It seems only appropriate to devote a section of this Raynham journey to the parish of Chelsworth , Suffolk from where my ancestors first travelled to East London. Chelsworth can trace its history back to King Edgar [1] and 962, when its name, "Ceorleswyrthe" first appears in a charter. The estate was given to his stepmother Aethelflaed, she in her will bequeathed the land to her sister and later to the Benedictine Abbey of Bury St. Edmunds.

Various families leased the lands from the church, including the Howards and the de Veres. In 1539 Henry V111 dissolved the monasteries and the lands passed to the Crown.

Chelsworth  has an entry in the Domesday Book, which was completed in 1086. The size of Chelsworth had steadily grown over the years since the Domesday Survey and by 1286 the land in the hands of the Lord of the Manor consisted of 280 acres of arable, 7 of meadow, 12 of pasture and 15 acres of wood. The total including tenanted and land under the ownership of the church was 570 acres.

The present Church of All Saints is mostly fourteenth and fifteenth century [2] construction and is of the "Perpendicular" style, the Victorians having undertaken much restoration of the fourteenth century chancel. There is some written evidence of an earlier church in the records dating to the reign of King John, 1199.

All the information concerning the Raynham inhabitants of the Chelsworth  has been extracted from Bernard Quinlan 's revised edition of "Chelsworth The Story of a Little Suffolk Village" Chelsworth The Story of a Little Suffolk Village\"" [3]

The earliest reference to the Raynhams occurs with Robert Raynham R40 and his spouse Sarah in 1724/25 having their fourth child, Thomas R44, baptised in the church. This is described in Chapter 6 and confirmed in the parish registers when the first records began. In 1752 James Raynham R296 married the widow Alice Price nee Munford . The Raynham family along with the Pocklingtons and the Gages occupied a central and lasting place in the life of Chelsworth  over the intervening years.

The Raynhams had two distinct family lines, the thatching and the farmers. My own line is directly traceable backed to Robert and Sarah, the thatching line and the farming line stems from James and Alice above. Alice brought with her much of the Bridge Farm estate with lands south of the River Brett. With this marriage James was blessed with good fortune having with the Price/Munford families very powerful land-owning connections.

The postcard below was sent by a visitor to a friend in Earls Colne and is dated July 1924 it is possible that the building in the background is Bridge Farm and could be the farmhouse.

The continuing prosperity of the farming Raynhams owes much to these connections.

In 1803 James Raynham's son, another James R300 purchased the old Spring estate from Benjamin Keningale for ?1000.

In 1806 a property known as "Barrards ", inhabited by James Raynham and owned by Rev. John Gee Smyth was given permission to move the highway about thirty feet from the front of "Barrards". This required him to create a new highway at his own expense, the original highway being enclosed for the use by the said Rev. Smyth.

Which, if any of the two James Raynhams this was is not clear, but as the property was occupied by John Spring it may well have been James the younger.

William Raynham , son of James the youngest was given permission in 1814 to enclose and fence a part of the Common and erect a cottage upon it. William was already the owner of Common Farm and the subsequently the new cottage was burnt down and destroyed in April 1924.

The first reference to the Raynhams, in the book relates to their occupation of Ivy House by the farmer William Raynham, he had acquired the property and other cottages from the creditors of John Garrard, a dealer in wines and spirits. Located in School Hill, this property was also known as "Haywards", today the property is owned by the farming Woodgate family.

The farmer William Raynham was involved in the rebuilding of a hump-backed bridge which spanned the site of Caford, this bridge was replaced for one more suitable for motor traffic. It was reported in 1821 that William, along with a William Cousins and Rev. J G Smyth would rebuild the bridge at a cost of ?36. 12. 9 ?, about ?1100 today. This represented the half-share cost to the parish, the other half being met by the parish of Monks Eleigh .

It is interesting to note that William Raynham was also a churchwarden; whether it is the same churchwarden who in 1852 assisted in the repair of the south porch at the Church of All Saints, Chelsworth  is not known. A tablet in the porch is inscribed with the names of William Raynham, Rev. F Calvert and Henry Martin Gage, the date is 1852. Externally is a stone tablet imbedded in the west wall, the date is 1838 and is dedicated states:

"Sir R Pocklington.
W Raynham.
Churchwardens
J Moss. Plumber R."

A further notice exists within the church, which detail bequests by people associated with Chelsworth ; the notice is signed with the names of William Raynham, Rev Calvert and Henry E Austin with the date of 25 July 1843.

Photos of the three tablets are shown below.

 

In 1843 the office of Guardian of the Poor was held by a William Raynham, also a farmer, this was the first recorded Guardian even though the Poor Law Amendment Act came into being in 1834.

The farming Raynhams left Chelsworth  for good in the middle of the nineteenth century, many cemetery headstones exist today, as a reminder of the Raynhams.

Of the thatching Raynhams very little is recorded, save for the usual registrations for baptisms, marriages and burials, they owned no land and with two known exceptions, occupied no official positions.

