James Raynham [1] first came to my attention when Lynn Davis, who although researching her mother's Kistruck maiden name [2] , had indicated her interest in the Raynham name. [3]  Her first letter dated 21 August 1997 provided details of her research, a first cousin twice removed Elizabeth Vince Kistruck  had married James Raynham in 1859. [4]

Although this is a chapter devoted to James and his family it should be noted that he was not the first Raynham to have lived and worked in the parish of Offton. His father John [5] had arrived in Offton from Brettenham , Suffolk and married at the parish church at Offton; a local girl Sarah Smith  from Little Bricett in 1782. [6]  Their first known child Sarah [7] arrived in 1786, records indicate that a further eight children were born. James was the last of these children.

Brettenham  is a village about 8 miles north west of Offton and is the parish where our ancestor John Raineham [8] (Circa 1560-1634) lived and worked, some 200 years prior.

Details of the parish of Offton are well documented the illustration below has been extracted from William White 1855 Suffolk Directory . [9]

"OFFTON parish has a number of scattered houses, and a small
village" 4 1/2 miles S. by W. of Needham Market, and 7 1/2 miles N.W.
by w. of Ipswich. It contains 410 souls and 1561 acres of land,
including the small hamlet of LlTTLE BRICETT, which has about 25
inhabitants; and the farm of Talmage or Tolmach Hall, distant more
than a mile W. of Offton church, and now the property and manor
of Sir R. S. Adair. Little Bricett has been annexed to Offton since
1503, previous to which it was a separate parish, and had a church
which was appropriated to Thetford Priory by Robert de Rheims.
The Hall, now a farm house, had its name from the ancient family
of Tollemache, and was a seat of the Kemps and D'Autreys. Jas.
Cuddon, Esq., is lord of the manor of Offton, but a great part of the
soil belongs to the Adair, Sparrow, Kersey, and other families. Upon
a chalk hill here, once stood an ancient castle, which tradition as-
eribes to Offa, king of Mercia, after he had slain Ethelred, king of
the East Angles, and seized his dominions. From the same
monarch the village also is said to have derived its name. No
vestiges of the castle arc extant. The Church (St. Mary) was in the
appropriation of Thetford priory, but in the 32nd of Henry VIII.,
the rectory and advowson were granted to Thomas, Duke of Norfolk.
J. G. Sparrow, Esq., is impropriator of Offton and patron of the
vicarage, which has the rectorial tithes of Little Bricett, and is valued
in K.B. at ?7. 16s. 01/2d.  The Rev. C. Sparrow is the incumbent,
and has a yearly rent-charge of ?189, awarded in 1989, when
?218. 10s was awarded to the lay impropriator in lieu of the rec-
torial tithes of Offton. Post from Bramford, via Ipswich".

As with all births prior 1837, when central records commenced we have to rely upon the baptism register records produced by the parish church to ascertain when a person may have been baptised. In this instance James received a private baptism on Thursday 11 August 1803 in the parish of Offton, Suffolk. The source of this information being the parish register microfiche, [10] a private baptism may indicate that the parents were concerned that the child may die before a church service could be organised.

Although it was the custom for some well off families to have such a ceremony at home and this was known as a half baptism, [11] which could have been in this instance. It was normal custom for baptisms to occur within days of the birth of a child because of the fear of the child dying. However on Friday 6 January 1804, four months after his private baptism James was received into the church, [12] the church is this instance would have been St Mary's Church, Offton.  

James Raynham baptism register entries 1803 & 1804.

St Mary's Church, Offton.

The 1086 Domesday survey  made reference to the existence of a church at Offton, with 16 acres of land, valued at 33 pence. The south doorway of the nave is late 11^th century and a single "lancet" window in the chancel and the north doorway of the nave remain from the 13^th century. The western tower was erected in the 14^th century and the porch may also date from the end of that century.

