| Blencowe Families’ Association Newsletter | Volume 20 Number 1, March 2005 |
Three Blencowes in the same team; St Edward’s School, Oxford, Rugby Football XV in 1905. (See Peter Blencowe’s story inside.) Lawrence is seated centre as captain, on his left is his brother Oswald, cousin Alan is in the front row, second from the left. [For the benefit of our American cousins: Rugby Union, until recently the amateur game, has 15 men per side. Rugby League, for many years the professional game, has 13. Just to add variety, Australian Rules fields 18 per side and the pitch looks a bit crowded! In contrast to the American game, you may not knock the other fellow down unless he is actually carrying the ball. JWB]
Table of Contents |
| Letter from the Editor Blencowes of St Edwards School Early Christmases Milestones Letters Lady Ann Blencowe’s Receipt Book More about DNA |
Letter from the Editor
Dear Cousins,
Another three months has slipped by!
This issue includes details of the forthcoming reunion in Dayton Ohio, organised by Gail and Allen Blincoe. The impressive list of local attractions makes it look like being a very successful event.
Peter Blencowe has contributed an article about notable Blencowe sportsmen in his branch of our family. It reminds me that the late Fred Blincow told that in former days Long Buckby’s formidable rugger team depended heavily on its Blincow members!
English postal charges continue to rise but I hope to be able to hold the subscription at its present level. However, I would ask if you would kindly all make your subscription at the end of the year instead of at the quarter indicated on the mailer. Some of you will lose out a little to start off with but it would simplify our book-keeping here and in USA.
I find the DNA results reported inside quite exciting; a few more carefully selected candidates would probably link up some more family groups (Blencowes of Bicester or Kings Sutton, Blencowes of North Carolina, for example). I would like to make a suggestion: we have a small cash surplus in our accounts, something under £1,000 here and $1,000 in USA. Whilst at Dayton I should like you to discuss whether we might spend maybe $500-$600 on a few tests of individuals who might volunteer but are not likely to fork our their own money for the purpose. Let me have your reactions please.
Jack Blencowe
Oxford, March 2005.
Blencowes of St Edward‘s School, Oxford
Sportsmen and Soldiers
In our ‘Blencowe Families’ book I wrote at some length (pp.58-59)about the two brothers, Lawrence and Oswald Blencowe, of the Marston St Lawrence family, both educated at St Edward’s and subsequently killed in action in World War One. I also mentioned their cousin, Alan, (p.362) who was at St Edward’s at the same time. What I didn’t know then was that all three were members of both the School Cricket XI and the Rugby Football XV. Surely a most unusual achievement for any family.
The cover photograph, shown with the permission of St Edward’s School, is of the 1905 Rugger XV. Lawrence is seated centre as Captain. On his left is Oswald, and Alan is in the front row, second from the left. The 1906 Cricket XI, also captained by Lawrence, shows the three Blencowes; Oswald again on Lawrence’s left, but this time Alan is seated below Oswald.
Lawrence and Oswald were in the school cricket XI for five years. Lawrence 1902-1906, the final year as Captain, and Oswald 1904-1908 with his last two years as Captain. Alan was only in the 1906 XI.
Lawrence was in the School rugger XV from 1902-1906 and was Captain in the final year. Oswald was in the side 1905-1907, the last year he was captain. Alan was in the XV in 1905 only.
It is said that the Blencowe brothers were the supreme sportsmen of their generation at St Edward’s and excelled at all sports including boxing, fives, lawn tennis, athletics and gymnastics.
Millington Sing, former Warden of St Edward’s, wrote in 1925 that Lawrence Blencowe ‘Might well be reckoned to be the greatest footballer of all the St. Edwards old pupils’. Oswald was always felt to be a little under the shadow of his elder brother but once Lawrence left, he came into his own and as a wing three quarter, excelled and was well supported by a team who appreciated his captaincy.
At Oxford University, Lawrence was awarded his ‘Rugger Blue’, later captaining Yorkshire and the North of England against South Africa, and was awarded an English Rugby Football Cap but turned down the opportunity to play against France, as the match was to be played on a Sunday.
After University, both brothers went to teach at the same school, Orleton, Scarborough. There Lawrence became engaged to Dorothy Cooper, the founder’s daughter, whom he later married. It was generally expected that he would have become Headmaster in due course. However, the War intervened. It was agreed between the brothers that Lawrence would stay at the school and Oswald would volunteer. He enlisted, became a 2nd Lieutenant in the Oxfordshire and Buckingham Light Infantry only to be killed, aged 26, on 7th October 1916. Lawrence then enlisted joined the King’s London Scottish as 2nd Lt. and was himself killed, aged 29. It is said that England lost the Flower of its Manhood in those terrible and sad days of 1914-1918. Those two Blencowe brothers must be included as part of this. As it says on their memorial in Marston St Lawrence Church “They died for England. They were lovely and pleasant in their lives and in death they were not divided”.
Peter Blencowe,
Walderton, March 2005.
Postscript
Since Peter Blencowe wrote this piece in 2004 Roger Blinko a BFA member has published a comprehensive website featuring these brothers who were part of 320 Blencowe men and women who served in WW1. At the website each person has a section describing their war experience, travels and battles fought. In many cases, it also contains information where they were treated in hospital for their injuries. Go to the link that follows and use the BFA member password that can be obtained from Roger. ww1.blencowe.one-name.net.
