Annie Raynham, or as she is known Topsy lived until early June 2001 in the stone and flint constructed house, known as Stone House  in the village of Bradfield St George. The meeting with Topsy was by chance having visited a neighbouring parish church at Bradfield St Clare  on the morning of the 01 February 1999. Topsy's name was listed on the flower rota and it was quickly established that she lived at Stone House  in the neighbouring village of Bradfield St George, and an unannounced visit was undertaken that afternoon.

From this and other visits I was able to build up a picture of her family and was aided by material supplied by Topsy including work that she had previously commissioned from professional researcher.

Her family arrived in Bradfield St George sometime during the 1825 to 1834 period, which coincidentally was the last few years of the reign of George 1V (1820-1830) and the short years of reign of William 1V (1830-1837). John Andrews Raynham arrived from Thorpe Morieux , a village about five miles southeast of Bradfield St George and is the closest village to Brettenham where our furthest Raynham ancestor came from [1] . John baptised on Tuesday 6 March 1804 at parish church of St Mary, Thorpe Morieux. The map at the end of this section locates the parish in relation to others.

John appears to have been registered with the single given name and had "adopted" the name of John Andrews Raynham, this being the name that appeared on subsequent records such as his marriage, death registration and memorial inscription. The only possible explanation being his mothers wish to perpetuate the Andrews name, this being her maiden name of Elizabeth Andrews (1776-1828). The name appears extensively in the Thorpe Morieux  parish registers where "ANDREWS" were baptised and married during the 18^th century and up to 1832.

His future wife Francis Austin  who was the daughter of Robert Austin and Ann nee Rowe, was born on Friday 17 Jun 1808 and at the age of about 26 years she and John were married on Saturday 23 August 1834. The marriage was at the Bradfield St George Church. [2]  It is possible that with their son William they lodged at Stone House , Maypole Green , Bradfield St George, which had been used as a wheelwright business for many years. John who was a wheelwright by trade was aged around 30 years at the time of the marriage.

John worked for John Hart , the wheelwright at Stone House  and much is known about the Harts and is fully detailed in the report prepared by Topsy's researchers. A copy of the 1843 Bradfield St George map [3] locates Stone House  with John Hart listed as occupier with others, see illustration at end of this section. The house is set back from the road at a junction known as Threeways Corner, over looking a field called Front Inn Piece and backing onto Three Acre Pasture. The house is constructed from stone and flint and is estimated to be 150 to 200 years old.

Their first child William Austin Raynham R362  appears to have been born in the same year as his parents were married and it is possible that Francis was pregnant at the time of the marriage in the August of 1834. The use of the second given name "Austin" was used by John and Francis for two of their five known children and clearly was intended to perpetuate Francis's maiden name. A separate section has been devoted to William and his family within this document.

The second child born was James Austin Raynham R370  who was baptised at Bradfield St George Church on Sunday 25 September 1836 and Mary Ann Raynham R371  was baptised on Sunday 27 August 1837, followed by John Andrew Raynham R392  on Saturday 4 June 1842 and finally Louisa Raynham R391  in 1845.

James Austin was working as an agricultural labourer in 1851 [4] but nothing is heard of him again and it is assumed that he may have left the village or died in his youth.

In addition to William, a separate section has been devoted to John Andrew and his family within this document.

The problem of housing the growing Suffolk population would have been made worse by the law of settlement and removal. The neighbouring parish of Great Whelnetham had limited accommodation and in 1850 workers were forced to walk three or four miles to their place of work at Rushbrooke.

Earlier in 1841 [5] John was residing at Maypole Green  with his wife Frances, sons William aged 7, James aged 5 and Mary aged 3; John was earning a living as a wheelwright.

