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29 December 2008
Click here to read the fascinating memories of current and former villagers
Hilda Bradshaw, Dr Morley Stuart and David Dodd.
25 September 2008
Click here to read the fascinating memories of Walter Campbell, transcribed
by Pat Aldaya as part of the Cottingham and Middleton Heritage Group
project.
2 May 2008
It's been a long, long time since I've worked
on this site, but I'm delighted to say that it is now fully up to date
with all the letters and emails I've
received from around the World over the past...ahem...three years
(nearly!)
Many thanks to everyone who has sent in
pictures for the site. To make these easy to locate, all the new pictures
are
marked new on the
photograph index.
Thanks also to everyone who has written in. I've received some charming
anecdotes from Morley Stuart (now a monk, Brother James Simon), whose
mother Margaret led the WI choir in the 1960s. You can find these in
Morley's letter and also on the
WI page. I've also received information from
Alan Craxford on the tragic murder of a six year old boy that took place
in Blind Lane in 1875. Click here to read the
story. And thanks to Mike Williams
who has given me more information about the row of
stone cottages that used to stand on
Corby Road.
One letter that really made me smile is from
Quoy Bradbury (nee Tansley). Her
seven year old granddaughter was looking at the site and shouted to her
"mamma, why are you wearing these funny clothes on the computer?" She was
looking at an old Cottingham
School photo from the 1900s which shows a girl called Mabel Tansley
who, Quoy tells us, looks exactly like her - same hair, eyes, even the
same build!
A few people are looking for information about
the village and village families. If you can help, send me an email and I will pass it
on for you:
-
Rob Jolley
from Corby is interested in the Jolley
Family Wash Day photograph. Does anyone have any more information
about this photograph or can you name anyone in the picture?
-
Jean
Brogdale is trying to de-bunk a family myth. One of her Great Grannies
was Mary Ella Panter Vickers, born in Cottingham c1895. According to
Jean's Gran, Mary Ella Panter's mother was one of two sisters who seemed to have lived a slightly more
comfortable lifestyle than their background would suggest. Legend has
it that she was an illegitimate child of the Earl of Rockingham. She may
also have had a sister called Harriet. Can you help?
-
Joan
Bradley's 5th great grandfather was William Taylor b1715
Kettering married 1736 in Kettering to Alice Taylor born in Cottingham,
they had 9 children all born in Kettering and Joan would like to find out
about Alice and her family.
-
Jon
Dodsworth is looking for any information about his ancestors, who were born in
Cottingham and their parents from Weekley. John Leek,
06 Sep 1828 & William Leek abt. 1825, 1826.
-
Tracey
Thomas is looking for more information about her mother Joyce Lee who was
evacuated to Cottingham in the 2nd
world war and stayed with a family with the
surname Redsure . Does anyone remember Joyce or Tracey?
-
Geof Hudson
has heard various stories about their family home at 1a Church Street.
These vary from
it being an old barn used for storing beer barrels from the Spread to
nothing more than an enclosure with a wall about two foot high. There is
also a story
that the building was won in a game of
cards in the Spread and consequently developed! Can anyone shed any light
on this?
24 July 2005
I was
recently pleased to welcome Ardith
Tureski (nee Tilley) and her husband Peter to the village. Visiting
from Georgetown, Canada, Ardith was looking for information on her Tilley
ancestors who lived in the village in the 19th Century. Thanks
to Ann Sturman and Mary Freestone from St Mary Magdalene for opening up
the Church so we could look at the parish records and grave register.
During the recent
refurbishment at the Methodist Hall, Cyril Licquorish kindly loaned me
lots of old pictures that had been temporarily removed from the walls and
I'm pleased to bring you new pictures and information on the
Wesley Guild,
brass band,
Sunday School and
annual Bank Holiday outing/feast. St Mary
Magdalene also unearthed a whole wealth of historical information during
their recent Spring clean. It'll take a while to go through all this and
get it onto the site but, in the meantime, it's in safekeeping!
