Tag Archives: Essex

Transcribing 16th Century Wills: ERO Search Service

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In the first in a series of case studies on our search service, Archive Assistant Robert Lee takes a look at a search request to show what a will transcription may involve.

Transcribing wills is not always an easy endeavour, and it can be a lengthy process, though never boring. One request was recently commissioned by David Howe, a historical researcher in America, for the transcript of two wills from the 16th century. They concern a Thomas Wallys (1552 – D/AEW 2/413) and a Thomas Welles (1555 – D/AEW 3/99) respectively, both of Stanford Rivers. This search was an attempt to untie an old genealogical mystery regarding David’s 10th Great Grandfather Robert Howe (1571-1637). Robert’s father John Howe (1540-92) married Joan Welles (1540-1617) in 1560 in Bobbingworth, but the trail goes dark beyond Joan’s parentage. These wills were selected with a view to establishing Thomas Welles/Wellys as Joan’s father.

There were several reasons why these transcriptions were a somewhat difficult task. Notwithstanding idiosyncrasies in word abbreviations, general deviations from established forms of handwriting, and defects in the paper itself, wills are packed with historical and theological allusions. One is introduced to legal and monarchical nuances now well past obsolete. It is a great pleasure to be able to examine them at this level of detail. My early modern British history is wanting, but to look so intimately into the lives of those who experienced it is the most helpful method of revision.

The will of Thomas Wallys was composed in 1552, during the reign of Edward VI. As the will begins:

1. In the name of God amen the tenth day of maye in the fifth year of the
2. reigne of his sovereign lord king Edward the syxth kyng of England France
3. And Irland & in r-pect of the church of England and Irland the supme-
4. God.
(D/AEW 2/413)

This format will be familiar: an introduction which appeals to God and the reigning monarch. We see the first of a few abbreviations here, note the use of r[es]pect and sup[re]me. The year is not given explicitly (not as a cardinal number), rather as the fifth regnal year of Edward VI (being 28 January 1551 – 27 January 1552). Thomas bequeaths his soul unto God, and shares out his livestock and money amongst his children. His two sons are promised:

  1. ii Hen and
  2. fyve marks in money to be delivered… at the age of xxi years…

and three daughters promised:

  1. ii hen and fortye shilynge
  2. agree to be delyvered to them & either of them at the day of theyre maryages.

Filial inequality aside, we can observe uses of the silent e (‘fortye’ & ‘shylinge’; ‘maye’ and ‘reigne’ in the previous lines), and parallel use of i and y, both common in early modern English. Like the regnal year, monetary values are written as roman numerals and other amounts are mostly given in word form. Whilst Arabic numerals had been introduced in England some centuries before this will, they had not yet taken on ubiquity, and as such roman numerals were preferred by scribes. A ‘Mark’ is a monetary value equivalent to 13 shillings and 4 pence (or 2/3 of a pound).

One section that caused some confusion is his initial bequest.

The handwriting here is particularly difficult, but we concluded that this states:

10. [I give] and bequeath to the amendyng of the highways xxxiiii S viii d which
11. was left in my hands by Thomas Welles my father of the legacye &
(D/AEW 2/413)

Thomas here bequeaths money toward the upkeep of the roads in Stanford Rivers. The monetary value ostensibly reads as xxxiiii S (34 shillings) and viii d (8 pence), but on second glance it may be more complex. 34 shillings is an odd value, given that 20 shillings make up a pound: i li xiv S viii d (1 pound, 14 shillings, 8 pence) might make more sense. What is more, the symbol after 34 more resembles an R (Perhaps a reader can clarify this?).

Some other interesting extracts:

29. I wyll to Thomas Wallys & George Wallys one weanell calfe
(D/AEW 2/413)

A weanell calfe is a young calf, six to seven months old, that has been “weaned” from its mother, and is thus on a diet of grass rather than its mother’s milk.

13. (I) bequeath to Catheryn my wyfe w-thassent & consent ^of^ my Landlord Willm grene
14. of London marchannt-taylor or thassent & consent of hys guarantors & assynes
15. to whome the lease of Stanford Hall wherever I dwell shall own of hym or of
16. any of them obtayned all that my lease and terme of yeres yet to
17. come of Stanford hall wherein I dwell to have and to hold to her for
18. and duryng the terms of yeres yet to come yf she so long do lyve upon
19. condycyon that she the said Catheryn my wyfe shal be orderyd unlyd and
20. advysed by my sayd landlord & such as shall be by him made owner or
21. owners of the sayd lease at Stanford hall aft him & upon condycyon that
22. She do not marry agayne aft my decease with hys argreements or
23. Agreements to any persons duryng the sayd yeres and further I Wyll
(D/AEW 2/413)

A verbose passage. It appears to be saying, simply: My wife can have my lease so long as my landlord agrees and so long as she doesn’t marry again. One is often reminded of the adage that scriveners of this period were “paid by the line”.

