Messages received in 2000, 2001, 2002, 2003, 2004, 2005, 2006, 2007 and 2008 appear on separate pages.

If you wish to add your own comments, queries, etc. to the Visitors Book then please contact the Editor at editor@badsey.net. If someone is able to help you with information, do please remember to thank them.

Email addresses of correspondents are given so you can contact writers directly, but you may wish to copy your email to us (editor@badsey.net) so we can include your reply here if you think it may be of general interest.

Maggie May Porter

I have discovered your website today, I was looking for my Grandmother Maggie May Porter, I was thrilled to find her family almost straight away in the 1901 census, I would love to hear from anyone who has more information about them. Maggie was born in Badsey in 1896 to Joe and Martha Porter I understand Joe was a market gardener who came originally from Haybrook in Herefordshire born in about 1855.

Thank you

Kathy Phillips kathyp21@hotmail.co.uk
June 2010

Peter Stewart writes: My own notes and details from local cemeteries shows that Joseph Porter married Martha Ann Coneybear in Evesham in 1876. They are both buried in Bengeworth Cemetery, Evesham in Section E, Plot 75. The substantive headstone also commemorates the death of daughter Annie who died May 20, 1909 aged 23 years and Albert Charles Joseph Porter who died March 9, 1955, aged 77. Both of these children are actually in Section E, Plot 111. Annie, the daughter, is buried under the name of Payne. She married William Payne in 1908 in Evesham. Albert Charles Joseph Porter was a retired publican. He married Lucy Cullen in Evesham in 1904. She died in 1918, aged 37 and also buried in Bengeworth in Section F, Plot 42. Also in the same plot is a Kathleen May Porter who died in 1928, aged 48. There is no monument on this grave. Also in Bengeworth is another son of Joseph & Martha, Edward John Porter who married Ada Mary Thornton in Evesham in 1908. He died in 1938, aged 56 and Ada Mary died in 1972, aged 85. They are buried in Section K, Plot 17. Also in the plot are the ashes of their son Hubert Henry Porter who died in 2003, aged 79 and the ashes of their daughter Dorothy and son-in-law Albert Merrett. A large headstone and kerb monument is on the plot with all the details. There are 21 Porters buried in Bengeworth cemetery from 1879 to 2003.

Brookes and Malin

I am descended from Brookes’s who lived in Warwickshire and Worcestershire in the 1700 and 1800s – they moved along the A46 between Aston Cantlow and nearby villages along towards Evesham and were in and around the Littletons.

I note from your website, which I think is a fantastic site and great resource for genealogists, that the Brookes name is quite prominent in the Badsey area although I’m yet to make a link with the Brookes names you list. I have linked with some other names through marriages.

My great grandfather (George Brookes) was born in Offenham in 1829 before the family moved back to Warwickshire (Great Alne) and then into Birmingham. I have found a record of a Samuel Brookes being married to a Sarah Malin around the late 1700s and wondered if there was any useful info on the Malins that you had or if you could point me in the right direction.

Many thanks,
Chris Brookes chris.brookes@rexam.com
May 2010

Peter Stewart writes: I have researched the Malin families of both Badsey & Offenham, who are related, and another unconnected Malin line in Evesham. Those who settled in Badsey (1860s) & Offenham (1830s) are all descended from Giles Malin who was born at Stanway, Gloucestershire in about 1680. The Evesham line are descended from John Malin (b.1760) who married Martha Weston in 1789 at Weston-on-Avon, Gloucestershire. The Sarah Malin who married Samuel Brookes in the 1700s does not appear to be connected to any of the lines I have researched locally.

However, there is a connection with the Brookes of Badsey and Offenham. Obadiah Brookes was born in Offenham in 1826 and baptised there 17.12.1826. He was the son of Thomas & Elizabeth Brookes (nee Moore) who were married in All Saints Church, Evesham 27.2.1824. Obadiah married Mary Ledbetter in 1847 and settled in Badsey where they had a large family (see under Brooks in our Surname Index). Obadiah died in 1898 and was buried in Badsey churchyard.

