On my last blog-post, I wrote about Philip Morant’s 1760s book that documented eighteenth century Essex:
The History and Antiquities of the County of Essex.
It was the first county history of Essex and published in two volumes: the first in 1763 and the last in 1768.
The book contained a number of maps of the Hundreds of Essex. All beautifully executed and drawn.
Unfortunately, because of these beautiful maps, many surviving books have suffered considerable damage – with many plates removed and sold separately. Many of these maps are on eBay today!
Here they are, the Hundreds of Essex, as they were in the 1760s. Can you spot your own home town?
Hundreds of Barstable, Rochford and Dengy
Map of Beacontree, Waltham & Ongar Hundreds, and Havering Liberty
Map of Lexden Hundred
Map of Chelmsford & Witham Hundreds
Map of Dunmow Hundred
Map of Hinckford Hundred
Map of Clavering, Uttlesford and Freshwater Hundreds
Map of Thurstable, Winstree and Tendring Hundreds
Check back next week when I’ll be putting on my blog other images contained within Morant’s book
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Did anyone watch the D-Day 75 flypast go out through Essex today?
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A poignant moment for many watching. Not least because the powers-that-be think this will be the last such display as the veterans are now sadly so old.
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My granddad – Thomas Hopkins – was part of D-Day landings. In June 1944, he was Acting Captain for the 21st Army Group. He – and his men – went across on the D-Day landings on 11 June 1944.
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The entire D-Day landings took from the 6th June to 30th June 1944 to complete.
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This from Wikipedia
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“The 21st Army Group operated in Northern France, Luxembourg, Belgium, the Netherlands and Germany from June 1944 until August 1945, when it was renamed the British Army of the Rhine (BAOR).
The 21st Army Group had six armoured divisions (including the Polish 1st Armoured Division), ten infantry divisions, two airborne divisions, nine independent armoured brigades and two commando brigades. Logistical units included six supply unit headquarters, 25 Base Supply Depots (BSDs), 83 Detail Issue Depots (DIDs), 25 field bakeries, 14 field butcheries and 18 port detachments. The entire army group was supported over the beaches and through the Mulberry artificial port specially constructed for the purpose.“
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My Granddad was quickly swallowed up in the fighting in Normandy where he made contact with and fought alongside the French Resistance.
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His war was hazy. He never told anyone about it. Not surprisingly, because when he came home, he divorced my grandmother. And promptly married the daughter of the local French Resistance leader where he had been based in 1944.
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By the end of the war, he was appointed Acting Major. A rank confirmed on him in 1954 after he relinquished his commission. He was awarded on OBE in 1960 due to his services as an architect in the reconstruction and rebuilding of London after the war.
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Sadly I didn’t know him, as I was a toddler when he died in the 60s.
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First two photos taken sometime between 1942 and 1944, when he was a cavalry officer. Last photo when he was a young man in the 1930s, shortly after he was in charge of Eric the Whale – the 80 ton embalmed whale – at Southend’s The Kursaal.
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Tonight, I’ll be raising a toast to Captain (later Major) Hopkins. And all the others that risked or gave their lives on those beaches in Normandy throughout June 1944.
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My Grandpa: Thomas Hutchinson Hopkins. A scally-wag and rogue. But a brave D-Day hero nonetheless.
Not sure how to trace your family tree?… Need help researching the history of your house?..Would a Discovery Research Plan aid you in your own historical research?
The last few posts on my blog, I’ve shown you images from Philip Morant’s 1748 book on Colchester
“The History and Antiquities of the most ancient town and borough of Colchester”
In the 1760s, he also wrote about the whole of Essex
📚“The History and Antiquities of the County of Essex”.📚
This later book was the first county history of Essex. It was published in two volumes: the first in 1763 and the last in 1768.
As with his earlier Colchester book, this history also contains beautiful elaborate engravings and plates – this time of grand Essex houses and churches, and maps of Essex.