The subsequent will for Thomas Welles, though dated only three years hence in 1555, is immediately different. As it begins:

1. In the name of God amen the ninth daye of October in the 1st DD abd
2. thirde yeare of king phillipe & queene marye most excel-
3. -lent majestyes, by the grace of god, kyng & quene of England,
4. France, Naples, H(J)erusalem, & Ireland, defenders of the fayth
5. Princes of spayne & Cicile, archdukes of Austria, dukes
6. Of Mylan, Burgondie, Brabande, counties of Hasburge
7. Flaunders and Tiroll and in the year of our Lord god a
8. Thousand fifty and five…
(D/ABW 3/99)
Emendation of inspeximus and confirmation of patent with large initial portrait of King Philip and Queen Mary and elaborate decoration on heading (D/B 3/13/11)

As the seasoned historian will observe, this deluge of titles is indicative of the royal marriage which had recently taken place between Mary I of England and Phillip II of Spain. The titles reflect the royal domains which were granted because of this marriage, which is believed to have been foremost a political endeavour.

18. …Item I give to the povertie of
19. Stanford Rivers x S to be equally divyded amongst them
20. That hath most neade…
(D/ABW 3/99)

And furthermore we can find historical, if domestic, idiosyncrasies, particularly with the inventory of goods being bequeathed:

28. (I) Gyve to Joanne Walles my daughter ii payer of sheets a boarde
29. clothe i table napkyne a Kettell of iii galons a harness
30. girdle a pewter platter a ca-sticke & iiL vi S viii D of currant
31. money to be delyvered unto her by margaret my wyfe…
(D/ABW 3/99)

The goods are recognisable (I am still not 100% on what a harness girdle is, though I have learnt not to haphazardly google every phrase that presents itself in historical documents) and perhaps reinforce the stark nature of property and belongings in Early-modern Britain.

Over the course of transcribing this will – penning through indexes of historical trades and picking the brains of my colleagues – I admit I’d initially overlooked the mention of Joan/Joanne Wells, indeed the point of this research to begin with. We agreed that the dates would line up with Joan’s alleged birth year of 1540, and that perhaps this is the person we’re looking for. Unfortunately, the Joan mentioned is unmarried, and thus this will, alone, cannot prove that this Joan married John Howe. As ever, certainty is rarely guaranteed in matters of genealogical history.

“Lifelong friends”: lesbians in the archive

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To celebrate LGBT+ History Month 2026, Archive Assistant Rhiannon Bush has uncovered some possible lesbian relationships which had a connection to Essex.

Anne Bateman and Elizabeth Tripp

Dowager Viscountess Bateman (born Lady Anne Spencer) was the daughter of Charles Spencer, 3rd Earl of Sunderland and Lady Anne Churchill. She was born in 1702 and baptised at St James, Westminster. Anne married William Bateman in 1720; however, their marriage was reported to be loveless, and they separated in 1738 due to William’s homosexual practices.

It is difficult to find information about Elizabeth Tripp’s birth, but according to the Great Yeldham monumental inscription, she was 74 years old when she died in 1785, making her birth year 1710 or 1711.

Monumental inscriptions for memorials of Dowager Lady Viscountess Bateman and Elizabeth Tripp
Monumental inscriptions of the memorials of Anne Bateman and Elizabeth Tripp located at the parish church of St Andrew, Great Yeldham (T/Z 151/79)

Anne and Elizabeth’s relationship followed William Bateman’s death in 1744. According to Elizabeth’s memorial plaque at Great Yeldham, the two “lived in an uninterrupted course of friendship upwards of forty years”. They both resided in London; Anne lived at Cleveland Row, Westminster and Elizabeth lived at Clarges Street, Piccadilly.

Copy of the front cover of Anne Bateman's will dated 1751
Copy of Anne Viscountess Bateman’s will dated 1751 and proved 1769 (D/DU 204/21)
Copy of Anne Bateman's will
Copy of Anne Viscountess Bateman’s will dated 1751 and proved 1769 (D/DU 204/21)

Anne died in 1769, and she bequeathed £200 to Elizabeth in her will. Sixteen years later in 1785, Elizabeth died and at her request she was buried as close as possible to the remains of Anne. They were both buried at St Andrews church in Great Yeldham.

Photograph of a page of the Great Yeldham, St Andrew burial register. Page shows burials dated 1766, 1767, 1768 and 1769.
Great Yeldham, St Andrew burial register entries (D/P 275/1/2)
Photograph of a page of the Great Yeldham, St Andrew burial register. Page shows burials dated 1783, 1784 and1785.
Great Yeldham, St Andrew burial register entries (D/P 275/1/2)

Anne built a house called Spencer Farm (now known as Spencers) in Great Yeldham in 1760 which was funded by her grandfather John Churchill, Duke of Marlborough. However, it is not clear what their connection to Great Yeldham was.

Black and white photograph of Spencer Grange, Great Yeldham
Black and white photograph of Spencer Grange, Great Yeldham (I/Mb 420/1/3)

Zoe Procter and Dorothea Rock

Edith Dorothea Merlet Rock was born in 1881 in Buckhurst Hill to Edward and Isabella Rock. Her sister Madeleine Caron Rock was born in 1884.