Chris replies: I have heard of Obadiah and Noahdiah too, who were from Offenham around the same time as my Great Grandfather, but I’ve not yet been able to link them with my tree but I’m sure there must be a connection somewhere. I’ll try and see if I can trace Thomas back into my line. My Great Grandfather’s Grandfather (also George Brookes 1799- 1852) had a farm in the Littletons called Norval which I’ve visited and there is a family grave in the churchyard in Nth Littleton (St Nicholas, I believe). I live in the east of England so don’t manage to get to Worcester very often.

John Marshall Isaac

I wonder if you can help me. I am searching for information on a Nina Brearley nee Bell who was born on the 19th July 1919 in Sedgeberrow, Evesham and passed away in Pershore in 1991. She married a William Marshall Isaac and had a son called John Marshall in 1947 at Claybrook, Badsey. Would any of your residents in Badsey have any knowledge of her family or specifically her sons whereabouts?

Thank you for your time,
Ken Walker NELJEWELUK@aol.com
March 2010

Peter Stewart writes: Some confusion here. According to the GRO records William Marshall Isaac married Nina Mary Brearley in 1939 (Evesham District) and yet according to my records a John Seymour Marshall was born to William Marshall and Nina Mary (nee Brearley) on November 1, 1947 and baptised at St. James Church, Badsey on April 11, 1948. They were residing at Claybrook, Badsey. And William Marshall was a fruit merchant. The son John Seymour Marshall is registered under the name of Marshall. What happened to the surname Isaac? I have also found that Nina Mary did die in 1991 and registered as Nina Mary Marshall and not Isaacs.

Do you know this Knight family?

My name is Dave Knight. I've been trying to trace my family history, I have been estranged from my family for a long time. Prior to this I could not get much information from parents and grandparents. What I do know is they came from Worcestershire. My grandfather named Frank Knight (born around 1909) had at least one brother named Tom, and three sisters, Hilda, Millie, the third one I do not know. There is some connection with the Vale of Evesham as they used to transport fruit and veg to Cradley Heath.

Frank I believe had no or little contact with his father, but his mom was either married or lived with a man he called Pop, who may have been a miner. What had happened is not known by me, because they would never talk about it. My father and mother divorced, and he did not really like kids, so we don't see each other, and haven't spoke for nearly 20 years.

Because I have so few details the usual searches don't really help. Does anyone in your village have any knowledge of parts of the Knight family moving to Cradley Heath or Old Hill in the early 1900s. We also had relatives near Malvern, but again no details I know this is a long shot, but it just might help.

Dave Knight David24486071@aol.com
March 2010

Mystery of the Shekell Stone at Pebworth

Having stumbled on the entry in your Visitors Book (see April 2009), I thought you might be interested in the family’s anecdote as to how Bonner Shekell came to be buried in the copse.

To be honest, I have never followed this up, but with your local knowledge and access to various local records, I would be interested to know if it is true. Or would I? Sometime the truth can be a disappointment.

The story I was told by my father was that Bonner Shekell didn’t see why he should contribute towards the cost of a vicar in Pebworth when he could do the job just as well. He took holy orders and returned as vicar for a number of years. Again, this is legend, but it is said he was a bit turbulent. Relations with the Bishop and the Church were strained, to the extent that Bonner declared that on his death he would not be buried in consecrated ground. Hence the large stone in a small copse.

The family members have now moved away from Pebworth although we still have links with the village both above and below ground.

Thank you for jogging a family memory,
Andrew Shekell, Cumbria Andrew.Shekell@glenmore.org
January 2010

Jane Neill writes: Thanks for the note on Bonner Shekell from Andrew Shekell. It is a fascination to me too as my mother had always pointed out the grave as we visited my grandmother in Pebworth as a girl. I spoke to my mother hoping she could throw some light on the matter.

Bonner died when she was about 8 or 9 so her memories are limited. She remembers the funeral as everyone in the village was told to close the curtains and stay indoors while the cortege passed. Bonner Shekell had been involved in a shooting accident and was handicapped in some way. That may have explained why he was single and singular! He lived in the Manor House with his housekeeper, Miss Haines living in the bungalow at the bottom of the drive. On his death she inherited the bungalow which was a generous gesture and speaks of his high regard.