After hunting around the internet, I’ve found that there were approximately 250 first edition copies printed, and the complete 2 volume first edition should contain
24 engravings of grand Essex houses and churches
9 maps
But, once again, many surviving books have suffered considerable damage – due to these beautiful images – with many plates removed and sold separately.
đź’¸This perfect copy – with all its plates intact – is currently for sale in America – at the price of $3,500 (plus import duty). đź’¸
There is a 1970s reprint – but even copies of that start at £125 and that’s only for a copy in “acceptable” condition!!
đź’¸I really must start doing the lottery!đź’¸
This map is just inside the front cover of the book (if it hasn’t been detached and sold separately!). It is a map of the entire county – as it was in the 1760s – including all the parts of Essex that are today considered to be administrative London Boroughs (although geographically still part of Essex).
Philip Morant’s map of Essex in the 1760s
Check back next week when I’ll be putting on my blog some of the beautiful maps of Essex’s Hundreds contained within Morant’s book
Not sure how to trace your family tree?… Need help researching the history of your house?..Would a Discovery Research Plan aid you in your own historical research?
The last few posts on my blog, I’ve shown you images from Philip Morant’s 1748 book on Colchester
“The History and Antiquities of the most ancient town and borough of Colchester”
Today’s post shows some of the images from his book
Below is Morant’s description of the Castle.
This stately pile stands on the north-side of the High-Street, almost opposite to All Saints Church. It is a square of about 224 yards in circumference on the outside, all projections and windings included. The four sides lie nearly to the four principal points of the compass. The building consists of the outer walls 12 feet thick in the lower story, and 11 in the upper, flanked at the corners, with strong and lofty towers: On the inside there run, north and south, two strong parallel walls, which served for partitions and supports to the several apartments, but the greatest part of the westernmost wall is taken down. The easternmost is built in the Roman, that is, the herringbone fashion.”
The gate of the Castle is on the south-side; and within, on the left hand, and in the south-west tower, is the grand staircase. On the right hand as you go in, is a large vault above ground, well arched; over which, out door leading from the grand staircase, was the passage into the chapel: This stands in the south-east tower, or rather bastion, being strongly arched at the top; the length of it from east to west, is 47 feet; the width of it from north to south 40 feet, where widest; and the height proportion able. Below it is a good arched vault, now used for a prison; or bridewell.”
Within the ground, under the. greatest part of the Castle, there are side and spacious vaults; they were discovered not above seventy years ago, being full of sand on which the arches were turned; the sand was taken out at a considerable expense, by John Wheely, who was endeavouring to pull the Castle down; and, to carry off the sand, he cut a cart-way through the foundation-wall near the north-east corner, where the wall is 30 feet thick, but it did not answer expectation. The partition in these vaults supporting the arches, is exactly in the form of a cross.
Taken from “The History and Antiquities of the Most Ancient Town and Borough of Colchester in the County of Essex”
South East View of Colchester Castle, 1748
North-East view of Colchester Castle, 1748
Learn more about Colchester Castle and the role it played during Essex’s witchcraft trials of the 16th and 17th century from my online course
Last week, I showed you pictures of one of my most coveted books – Philip Morant’s
“The History and Antiquities of the Most Ancient Town and Borough of Colchester in the County of Essex, in Three Books. Collected Chiefly from Manuscripts. With an Appendix of Records and Original Papers.”
Morant was arguably the most important chronicler of Essex. Writing in the eighteenth century, his books give us, the, modern reader, a unique peak into Essex as it looked nearly three hundred years ago.
His first book about the town of Colchester was published in 1748.
Today, I’m showing you a few of the engravings and plates from his book.
Below, the first plate shows the ruins of St Botolph’s Priory in Colchester – as it was in 1748.  Today in the care of English Heritage and Colchester Borough Council, the Priory is an important part of the town’s heritage.
Next is the plate showing the north prospect of the town – as it was in 1748. I suspect that those fields in the foreground of the engraving are now long gone?
Below is Morant’s plate showing St John’s Abbey Gate – as it was in 1748. Today in the care of English Heritage and Colchester Borough Council, the Gate is an important part of the town’s heritage.