Zoe Procter was born 10 September 1867 in Uttar Pradesh, India. Her parents were Montagu Mitchell and Ann Procter. She had three sisters Annie, Mary and Alice and a brother Harry who died before she was born.

Black and white photograph of three women sitting down.
Photograph of Dorothea and Madeleine Rock and an unknown woman. This photograph has been digitally restored (T/P 193/13)

In 1891 census, Dorothea was listed at Station Lane, Ingatestone with her family. In the 1911 and 1921 censuses and 1939 register, Dorothea lived at Red House, Station Lane, Ingatestone. Dorothea spoilt the 1911 census entry, but the enumerator appears to have completed the census return at the bottom of the page after that.

Zoe spent her childhood in England. She and her sister Alice stayed with a Mrs Wilson in Bury St Edmunds while their parents were in India, where their father served in the British Indian Army. They moved with Mrs Wilson to Clapham in 1881. She attended school in England and lived in France after her father retired in 1885.

Zoe was private secretary for the writer John Oliver Hobbes which was the pen name of Pearl Mary Teresa Richards (often referred to as “Mrs Craigie”). She later worked for Henrietta Leslie (pseudonym of Gladys Henrietta Schütze) who was a suffragist, pacificist and writer.

Dorothea and Zoe were both members of the Women’s Social and Political Union (WSPU) and were committed to the suffrage movement. The pair met in Holloway Prison after their involvement in the 1912 window-smashing campaign in London. In 1916, they joined the Independent Women’s Social and Political Union (IWSPU), a splinter group of the WSPU, where Dorothea served as Assistant Secretary.

According to Zoe’s autobiography, they both moved into 81 Beaumont Mansions in June 1920. They spent summers living at Shepherd’s Corner, Gregory Road, Beaconsfield and winters living in Chelsea (81 Beaumont Mansions).

Zoe died in 1962 aged 94, leaving a substantial estate to Dorothea. Dorothea passed away in 1964, leaving bequests to Grace Chappelow and to Marjorie Potbury.

Katherine Mina Courtauld and Mary Gladstone

Katherine [Katharine] Mina Courtauld was born on 13 July 1856 in Braintree to Mina and George Courtauld. Mary Gladstone was born on 13 November 1856 in Birmingham to Mary and Thomas Gladstone. Katherine and Mary lived together for over fifty years at Knights Farm, Colne Engaine.

Mary and Katherine were first documented together in the 1881 census. Mary was listed as a visitor at Cut Hedge Manor, Gosfield. This was Katherine’s father, George Courtauld’s, property, where Katherine lived with her siblings and their governess. Mary and Katherine were both 24 in 1881.

When Katherine turned 21, her father bought Knights Farm in Colne Engaine for her. In the 1891 and 1901 censuses Katherine and Mary were both listed at Knights Farm, with Katherine listed as the Head and Mary as a Boarder. In the 1911 census, Katherine was listed as the Head of the property, while Mary was listed as Joint Occupier.

Katherine managed the 243-acre Knights Farm independently. She gained her skills assisting with the management of her father’s farm as there were no agricultural schools for women. She kept cattle, pigs and poultry and also had an orchard. She employed several men and women on her farm and housed her employees in cottages on the farm. She also tenanted other land.

Photograph of transcribed pages of Katherine Courtauld's diary.
“The dairy classes began today and MG and I went down”. Extract from the diary Katherine Courtauld kept to document the year 1900 at Knights Farm (T3269)

Katherine was a notable farmer, appearing in various publications including the Ladies’ Field and was listed in the “farmers” section of the 1908 Home Counties Post Office Directory at Knights, Colne Engaine. She was on several boards and committees and regularly attended meetings. She was President of the Essex Agricultural Show and on the committee of the Essex War Agricultural Committee. She also served on the council of The Women’s Agricultural and Horticultural International Union (later the Women’s Farm and Garden Association). This Association advised women of training and employment opportunities in the agricultural sector. Katherine provided funding so that the Association could buy land near Surrey which was let to female tenants who had agricultural experience and private income. She also provided agricultural education to women at Knights Farm.

Katherine was a dedicated suffragist and was Secretary of the North-West Essex branch of the National Union of Women’s Suffrage Society. She spoilt her 1911 census entry, writing “As a householder and ratepayer I deeply resent being denied the privilege of a citizen in the exercise of the parliamentary franchise”. In this census, Alice Geraldine Cooke was listed as a visitor at Knights Farm. Alice’s occupation was noted as “Woman’s Suffrage Organiser” at the National Union Women’s Suffrage Society.

Photograph of a page of the AGM and Comittee Minutes of the Halstead Literary and Mechanics' Institute. This page is dated 10 August 1911 and has the items "new books" and "women's suffrage".
Katherine Courtauld donated The Common Cause suffrage publication to the Halstead Literary and Mechanics’ Institute (D/Z 468/5)
Photograph of a page of the AGM and Comittee Minutes of the Halstead Literary and Mechanics' Institute. This page shows the end of the section on "women's suffrage" and is signed by the chairman.
Katherine Courtauld donated The Common Cause suffrage publication to the Halstead Literary and Mechanics’ Institute (D/Z 468/5)

Katherine was also involved in local politics. She was parish councillor for Colne Engaine parish council and councillor for Essex County Council.

