Hi Mom,
I am sorry I cut off so abruptly from our IM conversation last night (for you the middle of the day). My internet connection died. Still, we have internet here sometimes, so at least I will be able to write more. For now, I guess I need to play catch up.
MaLese and I made it to Bury St. Edmunds! It is such a beautiful town. Gordon and Jean (one of the couples we stayed with in Ipswich) drove us here because they did not want us spending more money on the trains than we already are.
Margaret had arranged for us to stay with Gloria and Peter, but due to an incorrect email address and the death of Margaret’s mother Gloria and Peter did not know when we were coming until the day before we arrived. They were installing cabinets in Peter’s office, so they had moved all of his office paperwork into their spare room. As a result, they arranged for us to stay with Gordon and Jean for two nights. Gordon and Jean are two of the sweetest people I know. They asked us to dinner after we went to stay with Gloria and Peter. When they found out we were going to Bury they decided to drive us. When we arrived, Gordon and Jean inspected the B&B we are staying at and made sure to let us now we could come back to stay with them if we did not like it here.
Gloria and Peter were equally wonderful. They are the sweetest people. Peter is a genealogist, so he had great stories, as well as copies of the CRO catalogues for Suffolk and Essex. MaLese and I were overjoyed to see these and pretty much commandeered them for the week we were there. They fed us breakfast and would have fed us dinner if we hadn’t put our feet down. As it was, they let us use their kitchen to cook dinner and Gloria did our laundry (this is the first time our laundry has seen a washing machine in a month)! We have been washing things in sinks and bathtubs, so we felt like we arrived in heaven when she did it. She wouldn’t even let us think about doing it ourselves.
When I mentioned I wanted to write my church history paper on the saints and the early church in East Anglia Peter and Gloria started emailing and calling people in England, Canada and the United States to find me sources and stories for my paper. They are two of the most gracious individuals I have ever met. Gloria started joking that we would gain the epitaphs, “I don’t want to be an imposition” if we said it one more time. When we went to conference on Sunday she told us we could come back and stay with them if we did not like Bury. Leaving Gloria and Peter along with Gordon and Jean was bittersweet. They all welcomed us into their homes and hearts without reservation. Still, we will stay in contact.
Before leaving, MaLese and I spent a very sunny day researching in Lowestoft. This was somewhat unexpected. The Ipswich Office showed that all of the parish records for the places MaLese and my ancestors lived were in Lowestoft. As I went through a vestry minute book looking for IAP information I felt a strong desire to see this information for my people. But the possibility of the trip became a certainty when I found Thomas Castleton of Lowestoft in the Quarter Session Records of 1809 while doing IAP research. This “accident” sent me running to the archivists to see if they would have anything more. When she confirmed that the information I was looking for would be in Lowestoft my ticket was as good as bought.
I also did a frantic search through all the series of Quarter Sessions indexes and found John Castleton in 1750. He had something to do with a case involving a sewer. John and the two Thomas’ are the Castletons that I have run into a dead end with. Because Thomas was appearing before the court on a mater of bastardy Lowestoft parish records probably contain a bastardy bond for his child that might list other family members.
Again, I boarded the train to Lowestoft with high hopes. The day was beautiful. Lowestoft looked a lot better. It is still not my favorite town, but it had a record office which is all I cared about on this trip. Unfortunately, Lowestoft does not hold any of the records for Lowestoft. Norfolk Record Office in Norwich does. It does have some good indexes. I also discovered Lowestoft had an 1821 and 1831 census, where the Castletons show up, so the trip was not a waste of time. I am glad I got to go again before we left Ipswich.
When we arrived in Bury we dropped our suitcases at the B&B and walked into town with Gordon and Jean. They ended up spending most of the day with us. We visited their market in the town center. Then we found the tourist information shop and collected the information we needed to find the Record Office on Monday. We strolled through the gardens and ruins for the old abbey where St. Edmund is said to have been buried (hence the town’s name of Bury St. Edmunds). The garden is beautiful and the ruins were great. Gordon and Jean took us to lunch then walked us home.
MaLese and I then had to figure out a way to get back to Ipswich or Cambridge for conference on Sunday, because none of the trains or buses would get us there on time. We called Gloria and she gave us some numbers of members here. The first couple we called gave us a ride there and invited us to dinner. They live in a house surrounded by a mote. Their oldest daughter is going to BYU Idaho this fall.
I have to run or I will be late. They are picking us up in a few minutes.
Love you lots,
Heather