“This elaborate 15th-century gatehouse is all that remains standing of the Benedictine abbey of St John the Baptist that stood outside the walled town of Colchester. The extent of the abbey is still defined by the much-repaired precinct wall, and the gatehouse stands at the centre of the northern boundary.”
“The abbey was founded in 1095 by Eudo Dapifer, William the Conqueror’s High Steward and Constable of Colchester Castle. From its inception the abbey made a major contribution to the development of medieval Colchester and became a wealthy and privileged house, despite losing part of its buildings to fire in 1133.”
“In the late 14th and early 15th centuries, perhaps as a result of the Peasants’ Revolt of 1381, the abbey strengthened its defences and the gatehouse was added as part of this revamping around 1400.”
“St John’s was one of a handful of abbeys that refused to surrender to Henry VIII’s Commissioners during the Suppression, succumbing only after the execution of the abbot for treason.”
“The property was eventually acquired by the Lucas family who converted some of the abbey buildings into a house. It remained their family seat until the mid-17th century, but it suffered considerable damage as a Royalist stronghold during the siege of Colchester in 1648. The gatehouse itself was stormed by Parliamentary troops and their artillery damaged the vaulted roof and destroyed part of the upper storey.”
“The site was used to house Dutch prisoners in the 1660s, after which the remaining abbey buildings appear to have been demolished; there are no references to occupation after the mid-18th century.”
By the time of Philip Morant’s work, only the Gate of this once great abbey remained (as above). So, Morant included another engraving – depicting the abbey’s church as it was back in the 1500s – before Henry VIII dissolved it and the abbey’s abbot was executed for high treason for rebelling against the king.
The engraving in Morant’s book was based on a much earlier sixteenth century drawing. A drawing that was then (in the 1740s) in the “Cotton Library” (see the text at the bottom of the plate).
From Wikipedia, this is the description of the Cotton Library:-
“The Cotton or Cottonian library is a collection of manuscripts once owned by Sir Robert Bruce Cotton MP (1571–1631), an antiquarian and bibliophile. It later became the basis of what is now the British Library, which still holds the collection. After the Dissolution of the Monasteries, many priceless and ancient manuscripts that had belonged to the monastic libraries began to be disseminated among various owners, many of whom were unaware of the cultural value of the manuscripts. Cotton’s skill lay in finding, purchasing and preserving these ancient documents.”
A great picture – but of a scene that no longer existed by the time of Philip Morant’s 1748 book.
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As a historian and an avid enthusiast of old books, I love a good rummage around a second hand book shop. My children despair over the number of books in my house. We have bookcases upon bookcases.
đź“šđź“šđź“šđź“šđź“šBooks everywhere.
I’m a firm believer that you can’t have too many books. But, I must admit that I’m not a great lover of Kindle. I have a handful of books on Kindle – as I much prefer to hold a real book.
đź“– Books. The original hand-held device!đź“–
Although last week, I went against everything I’ve just said about Kindle. I purchased a book on my Kindle! My reasons being that the Kindle version was about a twentieth of the price of the “real thing”.
I would much rather own the real thing. Maybe one day when I win the lottery… However, until I win the lottery (not that I do it), I’ll have to make do with my Kindle version.
đź“–The book I purchased on Kindle was a facsimile edition of a Harvard University owned copy of the splendidly named:
“The History and Antiquities of the Most Ancient Town and Borough of Colchester in the County of Essex, in Three Books. Collected Chiefly from Manuscripts. With an Appendix of Records and Original Papers.”
✍️This important work was written in 1748 – nearly 300 years ago – and is the first “travelogue” and guide to an Essex town.
Written by Philip Morant, this book, along with his later 1760s book (covering the whole Essex), are arguably the most important works about Essex.
There is a great deal of information on the internet about Philip Morant – including the various Essex parishes and rectories where he was the rector. Although born on the island of Jersey, he was very much an important Essex man, and the first chronicler of our county.
He is still remembered today in the name of one of the secondary schools in Colchester – the Philip Morant school.