In 1858 a visitor to the church made remarks about the condition of the timber porch and deplored the fact that roof beams were hidden by plaster and whitewash, the Vicar, Mr Sparrow left the parish for Great Cornard, Suffolk.

Restoration of the chancel and the rebuilding of the east wall occurred in 1861 and a second phase of restoration took place between 1869-1887. The works included the present benches, choir stalls, lectern, brass light fittings and new doors.

The font at which many Raynhams would have been baptised is of 15^th century origin and is typical of many that can be seen in other East Anglian churches.

James was the last of the known children born to John and Sarah Raynham , Sarah had a long period of bearing children from 1786 [13] to at least 1803; her age at the time of James birth can only be guessed but she is assumed to have been in her late thirties or early forties.

Earliest baptism entry for the daughter Sarah [14] of John & Sarah Raynham  family;
Note the birth & baptism dates have been entered.

James would have been born two-thirds into the reign of George 111 (1760-1820) and yet again England was at war with France, following French provocations earlier. By 1804 Napoleon enemies now included Austria, Naples, Russia and Sweden plus the British, only Spain allied itself with France. The Napoleonic Wars having started in 1792 ran on and off until 1815, the effects on farming population, including the Raynhams would have been substantial. [15]

The farmers and landowners of Suffolk had experienced prosperity from the selling of their produce during these wartime years. By 1815 James would have been around 12 years of age and these "golden farming years" would have given way to the start of three decades of agricultural depression. Only exceptional farmers would have been successful, one example is that of J G Cooper of Blythburgh, Suffolk he was able to boost the low return from his corn crops in 1836 with the income from his flock of 920 sheep. [16]

In the same year of his birth transportation of convicts started to Port Phillip, Australia, maybe some early Raynham Australia settlers may have arrived by this route.

James at around 27 years of age married Dinah  Lucas  by licence at the All Saints Church, Great Holland, Essex , a village about 25 miles south east of Offton. This information was extracted from the parish register  fiche for Great Holland, All Saints; [17] the marriage entry was dated Thursday 24 February 1831. The marriage had the consent of the parents.

The church had been the subject of an original handwritten booklet comprising of "Church Notes &c. Co. Essex 1790 - 1799". In an entry covering three pages the following, where legible was copied.

Church Notes &c. Co. Essex 1790 - 1799\""

"Great Clacton; com Essex The Church at this place, is large and net, it was given by Ric=hard de Beauaries, Bp of London, to his monastry of St Oisth, he call it in his charter "de Clackentona", It is dedicated to St John. Near the church were till lately the remains of a nunnery, which was converted into a Barn, but the time of its foundation or any account of it, I have not been able to meet with in Dugdale, Camden or the County Hirstones. It was at this very church probably that Richard de Belneis Bp. Of London temp: Hess: I. Performed high mass, when he gave this manor & lining to the Abbey of St Osith, which he founded.----"

"1795

The church is dedicated to St John, which together with the chancel, is tiled.- the tower is 17 yards high to the Battlements, & has on the top a low shinglid spire.

There are no monuments, but several Hatchssu-ents of the Schutz family, who have a vault here.-The font is ornamental with angels holding extentcheons, bot no arms on them.-on the s. side of the alter, where the Holy water was kept in Catholic tomes, is a clean & perfect skull, but there is no tradition to whom it belonged.-a north Door-way, is ornamental with zig-zag."

 

Of his bride Dinah  her date of birth has been assumed to be around 1807, this was calculated by reference to the 1841 census , which gave her age as 44 years, however census data is not always reliable and this could be subject to error, as confirmed later in this document. Her birthplace appears to have been Beaumont in Essex, not far from where she got married.

John Raynham [18] was the first of three known children and was baptised on Monday 11 July 1831 at St Mary's Church, Offton the source of this data being Lynn Davis. From this date it would seem that John was born just over 4 months after the marriage. This raises an interesting question as to when and how the couple met, was Dinah  residing in the parish of Offton after leaving her home parish. At the time of the marriage she would have around 27 years of age, old enough to have left Essex.