I searched the 1911 census and found the Vicar was William Tate-Stoate. My mother remembers the vicar was Rev. W. Boyd in her day. I also found the truth that Bonner was a clerk in Holy Orders but not the vicar all the time. He was a very good landlord to my grandfather who rented Manor Farm from him and was on the various village committees with him. A very approachable man. I believe he was well respected and like.

Andrew Shekell replied: Isn’t it strange how a small pebble in a pond can lead to large ripples? Not only has your village website adopted a large rock some miles away, but also it has shown how the villages are linked by personal experience. All from a passing question and a spontaneous web surf. It is amazing how much information is now available. My Uncle began to investigate the family in the 1960s and he took years and many miles of travelling to find information we can now access at the click of a button.

Thank you Jane for your reply, just for information, Bonner was shot accidentally by his brother when they were both young men. It appears they were climbing over a stile and Bonner’s brother had forgotten to break his shotgun. His brother was sent, or volunteered to go to the Far East, in some disgrace and worked in Burma and Thailand before returning to the UK many years later and married. As two old Pebworth families the Shekells and Haines were distantly related.

In July 2010, Richard Shekelle of Friday Harbor, WA, USA wrote: Attached is a photo I took of the gravestone in 2001 after much crashing through the underbrush that conceals it. Mr. Rainbow, the tenant farmer of the Shekell property at Pebworth, had kindly directed me where to look. Bonner lived between 1864 - 1932.

The Rev Wilfred Broadhurst Chapman

I found several references to the Rev. Wilfred Broadhurst Chapman on several pages of the Badsey website. For example, there is an engraved glass screen in memory of Wilfred Broadhurst Chapman, Vicar of St.James' between 1948 and 1957. His wife is mentioned on the Badsey WI history page.

I am researching the histories of 240 men who joined a unit of the Royal Army Medical Corps [RAMC] in North Wales in January 1916. The unit consisted mainly of ordained ministers and theological students of all denominations. After training, the unit was dispersed across the various battlefields to work in Field Ambulances, Casualty Clearing Stations, and Hospital Ships. Some became Chaplains during the war.

After the war, many returned to their studies and went on to became ordained ministers, chaplains, and missionaries.

One of the men I'm searching for is "CHAPMAN, Wilfred B." a theological student from St.Davids College, Lampeter (one of several students from this college who joined the unit). His Medal Index Card entry at the National Archives reads: CHAPMAN, Wilfred B. RAMC Pte 81910.

If this is the same person who was minister at Badsey then his entry in Crockfords Clerical Directory (ca.1958?) reads:- CHAPMAN, Wilfred Broadhurst.- St.D.Coll.Lamp. LDiv. 1920, B.D. 1927. d 1921, p 1922 Wakef C.of Almondbury 1921-22; St.Mary, Barnsley, 1922-27; V. of Kinsley 1927-30; Hartshead 1936-36; Badsey 1948-57; V.of Wickhamford 1948-57; Priv Chap. to BP of Worc. 1952-55; R.of Hinton on the Green, Dio.Worc. from 1957 Hinton on the Green Rectory, Evesham, Worcs. (Tel. Ashton under Hill 249).

I'm looking for any biographical information about him (e.g. an obituary or memorial tribute etc) especially with regards to his RAMC service which would confirm (or otherwise) that this is one and the same Wilfred B. Chapman that I'm searching for. Any information would be gratefully received.

Yours sincerely,
John Hughes penygongl@btinternet.com
August 2009

It certainly sounds as if they are one and the same. There is a little about him in 'A Brief History of Badsey and Aldington' where Terry Sparrow writes that after serving Badsey, he "moved by reason of ill health to the much smaller parish of Hinton on the Green in November 1957 and who died in retirement on 29 June 1964." Can anyone add more?

