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  • Arminghall – Robert Breeze

    I haven’t spent much time looking at this data set before, but they’re the lists of habitual criminals during the nineteenth century. I’m focused on Arminghall at the moment (for anyone wondering why there is a flurry of posts about Bixley and Arminghall, it’s because I’m leading a walk there), so Robert Breeze caught my eye.

    The document above tells me that he was born in 1847, he worked as a labourer, he was single, he had a fair complexion, he had blue eyes, he was stout in shape, 5″3′ tall and had an oval shape head. For anyone who is doing their family tree then hope for a criminal, there’s certainly lots of information about them and many even have photos.

    Further than that, the document tells me that he was born in Wymondham and that he spent the period from 19 February to 18 June 1891 at Norwich prison. Norwich prison on Mousehold Heath had opened in 1887, replacing the prison within Norwich Castle, so he was located in a more modern building.

    As can be seen above, he also had four previous convictions (and some acquittals) and was planning to live in Trowse, which is near to Arminghall, on his release. Some of this crimes are breaches of the Elementary Education Act, so I assume from this he has children. Incidentally, what on earth was happening in Kenninghall and Mr. Hurrell? Probably best not to know.

    A little digging in the Norwich Mercury covering the assizes (or trials) showed that the judge in charge was Sir Charles Edward Pollock, the Baron of the Court of the Exchequer. He sentenced our (I call him our, I feel I nearly know him now) Robert Breeze to his four months in prison, with hard labour, for stealing fowl in Arminghall on 28 January 1891. Breeze pleaded guilty to the crime, with the fowl belonging to Arthur Stimpson and it was valued at 2s 6d.

    In August 1892, the Norfolk Chronicle reported that a Robert Breeze had been charged with being drunk whilst in charge of a horse and cart on St. Stephen’s Plain in Norwich. At the time this Robert was living at Villa Gardens in Lakenham, a pub which closed in 1895, which might not have been ideal. The newspaper also noted that Robert Breeze was also known as Robert Woods, although our Breeze was definitely his real name as I’ve found his birth records.

    In March 1896, the Norfolk News reported that a Robert Breeze was found in Ber Street in Norwich rather under the influence at just before eleven at night. Police Constable Coleman suggested that he stopped swearing and went home. Our Robert “refused to do anything of the kind and he made use of some disgusting language”, to which he found himself “marched to the police station”. He was fined 15 shillings for his behaviour which is around £65 in today’s money if we use the National Archives currency converter. For someone who was “of no fixed residence” I’m not sure how that was paid.

    The problem with these two drunken cases, and also from here is that there are two men called Robert Breeze in Norfolk who commit crimes in the last few years of the nineteenth century and also into the early twentieth century. They are two men, our Robert and a much younger one. Unfortunately, the records don’t make it clear which individual the court papers and newspaper reports are referring to, so I’d like to think that things went well for our Robert. They probably didn’t given the time and social conditions when he lived, but I can’t find his death details to be able to work out what happened.

  • Arminghall – St. Mary’s Church Arminghall (Wall Paintings)

    The historic record for Arminghall Church notes that there was a sixteenth century wall painting of St. Christopher which was destroyed. I was intrigued to know exactly when this little piece of destruction took place, and I have been able to narrow it down to the summer of 1876.

    It was during late 1876 that a group from the Norfolk and Norwich Archaeological Society decided to take a trip to numerous locations across the county. One of them was a visit to St. Mary’s which they discovered was “undergoing repair”. This was indeed the case, as John Pollard Seddon was leading a large restoration and rebuilding of the church, changing it to reflect Victorian requirements.

    I can imagine the group’s irritation when they discovered that Seddon had done away with what was apparently a beautiful wall painting, replacing it what he must have thought was a delightful white wall. The report from the time says that the group discovered that the painting on the south wall had been “stripped” and added “much to the chagrin of a few of the party”. I’m surprised he managed to only upset a few of the party….

    Fortunately a copy of the murals had been drawn before they had been destroyed, I’ll have to at some point look for that…..

  • Arminghall – St. Mary’s Church Arminghall (Tunnels)

    There is a story in the Norfolk Chronicle in 1898 that an elderly local countryman had told their correspondent that there was a tunnel which led from Caistor camp to Arminghall Church. The correspondent didn’t take that suggestion very seriously, but he noted that the countryman had said that he himself had been in the Caistor end. I still like this story, which is somewhat beyond the realms of possibility, solely because it adds a little extra magic to the church.