John Raynham baptism register entry 1831.

This baptism was the first opportunity for James' occupation to be noted, in this case farmer; James may have been the subject of a reference in the 1830 Land Tax Assessments for Bosmere and Claydon [19] . Here a " Jas Raynham" appears, he was listed as proprietor and the occupier of land at Little Bricett. The rental payment was 10 shillings or about ?25 in today's money.

Bosmere is a Suffolk registration district and would have included Offton and Little Bricett in its catchments. When central registration was introduced in 1837 the records only collated the registration district for such events as births, marriages and deaths. This could and does cause confusion in trying to unravel the home parish in which the event took place.

However to assist the reader I have extracted from the 1875 Post Office Directory of Norfolk, Suffolk & Essex  their list of parishes that made up the Bosmere and Claydon Union, these were:

Akenham, Ash Bocking, Ashfield with Thorpe, Badley, Barham, Barking Battisford, Baylham, Bramford, Claydon, Coddenham, Creeting All Saints, Creeting St. Mary, Creeting St. Olave, Crowfield, Darmsden, Debenham, Earl Stonham, Flowton, Framsden, Gosbeck, Great Blakenham , Great Bricett, Helmingham, Hemingstone, Henley, Little Blakenham, Little Stonham, Mickfield, Needham Market, Nettlestead, Offton, Pettaugh, Ringshall, Somersham, Stonham-Aspall, Swilland, Willisham and Winston.

It is from John that the modern day Canadian Raynhams are descended via John's son Arthur Lucas Raynham  who emigrated to Canada in 1913 and it is Arthur's grandson Rowland Albert Raynham [20] who provided data that helped to connect this branch of the Raynham family to the main Raynham Family Tree. [21]

The second child born to James and Sarah was James Raynham, [22] his baptism was on Tuesday 11 December 1832 at St Mary's Church, Offton, the source of this information was the parish register, which was sent to me by Malcolm Marjoram , an employee of the British Library, who was undertaking the writing a book about the parish of Brettenham , Suffolk. Today the Raynhams of South Africa and Australia [23] can trace their origins back to James, via his grandsons Eustace Frederick Raynham , Harry Lucas Raynham  and Percy Campion Raynham . [24]

James Raynham baptism register entry for 1832.

James, as a farmer and landowner and thus sufficiently "middle class" may have been effected by the Reform Act which extended the vote to the middle classes in 1832, this directly increased the vote list from 500,000 to 1,000,000 people. He would also have seen George IV commence his reign in 1820 but by the time of his marriage William IV (1830-1837) would have been on the throne.

The Suffolk Poll Books  does have an entry for a James Raynham listed as occupier, the entry was taken on the 13 and 14 January 1835 for the Needham district [25] . Needham as a local district would include Offton and Little Bricett in its catchments as part of the larger registration district of Bosmere.

By 1835 the third child William Frederick  Raynham [26] was baptised on Thursday 4 June 1835 at St Mary's Church, Offton. [27] Of interest is that a few months later, on Wednesday 22 February 1837 he was received into the church when the name "Frederick" was added William.

William Raynham baptism register entry 1835.

William Raynham's added name "Frederick" 1837.

 

A three-generation descendant chart has been produced for the family and has been attached at the end of this document.

James, the father died at a young age and does not appear in the 1841 census  for Offton. What information has been obtained has come via a source that has been proven to be inaccurate. A check of the Offton burial parish register will be required to ascertain the correct date; if the data from the original source proves to be correct then James appears to have died in 1836 around 33 years of age.

The family appears to have overcome this early and tragic demise of James and continued to prosper with Dinah  taking over the responsibility of bringing up her young family. With three boys under the age of five years and a large farm to look after Dinah may have received help from the other farming families, the size of the task can be seen from contemporary reports of the day.