Thanks to everyone who has contacted me with
new information and photographs, including some lovely old pictures of the
Beadsworth/Chambers families.
Thanks especially to
Margaret Banning who
has sent me a lovely framed letter sent to John Henry Chamberlain, former
owner of the shop and post office on Church Street, I would reckon on the
occasion of his retirement. I'll get this letter scanned in for the
website as soon as I can. Lots
of people have told me about taking their Sunday lunch down to the local
bakery to be cooked, and some of these memories are now formally recorded
on the Bakeries page.
Also, in this 60th
anniversary year of VE and VJ Day, I've had some fascinating memories and
pictures in
from David Dodd who was a lad aged 6-10 in Cottingham during the
Second
World War. David also has some interesting recollections of the spring-fed
water supply and
toilet arrangements!
As always, links to all the new pictures can
be found on the photograph index.
28 February 2005
I've been gathering lots of new information
over the past few months and have (finally!) got some of it
onto the website. Thanks to Keith Allsop for the information on
Cottingham
Water Mill and for taking me to the site of the mill to get some
photographs of the remains. There is also a print of a linoleum block
picture of the mill by former headteacher Allston Kisby (sent in by Chris
Blenkarn) so you can see what it used to look like. Chris has also sent in
some interesting pictures and documents relating to the
Methodist Church
and brass band - thanks Chris!
Thanks also to Colin Bradshaw and Michael
Curtis for the fascinating information about the village
Copyholders - who
purportedly date back to 1614 - and the development of the
village water
supply.
More new pics, with thanks to:
For the links to the new pics, visit the
Photograph Index.
And finally, lots of new
correspondence has
come in and I've been pleased to have put some more Cannam and Tansley
descendants in touch with their respective lines.
10 September, 2004
I've recently been delighted to put three
descendants of the Cannam family - Tom
Chisolm, Jan Cannam and
Daphne Joiner.- in touch with
Nicola Paterson who is also descended from the Cannams and is tracing her
family history. Hope this has helped to fit the jigsaw together !
There is lots of new information on the site taken from
Kelly's, Post Office and Harrod & Co directories. I have put these
directory pages on the site in full, as they
make really interesting reading. Many thanks to Kevin Tyler for the 1870s
directory. The rest have been downloaded from Leicester University's
historical documents database at
www.historicaldirectories.org/hd/index.asp
The directories have helped me to ascertain
when the various village pubs were open for
business. I had previously thought that carriers used to pick up at pubs
called The Fox and The Cock in Cottingham. However, reading of these new
directory pages reveals that the carrier was actually taking people to
Cottingham from the Fox and Cock in surrounding towns/villages. I now have records
of the Kings Head, Three Horseshoes, Crown, Royal George and Spread Eagle,
but have not been able to trace the Racehorse or White Hart, which
Peter
Hill refers to as lost pubs of the village in his book
'Rockingham Forest Revisited'.
More information about the village
Reading Room, the
Oddfellows Hall that is recorded in
the village in 1903 and 1906, village
copyholders/landowners, owners/residents of
Bury House and the tithe rent charges and glebe
lands available to the vicars of Cottingham. There's also some interesting information about
charitable donations left by villagers, taken
from the directories and villagers' wills.
Thanks very much to Sue Beadsworth and Cyril
Liquorish who have provided more old
photos for the site, and to Tim Davies and Annie Johnson who have both
located the one up, one down
cottages as having been on Corby Road, opposite the pathway down to
Water Lane. Thanks too to David Horsley who has provided the names for one
of the football team pictures on the leisure
page. Can anyone fill in the missing name?
I have recorded the
acreage of the village, and have added
another description of Cottingham to the home page,
from 1969.
Finally, have had a few interesting
letters in including:
-
Chris
Blenkarn (nee Bell) who lived in the village from 1949 to 1968 has
written in with some of her school memories. She mentions that her she and
her classmates produced an exercise book on the history of the village,
but that she no longer has hers. If anyone still does, I'd love to see it!