In the 1920s, Katherine funded several buildings around Colne Engaine, including the village hall which she dedicated to her father and is now called Courtauld Memorial Hall. The Essex Women’s Commemoration Project placed a blue plaque commemorating Katherine Courtauld on the village hall in 2022.

Photograph of blue plaque commemorates Katherine Mina Courtauld
Blue plaque to commemorate Katherine Mina Courtauld by Brian Fleming. Licenced under Deed – Attribution 4.0 International – Creative Commons

It is not clear how Mary spent her time. Her occupation was listed as “Private Means” in each of the censuses. According to an 1891 Chelmsford Chronicle article, Mary competed at The Essex Agricultural Society Great Show at Maldon in the dog, poultry and pigeon show. She competed with a Scottish terrier dog which could be the dog Katherine is pictured with in an article of Ladies’ Field called Derry.

Katherine died on 5 June 1935 at Knights Farm and Mary appears in her will. Mary died on 15 November 1941, also at Knights Farm. Mary Gladstone gifted a stained-glass memorial for Katherine Courtauld in St Andrew’s Church, Colne Engaine. There also is a memorial dedicated to Mary Gladstone in St Andrew’s Church which was provided by the Courtauld family.

Mary Gladstone’s memorial in St Andrew’s church reads:

“In loving memory of Mary Gladstone who for many years lived at Knights Farm with her lifelong friend Katharine Mina Courtauld and died November 15th 1941. This tablet is placed here by the Courtauld family”

Due to the censorship of LGBT+ people throughout history, we must often make inferences about queer relationships. While each of these couples could have been very good friends, it is equally as possible that they were in a romantic relationship. There is evidence of women in romantic relationships naming their partners in their wills as a means to show their dedication to each other. For example, Lady Eleanor Butler, one of the ladies of Llangollen, bequeathed everything she owned to Sarah Ponsonby in 1829, and Anne Lister bequeathed her entire estate to Ann Walker in 1840. The women above also showed their commitment to each other in their memorial plaques which described lifelong friendships.

Preserving a photograph collection for the future

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Erica Donaghy writes about repackaging the photographs and enhancing the catalogue for the collection of Mr J Hayllar and requests your help to identify some mystery buildings!

An important aspect of the work we do here at ERO is ensuring items are housed in a way which protects them, assisting with their long-term preservation, whilst also allowing easier access to researchers where possible. Our first County Archivist, F.G. Emmison, wrote an article, ‘The Sage of the Big Intake’ (Essex journal, 26 (3) 1991, pp.56-58, 71) in which he described the ‘astonishing accumulation of historical documents’ in the first years when ERO was established. We constantly strive to improve the storage of these documents, especially as we now have access to acid free materials and un-dreamt of resources that our predecessors were not so lucky to have.

Tanner’s Farm, Great Dunmow
(I/Ha 68/1/13)
Middleton Church (I/Ha 135/1/1)
Dagenham
(I/Ha 63/1/4)

(Click on a picture above to be taken the a gallery for more information)

With this in mind, the Hayllar Collection (catalogue reference: I/Ha), which was deposited with the ERO in June 1950, has recently been re-housed and listed to item level. Not much is known about Mr J. Hayllar, other than that he lived in Hoddesdon, Hertfordshire. He travelled through various parishes in Essex photographing the parish churches, as well as secular buildings and other parts of the parish between 1920 and 1950. The photographs range from the exterior and interior of parish churches, to local estates, farms and mills as well as other local landmarks. The photographs are mostly focussed on the buildings themselves, but some show fascinating human elements such as vehicles, shop fronts, children playing and people going about their day.

The photographs were arranged by parish and stored in envelopes labelled with the parish name. These had already been catalogued to parish level by ERO staff.

Windmill, South Ockendon
(I/Ha 146/1/4)
The Old Sun Inn, Saffron Walden
(I/Ha 210/1/29)
Falcon Inn, Castle Hedingham
(I/Ha 99/1/12)

(Click on a picture above to be taken the a gallery for more information)

In 2023 a project began to re-house the photographs into pocketed transparent melinex sheets which would then be kept in acid-free boxes. This would not only contribute to their long-term preservation by protecting them from environmental factors, but would also reduce the risk of them being damaged or affected by being handled.

As this re-housing project was being undertaken, it was also a good opportunity to look more closely at their catalogue and it was decided to list each photograph individually. Mr J. Hayllar labelled his images clearly, often providing the names of buildings and streets or roads. This information has now been included in the catalogue in more detail, enabling researchers to search for photographs that might be of potential interest to them.

Whilst many photographs were labelled with enough information to identify the subject, whilst others were simply labelled ‘view in the village’, ‘street in the village’ or ‘old house in the village’. To try and identify as many of these as possible, staff here at the ERO used other images in the collection, images on the Historic England website as well as Streetview through google maps online. This has helped identify at least some of the subjects of the photographs, and if researchers have any further information to offer about other still-unidentified photographs we would be happy to hear from them!