These reports spoke of up to a third of the Suffolk working population was unemployed, middle class gentlemen unable to pay their bills, of farmers accustomed to dining at inns, walking home to dinner and the state of the poor as being "lamentable indeed". Farmers unable to settle their accounts led to ruined tradesmen and farm workers found it impossible to manage on wages that had been reduced by a third.

Those unable to earn living led a desperate existence, their diet became more meagre with bread forming the staple part of it and relying upon poor relief for to provide money to buy butter and lard to spread on the bread. It is reported that one labourer, who had three children earned no more than 9s a week when in work, of this tea and sugar cost 1s a week and rent was 1s 2d.

By 1834 the cost of supporting the poor led to the Poor Law Amendment Act , at the time it had been assumed that up to half of the Suffolk population was in receipt of relief. The introduction and construction of large central workhouses were commissioned, the object to deter rather than attract inmates.

These workhouses provided Spartan accommodation with minimal food, families were segregated and the hatred of the "spike" as the workhouses were known continues even today. I myself working in the National Health Service (1967-2000) had responsibilities that included the maintenance of four ex-workhouses, built during the 1834 to 1840 period. I met many elderly patients and residents of the towns in which these workhouses were located and they could remember the degrading and inhuman conditions of these establishments.

The ex-Workhouse at Onehouse, Suffolk  built 1781
for the poor within the catchments of Stow. [28]

Who knows perhaps the farming conditions that James was trying to make a living contributed to his early death. The size of the farming operation that Dinah  was dealing with can be seen from the 1840 Tithe Map of Offton  with Little Bricett [29] which when cross referenced with the original Offton and Little Bricet Apportionment (of the Rent Charge) schedule identifies the lands which Dinah owned, farmed and leased to tenants.

Offton 6" OS 65SE 1^st Edition 1881 Map.

A section of the Offton 6" OS 65SE 1^st Edition 1881 OS 1881 map"  map [30] locates Hillhouse Farm  on the western edge of the village where James and Dinah  farmed. The map also locates Valley Farm  just a few hundred yards east of Hillhouse Farm; this is where James Kistruck and wife Lucy nee Vince farmed. He was Elizabeth Vince Kistruck 's father, she being Johns sister-in-law.

A number of familiar Suffolk family names were noted in the Rent Charge and included James Kistruck and John Wyard. At Offton Dinah  was farming 191 acres and was liable to make a payment to the Vicar of ?9. 9 shillings (?9.45). A second payment to another church representative, possibly the Bishop of ?44. 0s. 2d (?44.01).

In addition to the land that Dinah  farmed she also let cottages and gardens to John London and William Brooks in connection with a Cottage and Garden and to Samual Creeks and William Head likewise a Cottage and Garden.

Dinah  also occupied parcels of land at Little Bricett, the landowner was listed as William Adam Esquire, totalling 102 acres 3 rod 9 perches with a payment to the Vicar of ?32. 8s. 0d. (?32.35). The rent charges paid by Dinah in today's money is about ?400 and ?1861 respectively in respects to the Offton land and ?1370 in regards to Little Bricett.

Since the Domesday Book in 1085/86 the English central state has been interesting in measuring its resources, but it was not until the eighteenth century that proposals for a full enumeration of the population was granted by Parliament. The first one undertaken was in 1801, however it was 1841 that a led to direct enumeration of named individuals at their place of residence on the day of the census.

Dinah  and her family appear in the 1841 census  for Offton, the actual day of enumeration was Sunday 6 June, in addition to Dinah also in occupation at Hill House and were sons John, James and William who ages were listed as 33, 9, 8, and 6 years respectively. Dinah's aged was given as 33 years [31] .

Also listed were Anna Parmer, aged 12 and James Smith aged 5, pupils; Elizabeth Cook aged 25 and Phoebe Gosling aged 17, female servants; James Martle aged 23 and John Crick aged 18, male servants.