1845 was a bad year for John, his newly born daughter Louisa had died three weeks after her birth and was buried on Sunday 2 March 1845 and just a few weeks on Sunday 6 April his wife died and was buried on Sunday 13 April. Her age at death was given as 35 years; both were buried in the graveyard at the church. [6]

Family Tree

In 1851 [7] as a widower John was residing at "Urinns" Cottage Urinns\" Cottage, BSG" , Bradfield St George and continues to ply his the trade of wheelwright. All his surviving children were living at the cottage, William, James, Mary Ann and John. The census of that year allowed us to note that John's place of birth was "Thorpe" as in Thorpe Morieux .

Mary Ann when she was about 26 years of age gave birth to a daughter, Louisa Elizabeth Raynham R372  on Monday 27 July 1863 at Bradfield St George and was baptised a month later on Thursday 27 Aug 1863 in the parish church. It would appear that Mary Ann was not married and the father is not known and Louisa used the Raynham name. She was later in 1881 [8] employed as a cook at 14 Southwell Gardens, Kensington, London  for the Robinson family, now 44 years of age she was not married.

John Andrews died on Sunday 22 November 1868 from information provided by Topsy, however from the memorial inscription located by Lynn Davis [9] , she has the date of death as Saturday 21 November. The correct death date appears to be the 21 November as noted in the cemetery inscriptions at the Bury St Edmunds Record Office.

John had been born in the reign of George 111 at the time of the Napoleonic Wars when another war broke out between Britain and France, by the time he went to Bradfield the Industrial Revolution was in full swing. Many rural male workers were leaving the land for the supposed better life of the cities.

The agricultural depression following the end of the Napoleonic Wars lasted until the mid 1800s, and with the full effects of farming mechanisation adding to the uncertainty of employment. This would have affected John and his family to what extent cannot be said.

What is known is that Suffolk farmers were unable to settle their accounts and in turn this ruined tradesmen, and farm workers found it impossible to manage on wages that had been reduced by up to a third in real terms.

Clearly the extensive cattle and wheat farming that would have been undertaken in this part of Suffolk would need the skills of a wheelwright and mechanisation would have brought opportunities for John.

Nationally the potato famine in Ireland reached it height by 1846 and one million died by 1851 and the Corn Laws were repealed in 1846.

John was buried at Bradfield St George Church on Saturday 28 November 1868 age given at death was 66 years. [10]

Extract from the 1843 Parish of Bradfield St George locates plot 199 Stone House  occupied by John Hart  and others.
Plot 199 is opposite the "T" junction on the Bradfield St Clare byway.

Very little is known about William, born at Bradfield St George in 1834 and his future wife Elizabeth Clarke born four years later in 1838. In 1871 [11] they were residing at Maypole Green  with their children Sarah aged 9, Laura aged 5, Hannah aged 1, sons Thomas aged 7 and Arthur aged 3.

The children born to William and Sarah had one thing in common the use of the name "Austin" as a second given name; this included both male and females. This clearly was done to perpetuate William's mother's maiden name, having lost her when he was only 10 years of age.

The children were baptised at Bradfield St George as follows, Sarah Austin Raynham R363 , Sunday 11 August 1861; Thomas Austin Raynham R364 , Sunday 27 December 1863; Laura Austin Raynham R365 , Sunday 25 December 1864; Arthur Austin Raynham R366 , Saturday 3 August 1867; Hannah Austin Raynham R367 , Sunday 1 August 1869; Herbert Austin Raynham R368 , Sunday 3 March 1872 and James Austin Raynham R369 , Sunday 5 July 1874.

Family Tree

Because no birth certificates have been purchased we only have the birth registrations to indicate when they may have been born, in all cases this indicates that they were born in the same year as they were baptised [12]

The family experienced the pain and trauma of losing James Austin having died on Wednesday 24 February 1875 possibly just a year old.

William appears to have worked as an agricultural labourer throughout the 1870s [13] and possibly 1880s. By 1874 William and Elizabeth had two further additions to the family were Herbert and James Austin, unfortunately James died in one year later.