 A Thomas Raynham is recorded as being the purchaser of Meadow Cottage sometime at the end of the eighteenth century. His son, Thomas later purchased the adjoining cottage, known as Marshes , it was used a shop for a while; of its demolition nothing is known.

Through the research in regards to Chelsworth  information relating to the life of Thomas Raynham R47 (1748-1830), a thatcher and his grandson William Raynham R60 (1809-1872) is known. The grandson was also a thatcher and lived at Meadow Cottage . In 1836 he married Mary Ann Raynham R130 (1813-1887), a half cousin the illegitimate daughter of Mary Raynham R37.

William and Mary Ann had eight children, only one, John R76 (1846-1912) remaining in the village. John Raynham worked as a thatcher and apparently a molecatcher, he was married twice.

William Raynham was one of the last persons to hold the position of Parish Constable in Chelsworth , records confirm appointments up to 1873. The symbol of office, a constable's staff was presented to the parish by William's son John Raynham early this century. The pair of them were additionally employed as parish clerks from about 1870.

This concludes the main Raynham extracts from Bernard Quinlan's book, however there is the need to mention the various Raynham headstones that abound the church cemetery. The following graves have been located or have been previously recorded [4] :

* Ref. 56 [5] Henrietta Raynham (circa 1761-1799), spouse of James Raynham R300. Inscription recorded "Henrietta w of James R 20 Ap 1799 age 38"

* Ref. 55 Hester Raynham R301 (1791-1807), daughter of James R300 and Hester Raynham nee Piper. Inscription recorded "Hester R 6 July 1807 ag 16"

* Ref. 62 James Raynham R300 (1754-1814) married to Hester Raynham nee Piper. Inscription recorded "James Raynham farmer 14 May 1814 age 60 years"----Bernard Quinlan continues the epitaph----"He was an affectionate husband, an indulgent parent, A kind master, a sincere friend And an upright and benevolent lay reader.

If thou woudst live equally blessed and die equally regretted Copy his example"

* Ref. 73 James Raynham R203 (1784-1815) son of James R300 and Hester Raynham.  Inscription recorded "James Raynham 12 Nov 1815 age 30"

* Ref. 74 William Raynham, inscription recorded "William Raynham 27 May aged 26; Agnes his sister 20 April 1836 age 10m"

* Ref. 89 Double grave of Susan Raynham (1774-1845) and Thomas Raynham R51 (1773-1853). Inscription recorded "Susan wife of Thomas Raynham 21 Dec 1845 age 72 Thomas Raynham 11 June 1853 age 79"

* Ref. 60 Son R311 (circa 1830-1862) of William R297 and Mary Eleanor Raynham. Inscription recorded "Al son of William and Mary Eleanor Raynham 1 Mar 1862 age 32"

* Ref. 61 Double grave of William Raynham R297 (1785-1873) and Mary Eleanor Raynham (1792-1864). Inscription recorded "William Raynham 27 Sept 1873 age 88 Mary Eleanor wife of William Raynham 15 Jan 1864 aged 72"

*  Ref. 59 Alice Raynham R312 (1834-1873) daughter of William and Mary Eleanor Raynham. Inscription recorded "Alice d of William & Mary Eleanor Raynham 11 Oct 1873 age 39"

 * Ref. 90 Thomas Sherman Raynham R192 (circa 1839-1911), inscription recorded "Thomas Sherman Raynham 27 Nov 1911 age 72 Marianne wife of 15 June 1910 age 72"

From these headstones inscriptions we can link them to some of the characters that have been identified earlier in this chapter. James Raynham R300 who purchased the old Spring estate in 1803 is headstone Ref. 62, with the descriptive epitaph. William Raynham R297, the farmer who was very active in the village, when not enclosing the Common he was involved in bridge building is headstone Ref. 61. It would be very easy to confuse him with the thatching William Raynham R60.

Of William Raynham R60, the Parish Constable no headstone has been located although we do know that he died at Chelsworth , his father Thomas Raynham R51 is buried in the cemetery, headstone Ref. 89, along with his spouse Susan Raynham nee Warren .

Photos of some of the headstones have been taken over the years and some of these are noted below, on a recent visit on the 20 June 2002 many were now unreadable. Below on the left we have Thomas Sherman Raynham R192 (1839-1911) and on the right Alice Raynham R312 (1834-1873). The third is the double headstone William Raynham R297 (1785-1873) and his wife Mary Eleanor (1792-1864); they are the parents Alice noted above.

 

After many years of research and assistance from other family and village historians it has been possible to connect the farming Raynhams and the thatching Raynhams.

Today there are no Raynhams in Chelsworth , the last apparently having gone in 1924, an elderly male Raynham however still lives in the neighbouring village of Bildeston .

A check through the current BT telephone directories covering the county of Suffolk lists nine entries, one each at Assington, Boxford, Chapel St Mary, Bildeston, Worlingworth and Eye and two near Stowmarket. Other Raynhams may exist in the Suffolk, these are either not listed or they do not have a telephone.

A modern map below helps to locate Chelsworth in relation to other Raynham villages.