High Easter
(I/Ha 71/1/11)
Little Hallingbury (I/Ha 92/1/9)
Henham
(I/Ha 102/1/13)
Matching
(I/Ha 133/1/8)
Radwinter
(I/Ha 157/1/11)
Great Waltham
(I/Ha 215/1/15)

(Click on a picture above to be taken the a gallery for more information)

The Collection has now been fully re-housed, labelled and stored at a new location in the repositories here at ERO. Fortunately for us, the new packing has not created a lot more volume than the original, as so often happens when items go to conservation! The item listed catalogue will be published online in due course at Essex Archives Online, and hopefully at some point in the future the photographs might be digitised to further protect them and increase access to these fascinating and beautiful images.

A Mappa Monday

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Customer Service Team Lead, Edward Harris, looks at the highs and lows of research using our manuscript map collection.

We may have said before that we love maps here at ERO. But some of our manuscript maps can leave you scratching your head.

We have often ordered up something titled “Map of the Parish of…”, hopeful that it will give us an extensive view of the parish in question, only to get something like D/DWe P5 below. A map of Bagg Wood belonging to Thomas White Esq surveyed in 1703.

Map of Bagg Wood in Aldham

Map of Bagg Wood in Aldham (D/DWe P5)

These maps may show one or more field with very little context and no real clue of where it is. We do at least know that it is in Aldham and which part of the ditch it was measured to!

Examining a Google maps satellite images leaves us with scant help. While many of the woodlands do reveal a name when clicked on, none of them are named Bagg Wood. A perusal of the National Library of Scotland’s excellent Geo-referenced map resource (https://maps.nls.uk/) reveals only one candidate that is roughly the right shape, but called Hoe Wood on the 2nd Edition 25” to the mile Ordnance Survey. I suppress a little frustration that the surveyors in the late 1880s didn’t include an acreage as they had done in the 1870’s.

The perfect next step was our collection of copy Tithe Maps. Listing the owner, occupier, acreage and cultivation of every plot of land in the parish, but often also the names of houses, fields and woodland.

The Tithe Map of Aldham, surveyed in around 1839 (D/CT 2B) and it’s accompanying Award (D/CT 2A) is wonderfully clear and easy to consult, but it is also clear that there is no Bagg Wood. What is however, is a vast array of land owned by a Thomas Western, the major landowner in Aldham. One plot of land is the aforementioned Hoe Wood with an Acreage of 21 Acres 2 Roods and 21 Perches. Close enough?

Tithe map of Aldham 1843 (D/CT 2B)

Then I realised that I had fallen for yet another pitfall of a manuscript map, North is not always at the top of the page. A quick 90 degree counter-clockwise rotation of the parchment revealed the North is actually to the right hand edge of the map, and Bagg Wood and Hoe Wood are one and the same.

To add to the clues, the “DWe” part of the maps reference, tells me that it is part of the papers of the Western family.

Manuscript maps are often less clear even than this one, half the fun is in trying to locate their features on a modern map. Manuscript maps can be beautiful. Having a set of maps beautifully crafted for your estate was the status symbol of its day.

By way of example, here is another estate map for the estate of Thomas Western. D/DCm P29 dating to 1809 and surveyed by Robert Baker meticulously records all of the estate over several membranes and is beautifully decorated.

The value of this volume of estate maps can be seen in the gold leaf and beautiful colours used. It has also been separated from the other family papers at some point which can be seen by the different reference. Was this because it was sold off at some point to raise some vital funds? Can you spot Bagg Wood? Also, bonus points if you spotted the route of the railway marked across the estate.

D-DCm P29 Plan

Plan of the Estate of Thomas Western (D/DCm P29)

What on earth is a Seax – Essex Day 2023

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The 26th October is the feast day of St Cedd, it is also Essex Day. Over on our social media we have taken you on a treasure trail of where you can find Seaxes here at the Essex Record Office. The three Seaxes will be familiar to many Essex residents as part of the logo for Essex County Council and on a red background, as their Coat of Arms. But what is a Seax and why has Essex taken it as their symbol? Customer Service Team Lead, Edward Harris delves deeper.

Essex County Council was first granted it’s Coat of Arms by the College of Arms on the 15th July 1932 comprising:

Essex Coat of ArmsGules, three Seaxes fessewise in pale Argent, pomels and hilts Or, pointed to the sinister and cutting edges upwards.

 

The somewhat archaic terms used by the College of Arms can be translated to:

Red, three Seaxes horizontal in pale silver, pommels and hilts gold, pointed to the viewers right with cutting edges upwards.

So now we know what the official Coat of Arms should look like, but we are still not given any clues as to the origin of the name Seax for the bladed weapons shown on the Coat of Arms.

The seax, (or scramasax as it is more usually called by archaeologists) is a weapon used by the Anglo-Saxon people who had displaced, at least culturally the Romano-British inhabitants of the British Isles in the 5th and 6th Centuries. The earliest evidence for the use of a Seax is from the mid 5th Century, though they would still see use in one form or another into the late 13th Century. The term Seax covers a whole family of germanic blades which varied widely in size and shape. The Anglo-Saxons widely used the distinctive broken back seax which varied in length from 30″ to as short as a few inches and, for most, it was probably a utility or defensive knife rather than a weapon of war.

