty village. My Great Aunt lived in the next village and on occasions we would walk from Farncombe to Compton Church Once there we would sit in the pews for a rest, then wander around the grounds before heading back to Farncombe to visit my other Great Aunt. Our reward for a few hours in the fresh air was tea and coffee cake which was my favourite.

On one such walk we spotted a small antique shop. We had to wander in and see what delights they had, and every now and again my Aunt would comment "we had one of those" referring to her childhood home. I purchased a book from that antique shop on one of our last walks. The book was the Philimore Surrey edition of the Doomsday Book, which I still have and is shown here and I notice there is now a website about Surrey in the Doomsday Book and there is a Doomsday Map site.

As usual we stopped at the church on this particular day, and Aunt noticed that there was confetti still on the ground from the previous day's wedding. She picked one up and gave it to me, in the shape of a horseshoe and in a pretty pink colour. I still have that horseshoe piece of confetti, which sits nestled into the cover of the book.

My Great Aunt died in December 2010 aged 95 and was the last of my Grandfather's siblings.

You can see who else is participating in the A - Z Challenge by visiting the participants lists at www.a-to-zchallenge.com

B is for Bramley

A lovely little village on the main A281 out of Guildford towards the Sussex border. Early on in my career I worked in this cute village. That though, was not my only link to the village. My 5 x Great Grandfather, Daniel Butcher was baptised here, along with that of his siblings in the first two decades of the eighteenth century. 

There is the Bramley local History Society who formed in 1994 when I was still living in the County. My own ancestors moved from Bramley to Wonersh and had branches of that main line to the nearby villages of Hascombe and Shere. I always had the hunch that the Butcher family had originated in Sussex, and whilst I am still proving that hypothesis, Daniel Butcher married in Tillingon in 1745.

You can see who else is participating in the A - Z Challenge by visiting the participants lists at www.a-to-zchallenge.com

A is for Aldershot

My first choice for A was in fact Alfold. I have a rather lovely postcard of this Surrey village which is close to the Sussex border. My filing system has become flawed! and so I have substituted with Aldershot.

Aldershot is in Hampshire, and is well known for it's military presence.  You can read more HERE. My Great Great Uncle was stationed here in the late 19th Century as he was in the Medical Corp, or as it is known now the Royal Army Medical Corp (RAMC), who are located at Keogh Barracks and there is a regiment museum located in Aldershot still. You can see their web site HERE.

This has not been used, so dating can only really be estimated with the occurrences within the postcard. I love the soldiers gathered on the left, whereas we see the modern inventions of the car and aeroplane in the sky above.

For those interested in the unusual name of Keogh, there is a One-Name study for the name and you can read more about that HERE

You can see who else is participating in the A - Z Challenge by visiting the participants lists at www.a-to-zchallenge.com