📖Back to his first published book… “The History and Antiquities of Colchester, in the County of Essex.”
đź“–On second-hand bookshop websites, copies of the Colchester book ranges in price from ÂŁ200 to ÂŁ800. Hence me purchasing my ÂŁ3 Kindle copy!…
📖The price-range of Morant’s books are so great (particularly First Editions) because he produced the most amazing plates of maps and engravings of Essex buildings.
These were all included in his books. Over the centuries these engravings have become – err-hmmm – detached from their original book and sold separately.
Two hundred copies of the Colchester book were printed in 1748 as the First Edition.
With such a scarce number of originals surviving, it is incredibly hard to work out how many engravings and plates the book should have. And what those engravings/plates should be!
From digging around the internet and reading various summaries, I’ve found that the Colchester book should have about 9 engravings/plates (can anyone confirm that?).
My Kindle copy (from no less the Harvard University!) has only 4 plates! Hmmmm…..
The image below is the book plate from Harvard University and the librarian’s date stamp showing that the book was last lent in 1974.
đź“–Below is an image of one of Philip Morant’s books that’s currently for sale on the internet – at the price of ÂŁ800. With such high price (others start at ÂŁ200), it must have all its plates and engravings intact.
đź’µMaybe I should just Crowdfund my blog and Facebook page – then I might have enough money to buy it. 💵
Can’t you just smell the book from this delicious photo!
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If you want to receive regular local history, social history and family history emails from me, then please do subscribe to my email using the button below.
Every day throughout 2019, I have been posting a short historical post on my Facebook page.  Click the link and join me on my page! https://www.facebook.com/KateJCole/
Yesterday, my brothers and I – along with our families – went ancestor hunting in Spitalfields Market in the east end of London.
A lovely family get-together but with an ulterior motive…
To meet our Cole and Parnall ancestors.
It’s always a strange – but very familiar – place for me to visit. I used to work nearby on Bishopsgate – when I was still in the corporate world. I often visited Spitalfields market for my lunch.
But its main pull for me is that Bishopsgate is a place where 7 consecutive generations of my family have worked at one time or another since the 1830s.
From my youngest daughter – all the way back in time to my great-great-great grandfather, William Parnall. At least one member of every single generation – without a break – has worked on Bishopsgate.
Just round the corner from Bishopsgate is Brushfield Street – on the very edge of Spitalfields Market.
This is where my family’s past hurtles its way forward to meet the present.
Or rather where we can race back through time and space to meet our Cole ancestors.
All thanks to a chance discovery I made 30 years ago…. A plaque with my great-great grandfather’s name – R A Cole – sunk into an 18th century building in Spitalfields.
Robert Andrew Cole and his wife Sarah Cole. Churchwarden of Christchurch Spitalfields, and also Victorian grocers and teadealers of Spitalfields market.
Following our beloved Dad’s death 3 years ago, we three, his children, swore we’d get as many of our family as possible together. And celebrate our unity and strength – after some incredibly tough years – together by the Cole plaque.
Not all our family are here. But we still managed to get 3 generations into our photo. All descendants (or married to descendants) of Robert Andrew and Sarah Cole.
Nearly 150 years ago, in exactly the same place where we stood, our ancestors (and their surviving children) watched the unveiling of their plaque.
Yesterday the youngest descendants walked, for the first time, in the steps of their ancestors.
A spine tingling moment.
150 years after the Robert Andrew and Sarah Cole lived here, three of their great-great-great grandchildren (one also called Sarah Cole), posed with the youngest family member – a great-great-great-great grandson.
Try explaining to a 4 year old that this was where his great-great-great-great grandparents once lived and worked!…
If you want to read the whole story about our Cole ancestors and the Victorian grocer of Spitalfields Market then follow the link below – to my story I originally wrote on my blog 7 years ago.
Click the picture below – an 1860s photo of my great-great-grandfather – Robert Andrew Cole – to read more about the Cole family of Spitalfields Market.
There were lots of Victorian Cole and Parnall ghosts tapping our shoulders yesterday. I think our late Dad was watching over us too.
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