Ethel May Malin

I am currently researching for my family tree and it appears that my Great Grandmother, ETHEL MAY MALIN, lived in Cow Honeybourne when the 1901 Census was completed, as a Boarder. She gave birth to my Grandfather, GEORGE SYDNEY NORIS MALIN, on the 7th April 1911. I believe her mother was MARY MALIN. ETHEL MAY MALIN later married THOMAS HOLTOM and their marriage was registered in Evesham.

Can anyone help me with trying to get some background for them? I hope someone can shed some light on the history.

Kind Regards
Teresa Malin, Broadway, Worcestershire malinterjay@tiscali.co.uk
August 2009

We guess your great grandmother is the same lady who was baptised at Badsey on 15 Jan 1893. So Ethel May Malin was a Badsey girl, as in fact was her mother before her. You will find records of her and her family on the Badsey website (start with the name index). Maureen Spinks has also written some notes on this family which we will forward these to you. Good luck with your search.

Disappearing Graves or the Mystery of the Badsey Triangle

I hope you do not mind me contacting you but my partner and I have been searching Badsey high and low for something which he spotted about seventeen years ago but now can no longer find! It is really perplexing. We are looking for a grave which was right by the roadside in a little triangular plot with a small headstone and had some sort of fencing around it? My partner first spotted it all those years ago and seems to recall it was situated somewhere near a hauliers yard? If anyone could throw any light on this I would be extremely grateful, even if it is no longer there, as it has sat in my partners head all these years and now he lives back in the area it would be nice to put this to rest!

Many Thanks,
Sarah Hunt MacleodAlbie@aol.com
April 2009

Mystery solved! It turns out it is not Badsey at all. Sarah wrote: Just to let you know that we have now finally detected the mystery grave and it is located at Pebworth .It is just off the Long Marsdon Road and you need to look out for a Windmill Farm on the left hand side. About five yards past this there is a ditch with two wooden planks running over it into a very dense overgrown area. If you walk over these planks into this area you will just see from the road a very large piece of stone in a misformed triangle shape. This is on top of what we believe to be a grave. The brass plaque which has been molded into the stone reads 'Bonner Shekell' and the dates 1864 - 1932. It is all very, very strange!! If you could throw some light on this I would be very grateful again. We are aware the the Bonner Shekells were very wealthy landowners around this area but which one the dates relate to remain a mystery and why they are buried in such a dense piece of woodland is also something of a mystery.

See also Andrew Shekell's letter received January 2010.

More Tandy family memories

My name is Susan Wardle (née Lunn). I have been sharing some of the comments and photographs on your website with my mother. Her name is Iris Lunn (née Poynton) and she is the niece of Fred Tandy. We were delighted to read some comments made by my aunt Pam Cotton who now lives in Australia. We all have some lovely memories of family visits to Badsey and of the Tandy family visits to our home in Midway, Derbyshire.

Kind regards
Susan Wardle, Griffydam, Leicestershire susanwardle228@btinternet.com
April 2009

Since writing this Susan, tells us she has made contact with Ian and Maureen Tandy.

Harris and Mustoe families

I am the great great granddaughter of William and Lavinia Harris, who are mentioned in the website. My grandfather is Albert Harris who went to school in Badsey 1903 - 1910. In the 1901 census the family are living in Bretforton.

My particular interest is with William. Family legend has it that he fell on a hay knife and died from his injuries in 1910, but I can find no record of this. Does anyone have any information or records about William and Lavinia? I do not think they lived in Badsey for very long, but Lavinia was born in Bourton, and in 1911 was living with her mother Harriet in Moreton. Harriet was married to William Mustoe, born in Chedworth, and sentenced to transportation for "carnally knowing" Fanny Shill in 1866! I notice both Mustoe and Shill families listed on your site, I wonder if there are connections?

Thank you for this most informative site, I have furthered my knowledge about grandfather Albert's early years, and look forward to learning more!

Karen Lynas karenlynas@yahoo.co.uk
March 2009

Maureen Spinks writes: William Harris died in 1909, not 1910, which was why you were unable to find the correct death certificate. He was buried at Badsey on 7th October 1909. Smith’s Household Almanack for 1909 lists a William Harris as a Hay Trusser. Hopefully, the death certificate will give sufficient information to back up the family legend!