Extract from the 1841 census  entry for" Hill House", Offton.

It would also appear that other farmers was also in residence at the Hill House, these could be tenant farmers the details were Robert Minns aged 60, farmer, Susan Minns aged 40, farmer; Edward Bush aged 45, farmer; Martha Bush aged 30, farmer and Elizabeth Bush aged 16, farmer.

In addition to the Raynham entries others names noted in the census included the Kistrucks and Wyards; the Enumerator was James Kistruck .

From the census it was established that the population of Great Britain was 18,534,000 with London having 2,235,344 inhabitants.

By 1841 Queen Victoria (1837-1901) had reigned for four years in what would be the longest period of throne sitting by any monarch. Britain had not been to war since 1815 and in 1841 Hong Kong and New Zealand was formally proclaimed as British colonies. David Livingstone began his missionary work in Africa and Robert Peel formed a Conservative government.

Ten years later the 1851 census [32] was undertaken on Sunday 30 March, in the same year the Great Exhibition was held in Hyde Park, London, which signified possibly the height of Victorian power and British influence within the Empire.

In the intervening period potato famine in Ireland had claimed 1,000,000 lives by the time of the census and the farming community faced with the repeal of the Corn Laws in 1846 would have experienced further financial misery. Those that could read and living in London had access to the first cheap newspaper to be produced, this came out in early 1846 and was founded by Charles Dickens and was known as the Daily News, and the seeds of communism were being laid with the publication of "Communist Manifesto" by Marks and Engels in 1848.

Extract from the 1851 census  for "Hill Farm", Offton.

At Hill Farm, note the change of name was Dinah  as head of household, John, James and William her three sons; the ages given were 44, 19, 18 and 15 respectively. Dinah occupation was given as farmer with 210 acres of land, employing 6 labourers, also at the farm was a nephew James Palmer, aged 7 years and house servant Mary Sturgeon and farm servant Henry Martle aged 17 and 24 years respectively.

Other names noted in the census were John Raynham [33] and family, Dinah 's brother-in-law who were in residing at "Marshalls", John Stephenson who may well be cousin of James; James Kistruck and wife Lucy who farmed 305 acres. His daughter Elizabeth married Dinah's second son James Raynham in 1859, other Kistruck families were noted.

Also noted a Wyard family  at the "Castle", although not directly related Mary Anne Raynham [34] , elder sister of James did marry William Wyard in 1814. Their son, born around 1818 was named John Raynham Wyard.

Hillhouse Farm as detailed on a 1905 O/S Map.

In today's world of instant communication the opportunities for individuals to appear in print or have there "fifteen minutes of television fame" is relatively easy, however for ancestors unless they were from the landed gentry or criminals no such opportunities existed.

However Dinah  did have her name published in The William White Directory for Suffolk 1855, others listed included Joseph Kistruck  at Tolmach Hall and John Wyard at Castle Farm .

Extract from William White 1855 Suffolk Directory
Pages 447 & 448.

World events in 1855 may not have impinge on the farming lives of Dinah  and her family, Britain was at war again fighting the Russians in the Crimean War, dear Florence Nightingale was trying to reduce the level of deaths by improving nursing care. Recent research will have us believe that in fact the conditions under which she cared for the injured soldiers led to more deaths than had they been left at the frontline. Something to do with the location of her hospital and unsanitary buildings!

The British Parliament established a "responsible" government throughout the Australian States except Western Australia.

The 1861 census  for Offton has not been researched and therefore there are no details of Dinah 's family for this period. However Charles Dyer in his early correspondence forwarded details of the Great Blakenham , Suffolk census and here located at Mill Gr. was Dinah in residence with her youngest son William Frederick [35] , she was listed as being a widow and landowner.