Thomas Austin the eldest son was also working as a labourer in 1881 [14] with daughters Sarah and Laura working away from home. Sarah was working as a cook for Thomas Sergeant and family at New House Farm, Lawshall, Suffolk , the census of 1881 gave her age as 23 years which places her birth year around 1858, however we know that her birth was registered in the summer of 1861 and it must be assumed that for whatever reason the wrong age was given. The most likely reason is that it was not Sarah that gave her age but likely to have been one of the Sergeants.

From the marriage registration records we know that Sarah married when in 1887, and her younger sister Hannah also married in that year. Sarah would have been at least 25 years and Hannah 18 years at marriage.

Laura was working at Kiln Farm House, Rede, Suffolk  as a domestic housemaid for the elderly George Rollinson.

Although working away from home Lawshall was 5 miles and Rede about 8 miles to the southwest and it is likely they would have kept in touch both with each other and possibly the family.

During the 1870s Robert Hart a master carpenter employed William, as was William's younger brother John Andrew.

William's wife Elizabeth was buried at Bradfield St George Church graveyard on Saturday 18 February 1893, aged 55 years [15] . Of the children we have known burial details for Thomas Austin for Friday 18 December 1885 and Arthur Austin for Friday 2 Jun 1882.

Maypole Green
Name	Rel'shp	Status	Age	Occupation	Place of Birth
William A Raynham	Head	Married	37	Agricult. Lab	Bradfield St George
Elizabeth A "	Wife	"	33		Hunston
Sarah A "	Daughter	Unm	9		Bradfield St George
Thomas A "	Son	Unm	7		"
Laura "	Daughter	Unm	5		"
Arthur "	Son	Unm	3		"
Hannah "	Daughter	Unm	1		"

1871 census locating William Raynham and family at Maypole Green

Maypole Green
Name	Rel'ship	Age	Status	Occupation	Birthplace
William RAYNHAM	Head	47	M	Labourer	Bradfield St Geo, Suffolk
Elizabeth RAYNHAM	Wife	43	M		Hunston, Suffolk
Thomas RAYNHAM	Son	17	U	Labourer	Bradfield St Geo, Suffolk
Arthur RAYNHAM	Son	13	U	Scholar	Bradfield St Geo, Suffolk
Herbert RAYNHAM	Son	9	U	Scholar	Bradfield St Geo, Suffolk
Hannah RAYNHAM	Daur	11	U	Scholar	Bradfield St Geo, Suffolk

1881 census locating William Raynham and family at Maypole Green

Born on Sunday 17 October 1841 at Bradfield he was baptised 5 months later on Saturday 4 June 1842 in the parish church. Little is known of John's early years researcher notes states that he was taught by John and Ann Hardwick, school master and mistress with an assistant teacher by the name of Jane Hardwick.

At the time of his marriage John's stated occupation was carpenter, he and his bride were both aged 22 years. The marriage took place at Bradfield St George Church on Thursday Christmas Eve of 1863, a particularly hard winter with snow on the ground from November to March. Witnesses at the wedding were Mary Ann and John Raynham, assumed to be the grooms sister and father. Priscilla Grimwood the bride was born in 1841 at Hitcham, Suffolk, a village three miles to the southeast of Bradfield St George, and her father James was a miller. A copy of the marriage register entry is shown at the end of this section.

John and Priscilla had thirteen known children in the years 1864 to 1881; the full list is noted below, unless stated otherwise all dates are for baptisms at Bradfield St George.

Louisa Frederica Raynham R373 , Monday 12 December 1864.
Angelica [16] Raynham R375 , Sunday 25 August 1867.
Hannah Marie Raynham R376 , 25 Sunday 1867.
Leonard Raynham R377 , Sunday 15 March 1868.
Alice Janetta Raynham R378 , Sunday 7 August 1870.
Miriam Raynham R379 , Sunday 2 July 1871.
William Isaac Raynham R380 , Friday 28 March 1873.
Edna Raynham R381 , Sunday 5 July 1874.
John Andrew Raynham R382 , Tuesday 18 May 1875.
Ernest Harry Raynham R384  born Tuesday 16 January 1877.