I have taken a look at the school registers to try and find out when the Harris family left Badsey. The youngest son, Ernest George, last attended Badsey School on 9th October 1909, two days after the funeral. Interestingly, though, Albert Vernon, did not leave school until 21st February 2010. He was nearly 13 at the time of his father's death and so presumably it was not felt worth moving him to another school as he was so close to school-leaving age. Frederick William, the eldest brother, had already left school on 9th August 1909. The normal school-leaving age was 14, but children who passed an examination showing proficiency at Standard V were allowed to leave early. What happened to Florence, the little sister, born in 1901? She was never a pupil at Badsey.

As far as the Mustoe family is concerned, there does not appear to be a connection between Lavinia Sarah and the Mustoes of Badsey. Mustoe seems to have been a fairly common name in Gloucestershire. The William Mustoe of Badsey was born at Cirencester in 1841 and lived to the grand old age of 102! His parents were William and Hannah Mustoe of Siddington. But presumably your Lavinia, even though she bore the surname of Mustoe, was not actually a Mustoe by birth if William Mustoe had already been transported to Australia in 1866.

Peter Stewart writes: I have researched the local papers regarding William Harris and can find no reference to his death in 1909, not even a notice of his death. The fact that other accidental deaths are mentioned in the same year in the papers, would suggest that William did not die as a result of injuries received.

Chocolate Factory at Blackminster?

The Vale of Evesham Historical Society have just been given some old maps/plans of Evesham and the surrounding area one of which dated 1923 shows a Chocolate Factory in what we all know as LBG. Does anyone have any knowledge of this factory and if so could you please let me know?

Thanks,
Gerald Heath, Chairman of VEHS gerald.heath@tiscali.co.uk
March 2009

There is a possible clue on the Blackminster Business Park website which gives some history of the site. They say the site was built in the early twentieth century by George Cadbury of the Cadbury's Chocolate family. His plan was to create a fruit canning factory. But there is no reference to chocolate being produced there. LBG took over the site from Cadburys. Is it possible the map just got it wrong, or is there more to discover?

Maureen Spinks writes: I suspect that the chocolate factory was just an assumption on the part of Ordnance Survey. As far as we know, it was just a fruit canning factory. Graham Corbett (see below) tends to confirm it was probably just fruit canning. His mother, Molly, was born in 1911; she married Frank Corbett in 1934. I think she worked there in the 1920s and 1930s after leaving school and before getting married.

Graham Corbett writes: My mother did work at Cadburys at Blackminster and it was a fruit canning factory. I have a few photos of her their with her work colleagues. I don't know if they ever made chocolate there but I have a vague recollection of mother saying that she had chocolates there to eat. Perhaps they had an internal shop there for employees. I would not be confident enough to say that was so for sure ... I am sure that the Cadbury World history department would be able to give an answer.

I have just come across a newspaper cutting of my grandparents' wedding, and it states my Nan was a member of the Girls' Friendly Society. Does anyone know anything about this? The marriage was in 1933.

Appreciate all the work being done on the web site, could spend hours reading through it all.

Thanks
Sue Daniels sddaniel@sky.com
March 2009

There is some information about the Girls' Friendly Society on our website. See if this helps. Also, on page 111 of 'A Brief History of Badsey and Aldington' there is a photo with the caption 'The motor caravan of the Girls' Friendly Society parked outside Seward House whilst on a visit to Badsey in the 1920s.'

I have just spent a very enjoyable two hours, whilst husband watching football, looking at pictures and news of Old Badsey. I found a photograph (not seen before) of my late father John Walker in school in 1924. There is also mention of my grandfather John Deighton killed in WW1 in the parish magazine, and a great Uncle Geoffrey Walker also killed in WW1.

Many thanks for such a good and enjoyable website,
Susan Dron (nee Walker) ... also born in Badsey in May 1949 stuart.dron@hotmail.com
February 2009

We have been looking through your fantastic web site a credit to all your contributors. Recently while researching our family tree on the 1911 census, much to our amazement, we found my father aged six years old was living with his parents and siblings at Tower View, Badsey. This was really exciting to find out as we only ever knew that his family lived in Bewdley Street, Evesham. His father Henry Samuel Clements was a master butcher and at one time worked for F Stratfords in Bridge Street, Evesham. We would like to know if the area of Tower View is still there or where it was once situated so that we could visit for a trip of nostalgia.