Iron seax, with a straight cutting edge and sharply angled back, the tang offset from the blade.
© The Trustees of the British Museum.

It is from the Saxons that the County of Essex (along with the Ancient County of Middlesex) takes its name. The Boundary of Essex still resembles that of the Saxon Kingdom of Eastseaxe. And it is from this Saxon heritage that Essex adopted the seax as it’s symbol.

The Coat of Arms itself was in regular use well before the grant from the College of Arms in 1932 albeit unofficially. It is likely that the Arms were first assigned to the Saxon Kings of Essex by the more romantic minds of the Late 16th and early 17th Century, as the heraldry in any recognisable sense would not exist until the 12th Century.

One of the earliest mentions of a coat of arms is by Richard Verstegan who writes in 1605 of the East Saxons having two types of weapon, one long and one short. The latter being worn “privately hanging under their long-skirted coats” and “of this kind of hand-seax Erkenwyne King of the East Saxons did bear for his arms, three argent, in a field gules”

Peter Milman’s History of Essex 1771 (LIB/942.67 MUI1-6)

By the 18th Century the use of the Arms seems commonplace, in 1770, Peter Muilman published the first volume of his History of Essex. The frontispiece shows a shield with the three seaxes although with an unfamiliar shape.

The Plans for the building of the Shire Hall in Chelmsford drawn up in 1788 (Q/AS 1/1) clearly show the Seaxes emblazoned on its neo-classical portico. These wouldn’t form a part of the final design though with this space being blank in an engraving from 1795 (I/Mb 74/1/59) shortly after the building’s completion. It now houses a clock.

[You can find about more about the history of Shire Hall on our blog  – ed]

John Johnson plans for Shire Hall 1788 (Q/AS 1/1)

Engraving of Shire Hall shortly after it’s opening 1795 (I/Mb 74/1/59)

The seaxes on a red field would make numerous other appearances, among them: the Essex Equitable Insurance companies fire plate from around 1802; the Essex Local Militia ensign formed in 1809 and the Chelmsford Gazette in 1822. It appears on the cap badge of Essex Police and who remembers the single seax that appeared on the original logo for BBC Essex way back in 1986?

BBC Essex logo from 1986

The shape of the seax on Coats of Arms has led to confusion and myth. As you can see from the examples here, the shape of the Seax changes with use, the notched back of the weapon may simply be to distinguish it from a scimitar for which it is often mistaken. The notch itself has gained a myth all of its own. To many people the notch exists so that the Saxons could hook their Seax over the cap-rail of an enemy longboat to haul it closer.  This sounds rather difficult to achieve, but also to justify, given that the notch doesn’t appear on any of the real world weapons categorised as Seaxes.

The Coat of Arms of Essex

Either way, the Essex Coat of Arms remains an enigmatic and iconic link to our county’s Saxon past.

I owe much of the information that I have garnered from the excellent pamphlet ‘The Coat of Arms of The County of Essex’ produced by F.W. Steer, an Archivist at Essex Record Office ,in 1949 (LIB/929.6 STE) which is well worth a read on your next visit.

Just who is St Cedd? Essex Day 2023

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The 26th October is St Cedd’s day. It is also known as Essex Day as St Cedd is Essex’s very own patron saint. Bur who is St Cedd? And why is he held in such high esteem in Essex? Archive Assistant, Robert Lee takes a look at the life of St Cedd.

St Cedd – A Hagiography

Icon of St Cedd

Cedd’s life began in the Kingdom of Northumbria under the tutelage of Saint Aidan of Lindisfarne. The oldest of four brothers (Chad, Cynibil & Caelin), Cedd in particular would be unwavering to the Celtic Rite imbued to him by Aidan. Cedd’s introduction to Christianity was anti-diocesan: not liturgical and parochial, but peripatetic and abstinent. In one of very few sources on Cedd, the Venerable Bede’s Ecclesiastical History of the English People, emphasis is made on both Cedd and Chad’s devotion to Saint Aidan; such that four years after Aidan’s death in 651, Cedd is said to have been consecrated by the hands of his successor, Saint Finan of Lindisfarne.

Cedd’s reputation in Christendom had much to do with his proselytizing. In 653, at the behest of King Oswiu of Northumbria, Cedd journeyed into the Midlands with three other priests in order to evangelise the “Middle Angles”: an ethnic group predominantly living in Mercia. By Bede’s account, Cedd was greatly persuasive, with masses coming forward to listen to his preaching and receive baptism. Cedd’s enthusiasm would even sway the opinion of King Penda of Mercia, a long committed pagan. Later in the same year, Cedd would be recalled from Mercia and sent into Essex to aid King Sigeberht of the East Saxons. Again Cedd’s evangelism was highly successful, and Essex was thoroughly Christianised. For his efforts Cedd was ordained Bishop of the East Saxons.