We know from the 1861 census  for Hessett  that James, Dinah 's second son was farming 200 acres at Green Farm  with wife Elizabeth Vince Raynham  and daughter Ellen Mary [36] their ages were given as 28, 25 and 1 year respectively. They employed 10 men, 5 boys on the farm, plus two servants. The enumerator also noted that James and Elizabeth had a visitor Elizabeth Mary Vince .

Extract of 1861 census  for" Green Farm" , Hessett.

James possibly moved to Hessett  following his marriage to Elizabeth Vince Kistruck  on Thursday 17 March 1859 at St Mary, Creeting St Mary , a parish about five miles north east of Offton. He was not listed in the William White

1855 Suffolk Directory and as a farmer he would be expected to be in the directory, whereas he does appear in the 1875 Post Office Directory for Norfolk, Suffolk and Essex.

It is possible that Dinah  had handed over the running of Hill Farm, Offton to her eldest son John and it is likely that she was receiving an income from the farm. Why she was with William is not at all clear, William was still a young man, aged 25 at the time of the census and his occupation was given as miller and malster, the census states that he was employing 4 men and 1 boy.

Dinah  appears to have remained, at least between the 1861 and 1871 period in Great Blakenham  as she appears in the 1871 census  with her son William, the census was taken on Sunday 2 April. Dinah appears to have relinquished control of Hill Farm  as she was listed as being independent.  

William was still working as miller and malster and in residence with them was the servant Elizabeth Manning. Great Blakenham is a village approximately 4 miles by road east of Offton.

At Offton in the same census [37] , at Hill House  was John Raynham, Dinah 's eldest son as head of household with his wife Elizabeth and family, including Dinah's grandsons John , Herbert James , Frank Henry , Arthur Lucas , Leonard  and daughters Agnes Elizabeth , and Kate Theresa . [38]

In all instances the Enumerator did not write in the children's full name, I have added these using existing records.

Extract of 1871 census  for "Hill House", Offton ;
note the poor quality of the microfiche copy.

John's status was listed as a landowner and farmer, with 251 acres, employing 13 men and 4 boys, he also was the Enumerator for the parish of Offton for the census and he signed off the Enumeration Book on the 8 April 1871.

Also resident at the farm on the day of the census was Ann M Manning, visitor, aged 84 years a nurse born at Bricett, Elizabeth Percy, dairy servant, unmarried, aged 16 years born Bildeston, Suffolk and Elizabeth Lemon, House maid, unmarried aged 26 years born Semer, Suffolk.

Meanwhile at Hessett  James continued to farm and 1871 census [39] which was undertaken on Sunday 2 April, located him at The Shrubbery , this is thought to be the renamed Green Farm . With him were his wife Elizabeth and five children, Adela , James Kistruck , Frederick , Horace  and Percy [40] . The eldest two Adela and James were said to be scholars and may indicate that they were receiving some form of education. This may well have been at a local school, the Hessett map does show such an establishment; alternatively they could have been getting private tuition at the farm or in a school mistress/master home.

Extract of 1871 census  for "The Shrubbery" , Hessett.

Hessett 1905 OS Map, locates "The Shrubbery".

During the intervening years between the 1861 and 1871 census es slavery was abolished in the USA and their Civil War ended, the Suez Canal was opened in 1869 and trade unions were legalized in 1871.

The 1881 census , taken on Sunday 3 April has Dinah  located at Mill House, Baylam, Suffolk  with her son William Frederick , his wife Annie Elizabeth and their young daughter Elizabeth. Their respective ages given were 73, 45, 27 and 2 years, William continued to ply his trade as a miller and malster.

Baylam is a village less than a mile from Blakenham and about three miles from Offton. It would appear that William and Dinah  had moved to this new address during the 1870s.

The census indicated that the population of Great Britain had increased to 29,700,000 with London at 3,300,000. The Boers at Majuba Hill, which led to the Treaty of Pretoria and provides virtual independence to the South African Republic of Transvaal, had defeated the British.

