Frome, Somerset

I spent a glorious week in Frome, Somerset in the delightful home of Richard and Hilary. This is a really mind-bending place. It was originally three cottages which were built about 1653 then knocked together. It's then been added to at the front, rear and all around. There are masses of stairs, all at crazy angles and in unexpected places. There are little windows poking out of every conceivable corner. When you go to the bathroom you open the door outwards and are then confronted with three more stairs. When you climb them you realise that the door handle is now down near your ankles, making closing the door quite fun!

The space between what was formerly two separate cottages is covered with a huge skylight, which spreads light throughout the groud floor. On one entire wall a view of the Himalayas is painted, and that is over-hung by a grotto of rough rocks. There are plants growing indoors and outdoors. It is a odd house with no straight lines, and I loved it!

I was shown around Frome by several enthusiastic local historians and genealogists. I found the home where my ancestor, Emma Charlotte Whitaker, lived and worked as a cook immediately before marrying a boy from her home village and emigrating to Australia in 1871. I worshipped in the church that Emma attended, and had a marvellous time going through all the ancient record books, lovingly and carefully tended by Richard, the church archivist.

Thanks to Richard, I also managed to make a quick visit to Stourton, the village that was the subject of my PhD thesis, and the original home of Emma Whitaker. I was due to have 'supper' (as they call it England) with Henry Hoare, to whom I am endebted for assistance during my research. As I had several hours to myself before supper I spent them wandering about the magnificent Stourhead Gardens, a National Trust property. I had the place effectively to myself and alternately scrambled about the rough parts and lay under ancient trees in landscaped parts to read. It was a wonderful afternoon. Henry and his wife Caromy were fabulous hosts and I thoroughly enjoyed my evening in Stourton too.

On Tuesday 10th August I was the featured speaker at a special meeting of the Somerset & Dorset Family History Society in Frome. I spoke on geographic mobility, cousin marriage and illegitimacy in southwest England. The talk was fun to give and was apparently well-received. I wanted to give the presentation, and indeed to visit Frome, in order to thank in person as many people as possible who contributed to my PhD in one way or another. A key factor in the success of my thesis, which set it apart from projects completed many decades ago, was that I was given literally hundreds of parish register transcriptions in electronic form, amounting to millions of entries of baptism, marriage and burial. Most of these transcriptions were done by people associated with Frome and I wanted to thank them myself. And I did! :-)

On Thursday 12th August, Richard put me on a train at Bath Spa and I headed off to Durham, some 250 miles north. But why?