Cedd attended the Synod of Whitby in 664 as a vigilant mediator between Iona (followers of the Celtic Rite) and those who followed the Roman Rite. Roman missionaries were arguing for their own computation of the calendar day of Easter, to which the predominantly Celtic northern English initially disagreed. Uncharacteristically, Cedd was won over by the catholic system, and converted to the Alexandrian computus of Easter Sunday. Following the Synod, Cedd returned to Northumbria to supervise the foundation of a monastery, but the Kingdom had been overwhelmed by the yellow plague, which would bring about Cedd’s death.

St Peters-on-the-wall in November with clear skies

St Peters-on-the-wall in November (Copyright Edward Harris)

Perhaps appropriately, Cedd is remembered far more for his itinerant sainthood than for government of the East Saxon Church. The chapel of Saint-Peter-on-the-Wall in Bradwell-on-Sea is said to have been built by Saint Cedd after his ordination. Having gone through several phases of disuse and ruination, the chapel still stands as testimony to Cedd; to God’s glory and the humility of man.

His role in converting the East Saxons and role as their bishop is the reason that Essex now claims Cedd as their patron saint.

If you would like to visit the Chapel of St Peter yourself it can be reached by taking East End Road from the brick built church in Bradwell-on-Sea for about one and a half miles, until you can see the carpark ahead of you, from there it is a ten minute walk to the Chapel. It is open all year and is well worth a visit!

All Along the Church Tower

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Archive Assistant Robert Lee takes a look at one of the many small interactions that went into the creation and updating of the Ordnance Survey maps that we know and love.

I/Mb 6/1/1 - Ardleigh Church from the South.
I/Mb 6/1/1 – Ardleigh Church from the South.

Between 1791 and 1845, The Board of Ordnance had commissioned a mass triangulation survey of Great Britain; endeavouring to produce a “grand meridian line, thro’ the whole extent of the Island” (Roy). Such an endeavour would fine tune the latitudes and longitudes of the country, and allow for more accurate mapping. Approximately 300 obelisks, all ostensibly placed on some high point, like hills and mountains, were plonked around Britain, upon which triangulation would be undertaken. Not all of these points were natural, however.

I have uncovered a letter (D/P 263/6/26), sent on behalf of the Ordnance Survey Office, to a church in Ardleigh, Essex. The letter warns vehemently, yet with a hint of irony and sympathy, of the need to occupy the church’s roof once more for a re-triangulation survey in 1938. “[I]t will be necessary”, the correspondent expounds, “to carry out most of the observations by night from and to small electric projectors”.

There is something beautifully modernist about the vignette of several Ordnance Surveyors perched atop a church tower in a small county parish, operating a heavy laser projector between old stone pinnacles. No more apparent is the imminent crossover between old-time religion and contemporary science.

New Series Ordnance Survey map Sheet 29.5 1923 - Ardleigh Church sporting a triangular mark on it's tower signifying the "Trig-point" or "Triangulation point" at the top of it's tower. These triangular marks can be seen all over Ordnance Survey maps, but always somewhere high up.
New Series Ordnance Survey map Sheet 29.5 1923 – Ardleigh Church sporting a triangular mark on it’s tower signifying the “Trig-point” or “Triangulation point” at the top of it’s tower. These triangular marks can be seen all over Ordnance Survey maps, but always somewhere high up.

Balancing the Challenges – Managing Heritage Landscapes alongside Contemporary Needs

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Essex Gardens Trust and Essex Record Office joint Symposium

Saturday 2 April, 10:00am to 3.30pm at the ERO, Chelmsford

We are delighted to be holding a joint all-day symposium in Chelmsford with the Essex Gardens Trust on Saturday 2 April 2022. This event was originally conceived and planned before the pandemic and after some enforced rescheduling, is now going ahead. The theme of the day is to explore some of the many challenges that heritage landscapes and gardens face today in trying to balance competing priorities of preservation, conservation, ecology, sustainability, and public access.

We will be welcoming to Essex, Peter Hughes, QC and Chair of The Gardens Trust whose talk is entitled “Opening the gates – Conservation and the Challenges of Garden Tourism”. Peter chose this subject for his Masters’ degree dissertation in Garden and Landscape History and undertook a case study of six important gardens around the country, some in public and some in private custodianship, and interviewed head gardeners and other prominent figures involved in garden conservation.

Cressing temple walled garden

A talk by Alison Moller – Garden Historian, lecturer, and researcher – will provide the landscape context for Essex landscape heritage sites tracing the geological formation of the land beneath the historic landscapes of Essex.

Landscape Architect, Liz Lake will explore how our historic landscapes can be a source of inspiration for modern day designers and an additional reason why they should be managed and conserved. Liz will pick out key features from historic designed landscapes and looks at how they have been reworked for our times.

Stephen Smith, Historic Gardens Consultant will speak on “A Vision for Landscape Conservation”. Many historic gardens and landscapes are managed by bodies with a culture and expectation which diverges greatly from those which envisage their restoration and conservation. For example, prejudice against exotic plant species on the one hand and an underappreciation of habitat management on the other are common points of divergence. He will argue that the different approaches can be detrimental to the original vision of a conservation project. In his paper, Stephen Smith will share his observations, drawing on examples of landscape conservation schemes on the London fringes of Essex and beyond, to identify the problems as well as proffer some mutually beneficial solutions.