Earlier the British Government had purchased shares in the Suez Canal from Egypt, Serbia and Montenegro declared war on Turkey and insurrection breaks out in Bosnia.

In the meantime Dinah 's eldest John son continues to farm at Hill House  and with his family is enumerated in the Offton 1881 census , as did James at Hessett .

The principal landowners in Offton were officially noted in the 1875 edition of the Post Office Directory of Norfolk, Suffolk and Essex [41] as being John Raynham and Bishop Andrew's Charity.

The entry in the directory noted that the chief crops grown were wheat, barley and beans and in 1871 the parish population was 376. Noted farmers were John, Amelia Kistruck , and James Brown Wyard  at the Castle.

Extract from the 1875 Post Office Directory
of Norfolk, Suffolk & Essex.
Pages 891 and 892.

Dinah  Raynham at some time during the period 1881 and 1891 left William and moved back to Hill House Farm  at Offton. She is listed in the 1891 with her eldest son John , his wife Elizabeth Sarah and younger children Kate and Frederick. Why Dinah moved is not known, she would have been 87 years of age at the time of the census and perhaps she needed care that William was unable to provide.

John Raynham was again the Enumerator for the Offton census and signed the book on the 13 April.

1891 census  for Hill House Farm , Offton.

For James's at Hessett  he had unfortunately succumbed to tuberculosis and died on Tuesday 13 March 1883 at Hessett at the age of 49 years. This would have left his sons and Elizabeth Vince to run the farm, however as the 1891 census  confirms Elizabeth gave up the farm and was living at 20 The Green, Hessett  with her companion Lydia Mumford, farm bailiff William Turner and servant Maud Alderton.

Extract of 1891 census  for 20 The Green, Hessett.

Dinah 's death was registered and although a death certificate has not been purchased we can assume that she died around late winter of 1892. The age at death was given as 88 years, however this would give a birth date around 1804 and differs from the 1807/08 dates that have been calculated from other source material. However such inaccurate information by the informant at death registration is not unknown.

The burial parish register for Offton gives the date of burial as Tuesday 3 March 1892. [42]  As was the family tradition a memorial card had been printed to mark the occasion, she would have been buried in St Mary's churchyard; today no Raynham graves can be found.

Dinah Raynham burial register entry for 1892.

Memorial card for Dinah Raynham.

Dinah  had lived a long life and given the circumstances of finding herself as a widow at the age of 29 years, she appears to have prospered and left a considerable Raynham farming dynasty with her son John taking over the family farm at Offton and her second eldest son James farming at Hessett , a journey by road of about 15 miles north west of Offton.

She may well have been one of the earliest women to take on the role of farmer, something not normally encouraged in those early Victorian times. Women's rights of inheritance and emancipation were nearly 100 years away.

Her maiden was Lucas and this was remembering in the second given names of her grandsons Arthur Lucas Raynham , Harry Lucas Raynham  and her great grandson James Lucas Raynham. [43]  Although in the case of the latter he preferred to use the name Lewis as his first given name.

Both James and Dinah  would have lived through a critical period of English history, the Industrial Revolution with its effects on agriculture, the golden years of agriculture, the Napoleonic Wars and the exodus of people from the countryside to the industrial and commercial areas of northern England and London.  Suffolk's population had increased by over 50% during the first half of the 19^th century attaining 335,000 by 1851.

The farming families would have achieved significant income yields with the growing of corn crops because of the need to feed the population of Britain without the support of imports due to the war with France. However as noted earlier agricultural depression had set in and farmers who had purchased land during the war found that it was no longer worth as much as they had borrowed. Negative equity was also a reality for our ancestors.

This level of poverty and misery led to an increase in social unrest. Frequent riots in the second of the 18^th century had been caused by food shortages, the mechanisation of farming and, to a lesser extent political agitation. Towns affected included Ipswich, only six or so miles from Offton, it is reported that even the countryside was affected.