-
Liz Howgill
who has
written to say she has a copy of the Cottingham parish
register from 1698 to 1841 and has kindly offered to look up surnames for
anyone tracing their family history. You can contact Liz on
rogerhowgill@tiscali.co.uk
Happy reading.
11 June, 2004
I recently came across a beautiful description
of Cottingham, written in 1954 by Tony Ireson in his book on
Northamptonshire. In fact, I liked it so much that I have made it the
front page of the site! The info from the old
front page is now spread across the contents
and 'about this site' pages. I've
also changed the format of the site very slightly. Does
this work OK? Your feedback is very welcome.
Some fantastic new photographs on the site.
Thanks especially to Colin Bradshaw who has sent in a picture of the
village copyholders taken in the
early 1900s, and a close-up of the
stone tablet that used to be
inset into the wall above the wellhead in the centre of the village. There
is also a new pic of some 19th Century one-up, one-down
cottages in Cottingham taken from a Northants
Record Society pamphlet, but I don't know where they are (or were). Can
anyone help?
More letters in, including one from
Nicola Paterson
who is descended from the Cannam family, and
David Parker, who is
descended from John Parker, a village baker back in 1841. Does anyone have
any more information on these two families that would help Nicola and
David with their family research?
Finally, I have estimated the
population of the village at the
time of the Domesday Survey as 183. This is based on an average family
size of 4.68, as suggested by scholars based on a survey from 1200 AD.
27 March, 2004
Until now, most of the information on the site
has come from searching the internet, or talking to local people. However,
I've at last made it down to the local history section at Market
Harborough library! This has yielded lots of new information, including
new spellings of Cottingham that have
existed through the ages, and the origins of the name
'Bury House'. The latter throws
into question where the Lord of the Manor for Cottingham actually lived,
as discussed on the landowners
page. I have also found a reference to
Middleton from 1197, which is much further back than I had previously
been able to trace.
Thanks to
George
Robertson, who has given me some more information about the former
pub/shop at No.9 High Street, and some
fascinating information (from the Corby Library Archives) about the
Spread Eagle. Thanks too to Chris Owen
for the information about the village Reading Room.
Lots of new letters in too, including one from
Ardith Tureski,
a Tilley descendant living in Canada.
7 March, 2004
Information is now
available from the 1777 Militia List
- giving the names and occupations of the villagers chosen to serve in the
militia, which was a kind of early home guard. You'll recognise some of
the surnames that still survive in the village today - including Bradshaw,
Tansley, Perkins, Sumpter - and other names that have cropped up regularly
- such as Spriggs, Ingram, Coles and Aldwinckle.
More
letters from around the world.
I'm delighted to have been able to put
Gillian Collins from New Zealand and Roy Adams from Ontario in touch -
both are descended from the Tansleys who lived in Cottingham in the 1700s.
Michael Feder,
who lived in the village from 1954 to 1966 would like to say hi to his old
neighbours! Does anyone remember Michael's uncle, Eddy Panter? And Shelley
Davenport would also like to hear from anyone who's interested.
28 January, 2004
Information is now
available from the 2001 Census for the
Corby rural west ward that covers Cottingham, Middleton and East Carlton.
The figures have enabled me to provide an
estimate of the
current population for Cottingham.
Information is also included on 2001 occupations
and houses.
Also had an e-mail from
Avery Adams who used
to visit her grandparents at 43 Berryfields Road. If you live in this
house, or know who does, drop me a line at
jane@cottinghamhistory.co.uk
- Avery would love to come and visit!
23 January, 2004
Had a lovely e-mail from
Lorraine Tilley from Cottingham CE School who is using the site
for her school project looking at how jobs have changed in the village
over the years. Good luck with your project Lorraine!