  • Bixley – Saint Wandregesilius Church (George Marmaduke Seaman)

    George Marmaduke Seaman was one of the two men from this parish who died in the two world wars. The two men killed were brothers, with George’s elder brother William dying during the First World War.

    George was the son of William Seaman and Catherine Elizabeth Seaman, and was the husband of Marjorie Amy Seaman. During the First World War he served in the Royal Navy, stationed on HMS Royal Oak.

    He died at the age of 58 on Saturday 15 March 1941.

  • Bixley – Saint Wandregesilius Church (Pilgrimage)

    Still on my theme of Bixley Church (I put Bixley as it’s easier to spell than Wandregesilius) I’m intrigued at the scale of the pilgrimages which went on here.

    There are a few references to the pilgrimages which took place to the church, this is the last that I can find before the Reformation. It doesn’t help that generations of locals have managed to spell Wandregesilius in such a wide variety of ways, in this case Wandrede. Although, being honest, that is a lot easier to spell.

    These pilgrimages were made by others to help the soul of the person who had died, helping in their salvation. All a bit of a burden on the living, although if there was a financial contribution in the will then I suppose that made things rather more tolerable.

  • Bixley – Saint Wandregesilius Church (War Dead)

    Further to my main post about Bixley Church, there are burials of two war dead in the churchyard. I haven’t yet found these gravestones, but I will make a renewed effort to locate them. There was one war casualty in each of the two World Wars and they were brothers.

    William Seaman, died aged 35 on Saturday 20 May 1916.

    Lieutenant George Marmaduke Seaman, died aged 58 on Saturday 15 March 1941.

  • Bixley – Saint Wandregesilius Church (George Parker)

    Still on my theme of graves at Bixley Church, the arson hit church near Norwich, below is the grave of George Parker. Unfortunately many of the graves are becoming unreadable, but this one has remained in decent condition.

    George Parker died in January 1864 at the age of 81 years old, having been born in 1783. His death was reported in the Norfolk Chronicle, noting that he “died on Wednesday last, Mr. George Parker, Bixley, many years a resident of that parish, deeply lamented by his family, and much respected by a numerous circle of friends”.

    At the time of the 1851 census, George Parker is listed as living at Bixley Hall in Bixley, along with his wife Mary (born in 1789), his son Charles (born in 1825) and his grand son Edward (born in 1840). There were also two servants, Mary Ann Sandle and Mary Flud (both born in 1826), with George and Charles listed as farmers.

    The family was though bigger than this, as in the 1841 census, there were more children listed, Granville (aged 25), Thomas (aged 20), William (aged 15), Charles (aged 15) and Frederick (aged 14).

    I’m doubting whether the Parkers did live at Bixley Hall itself, as this was a grand house that was owned by the Earls of Rosebery and then later on by the wealthy Colman family. But they likely lived in a building attached to the hall, or nearby. George Parker does appear on the electoral rolls though. This was at a time when not every man (let alone woman) had the vote, so everyone had to qualify. Parker qualified as he was a “£50 occupier” (a property which had the required annual value) and was listed as “living on the road from Norwich to Loddon”.

    In the 1861 census, George Parker is listed as living on Bixley Road and as being a retired farmer, living with his granddaughter Julia Mary Parker and two servants, Elizabeth Walls and John Harn. I’ll have to come back to find out more about George Parker, as he seems to have had some wealth, which should mean there’s plenty more to discover about him.

  • Bixley – Saint Wandregesilius Church (James Betts)

    When I last visited this fire hit church the former churchyard was in a state of dereliction and most of the graves couldn’t be seen. Someone has done a splendid job of cutting down some of the undergrowth so that the graves can be seen, but it hasn’t ruined the tranquillity of the site.

    I have a habit, which I should probably get out of, of looking at a grave stone and wondering about who that person was and what they used to do. It’s a little bit of a random hobby (I say hobby, I don’t do it very often) as there’s no real method of which graves seem interesting to me.

    This is the grave of James Betts who died on 1 August 1877 at the age of 66 years old. Born in 1811 he was married to Elizabeth (born in 1813) and the gravestone notes that he was of the parish of Bixley.

    There he is on the 1871 census, right at the bottom, a gardener who lived on the Loddon Road at Bixley. This doesn’t give a whole amount of useful information, but it becomes apparent there’s more on the next page….

    And here are a few more details, his wife Elizabeth, and mention of his two sons, James who was born in 1849 and Henry who was born in 1850.