Others noted have not had their baptisms located or a birth year and include Samuel Raynham R385  born 1879, George James Raynham R388  born 1881 and Frances Raynham R383 ; interest Angelina and Hannah appear to have been twins.

From later census data it would seem that the children, where birth dates have not been researched were all born within the year of their baptism.

Life in these Victorian times would have been hard, however John as a craftsman would have been more than earning more than the most who worked in the rural community.

John and Priscilla were living at Freewood Street  with daughters Louisa aged 6, Angelica aged 5, Hannah Maria aged 4, Alice aged 1 year and son Leonard aged 3 years in 1871. [20]  It would seem all five siblings survived their early years, which was not always the case with Victorian infant mortality rates very high. Residing with the family was Priscilla's mother, Thamer Grimwood , aged 64 years, it is assumed that she was living with them and as a nurse she may have provided some child support. John was supporting his family by working as a carpenter.

1875 would have been a sad year for John and Pricilla with the death of Edna on Wednesday 24 February and was buried in the graveyard a week later on the 3 March. [21]  This death was the second and by coincidence occurring on the same day as that of James Austin Raynham the youngest son of John's brother William. It is likely that some infection or virus may the common cause of the deaths of these two infants.

By 1881 [22] John and Priscilla had five more children Miriam, William, John, Ernest and Samuel; John continued to work as a carpenter and was a close neighbour of his brother William. [23]

Family Tree

Of the children only the bare minimum of information is known, Louisa Frederica was no longer at home and working as a general servant for Mary Major Wilkinson at her address in 9 Risby Gate Street, Bury St Edmunds  in the parish of St James in 1881. She later had two sons, having married in the summer of 1893.

Angelica now using the name Angelina was employed as a servant in the Rolfe household 1881, the address was 1 Cemetery Road, Bury St Edmunds ; Angelina was aged 16 years and unmarried and no doubt occasionally met up with her 18 year older sister Louisa. In the summer of 1891 she got married at the age of 25 years, there are no details at present.

Hannah Maria may have been working [24] as a general servant at Great Green, Rougham, Suffolk  in 1881. John Manning, who was a farmer and his wife Eleanor, employed a girl names Maria; it would appear that Hannah was using her middle name. Rougham is a village two miles north of Bradfield St George.

Later Hannah now Maria and Alice lived together at some during their lives, Miriam and Frances apparently also lived together at Southsea, Hampshire and Miriam was known as Minnie.

William Isaac [25] occupation was blacksmith and married in winter of 1894 when he was about 21 years of age; he purchased the old school house at Bradfield St George in 1912. John Andrew is believed to have become a fruit farmer in Kent. It is likely that this is the same John Andrews who left a will as reported in The Times  on Wednesday 19 April 1950, his estate was valued at ?34,654, which in today's money is worth ?600,000 and his address was given as Marden, Kent . A copy of the press cutting is noted at the end of this section.

Ernest Harry is believed to have lived in Brighton an entry in the 1940 Kelly's Directory [26] of Brighton him at "Beechwood Avenue , on the west side". Samuel who remained at Bradfield St George is Topsy's father and a separate section has been devoted to him and his family.

George James the last of John and Priscilla's children lived a relatively short life; he married Helena possibly around 1915 but died on Friday 7 November 1919 whilst serving with the 105^th Field Company, Royal Engineers, as a Sapper during the Great War of 1914-1918 and was buried in the St Michael Churchyard, Marden, Kent . [27]  It cannot be a coincidence that this is the same Marden that his older brother John Andrew gave in his will 30 years later.

As a memorial to George he has a stone tablet dedicated to him in the Church of St George, Bradfield St George. This being a memorial to those who either died in the Great War or shortly afterwards from their injuries. He and Helena were known to have one child, Molly there are no details of either Helena or Molly. He is also remembered in the Commonwealth War Graves Commission  "Debt of Honour Register" [28] . The full entry can be viewed at the end of this section.