Many rural countrymen were attracted to towns and industrial districts in the hope of consistent employment, better pay and a more rewarding life. They moved themselves and their families to the northern counties with an estimated 23,000 Suffolk born persons living in these counties by 1891. Today Raynhams can be located in these northern counties.

The developing colonies provided new hope and opportunity and certainly a few Suffolk Raynhams by the end of the century had departed these shores for a better life overseas. Of the Offton Raynhams nothing is known in regards to Hill House Farm  after the death of Dinah  in 1892. The 1904 Kelly Directory  has no listing for any Raynhams at Offton and it would be reasonable to assume that on the death of John the farm would have be sold.

Modern Road Map of South Suffolk, locates the villages of
Offton, Great Blakenham  and Brettenham.

It would seem appropriate to finish James and Dinah 's story at this point, other chapters are being developed to cover their sons John and James.

Below is a three-generation descendant chart for James and his family.

---

[1] Raynham reference R250.

[2] The "Kistruck" name is registered with the Guild of One Name Studies (GOONS).

[3] British Isles Genealogical Register for 1997.

[4] See Journal V1 entry for the 24 August 1997.

[5] Raynham reference R170.

[6] Little Bricett had been absorbed into the parish of Offton and the correct full name of the combined parishes was Offton cum Bricett.

[7] Raynham reference R405.

[8] Raynham reference R140.

[9] Original copy held by Topsy Raynham (R400).

[10] FB16/D1/3- Baptisms 1777-1812, burials 1777-1812.

[11] "The Oxford Companion To Local and Family History" by David Hey.

[12] FB16/D1/3- Baptisms 1777-1812, burials 1777-1812.

[13] Sarah Raynham  R405 baptism entry provides full details of birth, private baptism and church baptism.

[14] Raynham reference R405.

[15] "Factbook of History" published by Rainbow Books Ltd.

[16] "A History of Suffolk" by David Dymond & Peter Northeast.

[17] From a visit to the Essex Record Office, Chelmsford-Reference D/P 396/1/5 Marriage 1815 - 1837 (F), in addition the register had been transcribed reference T/R 203.65 Mar 1754 - 1837. In this transcription the date was not detailed and the entry was between 11 October 1830 and 18 March 1831 extracts.

[18] Raynham reference R206.

[19] Reference HB 16:290/18.

[20] Raynham references R213 & R233 respectively.

[21] The Raynham Family Tree connects all Raynhams (worldwide) that have descended from John Raineham R140 (1560-1634).

[22] Raynham reference R207.

[23] Dr William Herbert Raynham (R267) of South Africa & Alan Kearsley son of Jean Kistruck Raynham (R29) of Australia.

[24] Raynham references R243, R247 & R85 respectively.

[25] Information provided by Lynn Davis.

[26] Raynham reference R208.

[27] Original information provided by Malcolm Marjoram .

[28] This would have included the poor of Offton & is located 7 miles north of Offton.

[29] The maps were produced as a result of the Tithe Commutation Act 1836 , these were used to calculate the rent-charge to be levied upon the owner of the land, reference P461/186, Suffolk CC Record Office.

[30] Source the Suffolk CC Record Office.

[31] It should be noted that ages given in the census schedule can be inaccurate, later census data can be more accurate.

[32] Census information provided by Bill Raynham (R267).

[33] Raynham reference R205.

[34] Raynham reference R204.

[35] Raynham reference R208.

[36] Raynham reference R240.

[37] Microfilm reference J402/7.

[38] Raynham references R210, R211, R212, R213, R215, R214 & R216 respectively.

[39] Copy of entries received from Bill Raynham (R267).

[40] Raynham references R241, R242, R273, R244 & R85.

[41] This was an original hardback copy, which was on loan from Topsy Raynham (R400).

[42] Data from Lynn Davis.

[43] Raynham references R213, R247 & R251 respectively.