    James died in 1877, but the 1881 census has his wife Elizabeth living at Hill Cottages in Bixley, which is just south of the Norwich Southern Bypass in what is now better known as Whitlingham. She’s living with Henry, who is also a gardener, and a female called Mary Betts who is listed as the daughter, but I’m assuming who is Henry’s wife. Also living there is Charles Betts, a nine year old boy who is Elizabeth’s grand-son.

    That’s unfortunately it, no other obvious records exist for James Betts, and I can’t even locate him on some of the earlier censuses.

  • Bixley – Saint Wandregesilius Church (Rectors)

    I have more on the ruins of Bixley Church, but below is a list of rectors from the parish from over the centuries.

    1294 : Roger de Bykerwyke

    1304 : John de Brigham

    1316 : Richard de Linnbandesheye

    1318 : William de Overtone

    1349 : John de Hardleston

    1349 : Gilbert Arches

    1361 : John de Thornham

    1367 : John de Esterford

    1419 : Thomas Benny

    1421 : John Samson

    1426 : William Wyverton

    1467 : Thomas Maystyr

    1482 : Robert Murcoth

    1485 : Henry Bele

    1490 : John Custance

    1497 : John Dalle

    1513 : Robert Hubbard

    15?? : George Troghleye

    1528 : Ronald Johnson

    1540 : John Alen

    15?? : Ralph Hayton

    1570 : William Bainbrigge

    15?? : Henry Lynney

    1601 : John Holden

    1615 : David Thaxter

    1625 : Robert Cowell

    16?? : Thomas Watts

    1672 : Thomas Frost

    1674 : Richard Webster

    1682 : Giles Wilcox

    1690 : William Dylke

    1728 : David Fleming

    1747 : Henry Goodall

    1781 : William Dowson

    1800 : Samuel Hudson

    1810 : Peter Wallond Moore

    1813 : John Bowman

    1848 : Charles Brereton

    1876 : Henry Cecil Fellowes

    1878 : Charles Turner

    1887 : Alfred Edward Alston

  • Bixley – Saint Wandregesilius Church

    Sadly, this church was destroyed by fire on 14 May 2004, even more unfortunate was that it was an arson attack. There has been a church here since Saxon times and it seems enormously sad that a church set fire 15 years ago is still in this state. Realistically not much can now be done other than to knock down most of the nave and just keep the tower.

    The tower is perhaps the most interesting part of the church, not just because it’s mostly what is left standing, but also because it’s the oldest remaining part. The tower dates to the fourteenth century whilst most of the rest of the church dates to 1868.

    The church was once quite influential and important, and it is the only one in the country which is dedicated to Saint Wandregesilius. And this in itself is a slight mystery, as why does a church in rural Norfolk have a dedication to a Benedictine abbot from France? Wandregesilius, or Vandrille, went on a pilgrimage to Rome and then, to allow himself a religious life, he left his wife. History doesn’t record exactly what she thought of this. He then became a hermit before going to live and work in the Benedictine monastery at Montfaucon. After that he went to St. Ursanne, Jura, which is now in Switzerland, and then became a hermit.

    However, back to the question of why the church is dedicated to him. Wandregesilius also founded the monastery of Fontenelle, and it’s that which is one possibility. The Norman conquerors of the area came from Normandy (obviously given the name) and the name and reputation could have come over at that time.

    But there’s another solution suggested by a former vicar of the area, AE Alston, who said that the church likely fell into disuse by the late thirteenth century and it was refounded by William de Dunwich. It’s suggested that he possessed a devotion to, or a relic of, Wandregesilius and that is why the church was rededicated to him.

    On another matter, once upon a time there was a medieval village in the area, but this has now gone and so have the roads and footpaths which served the church. The church was also once an important pilgrimage centre, so this was a significant location.

    The damage to the porch, with the former nave being unreachable as there are barriers up to prevent entry.

    Although the church was heavily modernised when it was restored, and indeed rebuilt, in 1868, it hadn’t changed a great deal since then until it was hit by the fire. Back in the sixteenth century there were two bells in the tower, but the mid-nineteenth century there was just one, with an inscription reading:

    “I to the church the living call, and to the grave summons us all”.

    Very cheery.

    It seems that the oak rood-screen survived the 1868 restoration, although I assume that it was either missing before the fire or destroyed during it. The register of burials, marriages and funerals was reported to still exist in 1900, with the book dating back to the seventeenth century and it contained the baptisms since 1575, the marriages to 1563 and the burials to 1593. I shall try and locate where that book is now…..

    For anyone who wants a list of rectors of the church (and I’m not expecting this to hit the tens of millions if I’m being honest) then they’re here.