John the childrens father appears to have been a respected member of the community, he held the position of parish clerk, a position of some standing and thus could read and write; a rare skill in the poorly educated working class. He was asked to be witness on a number of marriage certificates, including that of the village policeman Samuel Hard in 1891.

In 1896 the Davers Estate , that included Stone House  and surrounding property and land was sold and John obtained the right to rent the house with timber yard. Thus the business at Stone House  was in the control of John, the Raynhams were now master craftsmen at the wheelwright's where they had worked for over 60 years.

This continued for the next 60 years as carpentry and wheelwright operations initially under John and then his son Samuel R385  who followed in the business in 1914. Samuel possibly completing a total of 120 years of service to the community by the Raynhams, all from Stone House .

The "Yellow Pages" of the day namely Kelly's 1904 Directory  has two entries for John Andrews Raynham on page 603 listed as Smiths, Blacksmiths and Farriers and a J A Raynham page 615 listed as Wheelwrights. Given that at this time there would have been two John Andrews alive, John the father and his son, Samuel's older brother R382  it is not clear who these entries are for. At the end of this section is a photo of the workshop premises used by John and later his son Samuel for their carpentry and wheelwright business.

John was born in the early years of the reign of Queen Victoria; during his life the United States abolished slavery in1863 and General Lee surrender of the Confederate Army in 1865 to end the American Civil War. The trade unions were legalised in 1871 and the British Prime Minister Benjamin Disraeli bought shares in the Suez Canal, from Egypt in 1875.

In his old age the Boer War between British and Boers broke out in 1899 and lasted just 3 years and Germany began the arms race with Britain, commencing with a massive increase in sea power.

Marriage register entry for John R392
25 December 1863

Freewood St
Name	Rel'ship	Status	Age	Occupation	Place of Birth
John A Raynham	Head	Married	29	Carpenter	Bradfield St George
Priscilla "	Wife	Married	29		Hitcham
Louisa "	Daughter	Unm	6	Scholar	Bradfield St George
Angelina "	Daughter	Unm	5	"	"
Hannah M "	Daughter	Unm	4		"
Leonard "	Son	Unm	3		"
Alice "	Daughter	Unm	1		"
Thamer Grimwood	M-in-law	Widow	64	Nurse	Rattlesden

1871 census locating John Raynham and family at Freewood Street

Maypole Green
Name	Rel'ship	Age	Status	Occupation	Birthplace
John RAYNHAM	Head	39	M	Carpenter	Bradfield St Geo, Suffolk,
Priscilla RAYNHAM	Wife	39	F		Hitcham, Suffolk
Leonard RAYNHAM	Son	13	U	Scholar	Bradfield St Geo, Suffolk
Alice RAYNHAM	Daur	11	U	Scholar	Bradfield St Geo, Suffolk
Miriam RAYNHAM	Daur	9	U	Scholar	Bradfield St Geo, Suffolk
William RAYNHAM	Son	8	U	Scholar	Bradfield St Geo, Suffolk
John RAYNHAM	Son	5	U	Scholar	Bradfield St Geo, Suffolk
Ernest RAYNHAM	Son	4	U	Scholar	Bradfield St Geo, Suffolk
Samuel RAYNHAM	Son	1	U		Bradfield St Geo, Suffolk

1881 census transcript for John Raynham and family, now at Maypole Green

This is the workshop premises used by John and Samuel their carpentry
and wheelwright business, still standing after 150 years

The Times 19 April 1950 press report of John Andrews Raynham of his published will

Samuel Raynham was the twelfth child born to John and Priscilla in 1879 and would have been very familiar with the his grandfather had carried out his wheelwrights business and indeed in 1914 Samuel took over the business at Stone House  at the age of 35 years.

