A photograph from our gallery specific to the families featured in this section will display randomly here each time you come to this page
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A KENTISH HUGUENOT HERITAGE |
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Richard Eldridge, Associate Editor
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Welcome to this, the fifth of our magazine’s colour supplements. Although we originated in Leicester, Brenda and I went our separate ways (she, west and then south; me to the north) after leaving the family home. The main focus of this section is around the South East corner of England, particularly the counties of Sussex and Kent. This is a land of farming, of orchards, of hops and oast houses. Although I have negligible knowledge of the area personally, even I can claim that my favourite libation is named after “an unusual finger-shaped signpost still found in Kent, which once pointed pilgrims on their way to Canterbury”. (Bishop’s Finger Ale; Shepherd Neame Brewery, Faversham)
We have been pottering with elements of our family history for nearly ten years. Recently Brenda’s husband Richard discovered essays and journals which had been kept by his mother and grandfather, containing information which spanned more than fifty years. Richard was also aware that his paternal grandmother’s line had a strong association with the Huguenot tradition in France and that the family had a long connection with Canterbury and Ashford.
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The Curtis Family (about 1908)
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This supplement will concentrate mainly on the family names of Eldridge, Curtis, Cannings and Mannoch. In our preliminary internet searches we found a cousin of Richard who was also interested in the family line and who had also put together a web site. This uses a different format and software program (“GEDMill” from The Logic Mill). Alex Curtis and Richard did not know of each other prior to this introduction and an interchange of information has already proved quite fruitful.
It is not our intention to duplicate each other’s sites. We have indicated where information is shared and overlaps. We have placed convenient links to Alex’s site on this page and made reference where appropriate in the other articles. If you are seeking further knowledge of our families, be sure to pay him a visit too.
Newfloridian: March 18th 2006
Updated September 20th 2009
| ON THE TRAIL OF THE CURTISES |
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Alex Curtis
Associate Editor
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With the advent of the Internet, and the popularity of the various magazines and television programmes, it is easy to think that researching one's family history is a new fad. It isn't of course. Some fifty years ago my grandfather, Thomas William CURTIS, was exploring his ties with the past, no doubt searching through whatever records he could find in the archives at the cathedral in his home town of Canterbury, seeking to fill in the gaps in the stories told to him by his parents and grandparents. In the days before the Internet such research was slow going, and what little we have from him is scribbled on a few pages in a couple of notebooks. Nevertheless, this was enough to make my father and myself curious to learn more, and some years ago my father set about building on the research he had done.
After moving to London a few years ago I decided it was my turn to do some research. My job was made easier by being just a tube journey away from the various record centres in the capital, particularly the Family History Centre, the National Archives at Kew, and the British Library. After several months I was able to align the facts we already had with new information gleaned from birth and marriage certificates, censuses and other records, and we now have a pretty good picture of the family history for most of the last two centuries.
The Curtis family hailed from Kent, mainly Canterbury, though there were some in Dover, some down near Tenterden, and another branch (the EWELLs) in the north east of the county around Herne Bay. While their roots were in Kent, it is not true to say that they never travelled.
Continued in column 2.
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ROB AND LINDSEY WED
(Added September 20th 2009)
Robert Eldridge and Lindsey Burns were married at St John the Baptist Church on September 5th 2009. Our Heartiest Congratulations!
Rob is Richard and Brenda's son.
The pictorial record
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FEATURE ARTICLES |
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Continued from column 1.
My great grandmother Louise CURTIS (nee CANNINGS) worked for a while as a maid in Totnes, Devon, and her father, William CANNINGS, was a soldier posted in various places in Britain and Ireland. My great (x 3) grandfather Edmond CURTIS, was also a soldier, defending Queen Victoria's British Empire. He is known to have served as far away as India and Australia.
The family seem to have been well known in Canterbury. My great grandfather Thomas CURTIS was the manager of a coal yard, and he and his wife Jane (nee MANOUCH) raised a large family of twelve children. The family had connections to the King's School, Canterbury -- Jane worked in the household of the then headmaster, Doctor BLORE, and her son Henry CURTIS was the school Steward for a number of years, becoming the subject of a fond write-up in the school magazine on his retirement in 1968. My grandfather also spent a large part of his life in Canterbury, being a pupil at the Choristers' School at the cathedral, and a resident of the city until he and his family moved to Essex on his return from the Second World War.
The findings of my research are available on the web here: Family history of Alexander Curtis. Readers may be interested to note that I wrote the software used to create the site, being unable to find any existing software to create the sort of site I wanted. It is available as both a free version and an enhanced paid-for version, from The Logic Mill.
Alex Curtis: March 23rd 2006
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WHAT'S ON THE OTHER PAGES |
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-- PAGE 2: LETTERS TO THE EDITOR --
Your chance to send your thoughts and comments about items which have appeared in the pages of this supplement
COMING SOON:
PAGE 3 ELDRIDGE EPITHETS
Cuttings, quotations, remembrances of members of the Curtis, Eldridge and Manooch past and present. This is a reader
participation feature. So, please send your contributions to the editors!
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Phönix Site of the Year - 2009
© The Craxford Family Genealogy Magazine and individual copyright holders.
Edited and maintained by Alan D. Craxford 2005 - 10.
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