There's lots of new information on
the site. I've now included Cottingham's listing from the
Domesday Book,
along with a list of the major landowners in the area in 1086, and a
'Hundred Map' for the area. Up until 1841,
English counties were split
into administrative units called 'hundreds', and Cottingham lay within the
Stoke Hundred.
I've also added a picture
of Josephine Lucas, wife of Captain Lucas at Bury House, and there's a new
index for the maps on the site - in the photo index section.
31 December, 2003
Came across some
interesting will extracts from the 1600s - some of which are included on
the renamed working the land
page. I have also found some more references to
Cardigan Farm Lodge, giving clues to the origins of its name. Thanks
to
Maureen Bryson whose excellent family website helped turn up this
information.
29 December, 2003
Apologies for not having
updated the site for a while. Have decided to go self-employed and have
been busy setting up the new business.
Anyway, there is now information on
the site from the 1881 census, including more details about the village
pubs. Thanks very much to Tony Vines for providing
the source file.
I've also had a few more
letters in, including a fascinating
extract from a letter written around 1918,
sent in by Annie Johnson.
26
September,
2003
Just
got an e-mail from Tony
Vines, who is descended on his mother's side from the Cross family who
lived in the village from 1872. Does anyone have any information that
could help Tony with his research?
12
August,
2003
New
letters from around the world; full
breakdown of 1841 occupations completed
(follow links from table); more details of schools/school
life in Cottingham and village customs; more pics on leisure
page, courtesy of Wendy at the Spread Eagle; information about Rockingham
deer park and the re-routing of the road through Rockingham
village; information about Pipewell Abbey.
29
June,
2003
More
information on the village bakeries and the reading
room/bookies on Church Street, with much thanks to my tenacious
research partner, Irene Beadsworth!
23
June,
2003
Information
on the old turnpike road that used to
run through the village. Also had an e-mail in from Bernard
Perkins in Leamington Spa. Can anyone help him in his search for his
ancestors that came from the village?
14
June,
2003
New
pics - Cottingham ARP Wardens and new leisure
pics from Wendy at the Spread Eagle
7
June 2003,
2003
17th
Century map and aerial pics now available on streets and
houses page.
1-6 June, 2003
More
people information added on the leisure, schools
and customs & legends pages. I am also in
the process of redesigning the site
pages - hope you like the new look! - and I have split up the 'history
and maps' section to make the information more accessible.
24
May, 2003
Sources
and useful links page started.
Details
added of wills available online for
former Cottingham residents
17
May, 2003
Read
about the Padfoot, a fiery-eyed spirit in the
shape of a large black dog sighted on Corby Road. New black and white
picture added of the Church from Corby
Road.
14
May, 2003
After
a fascinating chat with Irene and Laurie Beadsworth, I have added lots of
new information and pictures to the site, including details of Cottingham
Manor House, Barrack Yard and
the village shops/businesses. There is also a new
page under the 'People and Work' section about wartime
Cottingham, with information taken from Captain George Lucas' book
'Memoirs of an Undistinguished Gentleman". Captain Lucas used to own Bury House, and
there is new information to be found on the Bury House page too.
More
old photographs added - Church Street, Water
Lane, washing in Dag
Lane and several on the leisure
page.
1841
street names and number
of houses by street added - note that only two of the street names from
1841 still exist in the village.
6
May, 2003
1841
street information added, including
number of houses in the village at that time
5
May, 2003
1841
key facts and figures and occupations
table completed.
More
old photographs added - Corby Road (2)
and Spread Eagle
More
old photographs dated (see photo
index and individual pages)
3
May, 2003
Families
page set up under the 'people and work' section. The aim of this
section is to record the main families that have lived in Cottingham over
the years. It also provides links to the websites of people around the
world who have traced their ancestors back to Cottingham. I've only just
started this section so the information is limited at present.
23
April, 2003
The
Cottingham history website officially
went live at www.cottinghamhistory.co.uk.
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