Samuel, father of Topsy purchased Stone House  on Sunday 20 January 1929 having been the sitting tenant. Born three quarters through Queen Victoria's reign Samuel would have seen massive changes both at home and abroad. The Boer War had ended by the time he was 20 and at the beginning of the Great War he would have been 35 years of age. He would have seen the transformation of farming from a horse/ steam driven industry to the mechanised one of today.

He followed the trade of wheelwright a survey showed that between 1851 and 1901 some 1000 persons were employed in this trade and a further 2000 as blacksmiths in Suffolk. Clearly these and many others were increasingly vulnerable to economic pressures, and as they became more mechanised their demise was evitable.

In 1900, when Samuel was still a young man Suffolk was still a deeply rural county with the majority of living in more than 500 villages and market towns. Rural life however was at low ebb, farming barely profitable, its workforce shrinking and many wheelwrights giving up their trade. Life would have been tough for the young man.

He married Ellen Florence Grimmer  in 1905; she was 23 years of age and had three children. The first Annie Grimmer Raynham R400  arrived on Tuesday 3 Nov 1914 and was born in Stone House  and was called Topsy her nickname apparently given at the time of her baptism.

Their second child Samuel Raynham R386  was born in spring of 1916 but died in the same year as his birth, Topsy was unaware that she had a second brother until my research uncovered the birth and death registrations. Theodore Grimmer Raynham R387  was born on Friday 25 Mar 1921, and has emigrated to Canada where he and his family live. It is noted that two of the children had the second given name Grimmer, clearly a desire to perpetuate the maiden name of their mother.

Family Tree

Born a few months before the Great War began, Topsy has seen possibly more changes than any other generation. The complete change in the farming scene with its dependence upon human effort to where one machine can now do the work. The move from rural life to towns and cities and the development of new towns after World War 2.

The demise of the village with the closure of post offices, shops and pubs and the rapid expansion of out of town shopping centres.

Stone House  where the family were born and brought is estimated to be up to 200 years old and was originally part of a very large estate in the ownership of the Davers family until in 1896 the estate was sold. In 1922 the owner of 2000 acres comprising the Bradfield estate, Commander King RN  died. However parts of the King estate failed to meet the reserve price.

Eventually in 1929 the wheelwright's shop and house, known as Stone House  were sold to the sitting tenant Topsy's father this must have represented an act of faith when the worst economic depression ever was beginning. The illustrations at the end of this section show an extract from the 1927 Sale Particulars map of Maypole Green  and Stone House  as well as the description of the properties for sale. [29]

Samuel continued to use the adjoining shop for his business, he died at the age of 70 years in 1949 and his wife Ellen died at the age of 86 years in 1968, both had been cremated at Ipswich.

Topsy continued to live in Stone House  until her move to a residential home in 2001. This decision was taken when her neighbour at Stone House  had died suddenly and her life long friend and companion was no longer able to help Topsy with her daily needs.

A photo of Stone House  with Topsy and Mary standing by the porch can be seen at the end of this section, it was taken on one of the visits to see Topsy.

The Church of St George, Bradfield St George had seen many baptisms, marriages and burials services of the Raynham family. From the booklet available for sale in the church [30] it can trace its origins back to its Norman south wall of the nave.

With expansion in the population a north aisle was added and some time a tower. By the 1801 the population had increased to such an extent that a gallery was constructed, how many it could accommodate and when it was subsequently removed cannot be said.

Inside the church it is bright and clean and shows the care and pride that today's parishioners have in the church. An engraved stone on the south wall, by the main door records the nineteen men who gave their lives in the Great War, including George J Raynham who has been mentioned in a previously, he was Topsy's uncle.

The font, scene of many Raynham baptisms is of octagonal shape circa 14th century and the pulpit is of Jacobean date and again octagonal in shape.

In the graveyard the passage of time and weathering has made the task of locating Raynham graves difficult. One that can be seen and read is that of John Andrews Raynham R361  Topsy's great grandfather, who died in 1868; a photo of the headstone can be seen at the end of this section