Regards
Martin Clements and family martinrclements@hotmail.com
January 2009

There are two houses called Tower View in Badsey and another one in Aldington. But only one these is old enough to appear on the 1911 census. Today it is numbers 33 & 35 Brewers Lane, Badsey. The house carries a date of 1903, built at a time when the market gardening boom led to lots of new housing in the village. The name is probably a reference to Broadway Tower which should be visible from the house. You will find more on the history of the plot on the website. It is likely that your family were the first occupants of the house. Can anyone add more information?

Maureen Spinks writes: A bit more to add to the information. The School Admissions Register reveals that the Clements family lived in Badsey for a year, 1910-1911, Lily and William enrolling at Badsey Council School on 25th July 2010, having previously been at Evesham National School. They were there for exactly a year, leaving the previous summer. I don't know who the first occupants of Tower View were. I assume the owner was James Brewer (the baker, after whom the road is named) who had bought the land. Nos 27, 29, 31, 33 & 35 Brewers Lane (although of course they weren't numbered then, and I'm not sure when it actually started being called Brewers Lane) were all built within a few years of each other. The Brailsford family lived at No 33 from at least 1913. A member of the Brailsford family continued to live at No 33 until about 2001 when he moved into a Home and the house was sold to the owner of No 35 who has converted it into one residence. The houses on the opposite side of the road were not built until 1906 so, at the time of building in 1903, there would have been a clear view of Broadway Tower.

Peter Stewart writes: Martin. Perhaps you are already aware that your grandfather Henry Samuel Clements and his wife Elizabeth Ann are interred in Waterside cemetery, Evesham in Section A, Plot 2252. There is a monument [kerbs] on the plot.

What a wonderful website! Thank you so much to all those who have made all this valuable information available - such a lot of work has gone into this website. Marvellous! Here is what led me to Badsey in my own research.

My paternal grandfather's family name was Kinchin, and he was born on the Isle of Dogs; his father was from Bengeworth. My great-great grandfather was George Kinchin/Kinchen from Bengeworth, who married Mary Houghton from Offenham. Mary was born in 1826 to William Houghton from Badsey (b. 1790) and Ann nee Bennett.

The Badsey site has given me lots more information about William Houghton's family. I would love to know where in Badsey William's family actually lived, and I am still working on tracking down where his parents Richard and Ann were born. I hope I manage to go even further back in this line of my family. I would love to hear from anyone else who shares these ancestors.

Thanks again - this is a site I will keep returning to... and I think a trip to Badsey will now be on my 'to do' list for 2009!

Best wishes
Siobhan Nelson cnelson@niddart.co.uk
January 2009

Maureen Spinks writes: Whilst I don't know where William's family lived in Badsey, I DO know where his younger sister, Sarah, lived after her marriage. As you probably know already, Sarah Houghton married Valentine Knight at Badsey in 1823. They had ten children and remained living in Badsey until Valentine's death in 1849 and Sarah's in 1866. Sarah and Valentine lived in the house which is now Nos 46 & 48 High Street, which is at the junction with Mill Lane. At the time of the Badsey Enclosure Act of 1812, the house was owned by Valentine's father, Thomas Knight. It remained in the Knight family until the 1850s or 1860s when it was sold to Joseph Woodward. If you go to "Roads and Streets" on the Badsey website, and click on High Street, you will find a brief description of the house, and there is a photo on the left-hand side (six photos down after the sign saying "High Street" - a white cottage with Victorian extension, present-day No 50 High Street.

Peter Stewart writes: My database for Bengeworth has a George Kinchin buried in Bengeworth cemetery 1/7/1868 aged 45. Section A, Plot 87. A Mary, a widow, was buried in Bengeworth cemetery on 28/01/1908, aged 81. She was interred in Section G, Plot 18. These are possibly your great-great grandparents?