Meadow

And finally, Ailsa Wildig – Chair of The Tuesday Research Group, at Warley Place will talk about How Warley Place still respects its garden history – From historic garden to nature reserve looking at the challenges facing those managing and caring for Ellen Willmott’s historic garden, that was recently listed as ‘at risk’ by Historic England.

This should be a fascinating day exploring some of the challenges facing those conserving historic landscapes and gardens and will also provide the opportunity to meet or catch up with others working or with interests in these fields.

Tickets, costing £30 and include a light lunch, can be booked at https://www.eventbrite.co.uk/e/essex-gardens-trust-essex-record-office-joint-symposium-tickets-251982946777

Essex Gardens Trust; caring about our green spaces

A History of the County of Essex Vol XII St Osyth to the Naze:

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North-East Essex Coastal Parishes. Part 1: St Osyth, Great and Little Clacton, Frinton, Great Holland and Little Holland

The latest volume of the Victoria County History of the County of Essex has been presented to Martin Astell the Essex Record Office Manager. This is the first of two volumes covering the North East Essex coastal parishes, from St Osyth to Walton on the Naze. Boydell and Brewer are also offering a spectacular 35% off for a limited period only. More details on that can be found below. All of the Victoria County History volumes draw heavily on the documents which are held at the Essex Record Office.

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The nine Essex parishes lying in a coastal district between St Osyth and the Naze headland at Walton encompass a number of distinct landscapes, from sandy cliffs to saltmarshes, recognised as environmentally significant. The landscape has constantly changed in response to changing sea levels, flooding, draining and investment in sea defences. Inland, there was an agriculturally fertile plateau based on London Clay, but with large areas of Kesgrave sands and gravels, loams and brickearths. Parts were once heavily wooded, especially at St Osyth.

The district was strongly influenced by the pattern of estate ownership, largely held by St Paul’s Cathedral from the mid-10th century. About 1118-19 a bishop of London founded a house of Augustinian canons at St Osyth, which became one of the wealthiest abbeys in Essex. Most other manors and their demesnes in the district were small and their demesne tenants were of little more than local significance.

Martin Astell, the Essex Record Office Manager adds the ERO’s copy of volume XII to the Searchroom shelves.

The area’s economy was strongly affected by the coast and its many valuable natural resources, including the extraction or manufacture of sand, gravel, septaria, copperas and salt, and activities such as fishing, tide milling, wrecking and smuggling. However, it remained a largely rural district and its wealth ultimately depended upon the state of farming. Until the eighteenth century it specialised in dairying from both sheep and cattle, but afterwards production shifted towards grain.

The coastal area has produced significant evidence of early man and was heavily exploited and settled in prehistory. The medieval settlement pattern largely conformed to a typical Essex model, with a complex pattern of small villages, hamlets and dispersed farms, many located around greens or commons.

Contents

Introduction: The North East Essex Coast; St Osyth; Great and Little Clacton; Frinton; Great Holland; Little Holland; Glossary; Note on Sources; and, Bibliography.

Offer Price £61.75 / $107.25

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Researching From Home

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With Dr James Bettley

Dr James Bettley is an architectural historian, currently planning his next project.

Where is your office?

I’m lucky to have a study on a mezzanine floor at the back of the house that makes it feel quite separate from the rest of the house. We’ve lived here for 30 years and I’ve been working from home for 20, so the current situation doesn’t feel that strange.

Do you have a view out of a window when you are working? What is it and is it a distraction?

There are two windows, facing east and south, with views over our garden and fields beyond. The windows are not in my direct line of site so I don’t find the view too distracting.

What Essex research are you catching up on? Will this result in something published?

I’m thinking about a couple of subjects – John Bateman of Brightlingsea, and the 20th-century restorations of St Peter’s Chapel, Bradwell – but the research I really want to do involves travelling in the UK and abroad, so that’s on hold for the time being. Any thoughts of publication are very remote just yet.

Do you set yourself a strict timetable to work to or just pick up your research as and when?

Generally when I’m at home I work from 8 to 6 with an hour for lunch and a walk, but I’m slipping into a more relaxed coronavirus regime of concentrated working from 9 to 1, lunch followed by a couple of hours permitted exercise or essential shopping, then catching up on emails etc until 6 or so.

Do you have a favourite online resource?

British Newspaper Archive. Endlessly diverting.

What is your favourite research beverage and snack?

Coffee, mainly. I tend not to snack, although I can’t pretend that if there’s a packet of biscuits open I don’t occasionally…

Apart from the news, is there anything that distracts you from your research?

I’m easily distracted by emails, tweets etc, but not for long.

What are you most looking forward to when you are able to visit ERO again?

T/M 508/2. It’s only a photograph of a map (the original’s at New College, Oxford, who owned land at Bradwell) but it includes a vignette of ‘St Peter’s Chapel in Ruins’ that I’d like to see. But mostly I’m simply looking forward to being able to visit the ERO and a number of other libraries and archives again. Perhaps we’ll value you all the more after this period of abstinence and deprivation.