Early Christmases
Gary Blinco sent me a piece written by his uncle Frank who lives in Hucknall near Nottingham. It evokes memories of festivities in the 1920s in a not-very-well-off mining community in the English Midlands:
‘As a child the first signs of Christmas were seeing shop windows being brighter with a few decorations in the form of strings of tinsel and articles surrounded by coloured paper, Christmas selling did not start until long after the clocks were put back from Summer Time. Some shops did start to run Xmas Clubs known as twelve-week clubs, in which customers could pay a little each week to purchase items at Christmas.
Even as a small child I remember the preparations; baking increased, puddings and cakes were made. Two puddings in their basins with the white cloth wrapped over each, the cake, dark with fruit, black treacle and brown sugar, in which a sly finger dipped when mum gave a blind eye; tarts and mince pies stored in biscuit tins.
Nearer to the time a chocolate roll was bought, covered with white icing sugar and a robin, saved from year-to-year, perched on top of this Yule Log; at the same time the cake was brought out and covered with white icing to make a winter scene. Small pottery figures of Santa Claus and eskimos on sleighs or snowballing were available and, once bought saved each year, wrapped carefully after washing.
Decorations were not put up until well into December. Paper flowers were made, tissue paper shawls draped over mirrors and picture frames, garlands strung across the rooms — a fairyland of our own!
The market day before Christmas was not to be missed. The market was always a special treat to us children, especially in winter, because it kept open later in those days. The stalls were lit by kerosene and gas lights, which gave everything a golden glow over the goods. The fish and chip stall at the front stayed in business until the last of the people came out of the Scala Cinema whose rear entrance was nearby.
All the stall-keepers made a great show of seasonal goods. Poultry, a rare luxury to the working class, now hung in rows and had to be looked at. Hares and rabbits were commonplace, for each area had its local supplier, either a farmer or the local rabbit-catcher (i.e. poacher!). The Christmas cockerel always came with feathers on, and what an event the plucking was! The wing and tail plumes became Indian head-dresses and I remember a neighbour who made pictures with the breast and hackle feathers.
The Christmas tree was decorated, an artifical one with tiny candle holders on the end of the branches with tiny candles (only to be lit on Christmas Eve and after tea on Christmas Day). The holly- bough was not forgotten, this was hung and decorated with sweets and sugar pigs, mice, etc, to be removed one by one to each child through the twelve days of Christmas. All this to be ready for the Big Day!
Christmas mornings all seem to have merged into one in my memories. I cannot remember being asked what I wanted for until I was around twelve years of age; yet I always seemed to get the things I wanted. My parents must have been good at guessing my wants! The excitement of finding “Santa has been”; delving into the packages and reading who had sent the them to Santa for you, was a delight that I still remember with a feeling of longing.
There were some items that never changed: a bag of your favourite toffees, an apple, an orange, and a handful of mixed nuts in their shells, right at thee bottom of the stocking. There were filberts and peanuts and nuts of a kind that we never saw at other times: almonds, brazils, walnuts — just magic!
Meals had to be taken, of course, but foods now appeared from story books! Two kinds of meat to be carved: beef, pork or mutton, a roast bird; l ater a pork pie and boiled bacon, very rarely, ham. We lived on the remains of these in the form of stews or sandwiches for days afterwards, but what luxury! Mince pies and tarts cakes and chocolate roll, sweets and chocolate, fruit and nuts, to children it was wonderland!
Milestones
Stewart Blencowe wrote to tell me of the death of his father Alan. Stewart wrote:
Born in 1921 in Banbury, the son of a mill worker and lay-preacher, Alan left grammar school without any qualifications and wanted to work on the railway, in which he had a passionate interest. However, he was persuaded to join an insurance company.
He joined the RAF in 1941, first as a ground mechanic and later as a flight mechanic in Coastal Command. His flying took him on missions over home waters and latterly in the Middle East and India. Demobbed and married in 1946 to a local Bloxham girl he resumed his career in insurance until his retirement in 1982.
He continued his lifelong interest in railways, enjoyed classical music, and worked tirelessly for the Methodist Church. He is survived by his second wife Ismay, two sons and five grandchildren.
Peter Blencowe’s cousin Judy Lane died on 15 December. She was the last surviving daughter of Charles Blencowe, who sank the German gunboat on Lake Victoria in the First World War.
Letters
Elizabeth Brennecke wrote telling that she had moved from her centuries-old home The White House in High Street, Long Buckby, where she had lived for sixty-five years. Her new address is 42 King Street, Long Buckby NN6 7RP, so she continues to maintain the long Blincow connections with the village. Elizabeth had survived a frightening experience; in hospital for something quite different she succumbed to a “hospital acquired infection” and spent some days in intensive care. You’ll all be relieved to know that she is now fit and well and aiming to get the new garden sorted out to her satisfaction as soon as Spring comes along.
Adrian Causier wrote seeking information of his grandmother Elsie Blinco who was born in 1898/9 and lived in West Haddon, Northants, before she married his grandfather Alfred Causier. Elsie died a few years ago in Leicester aged 99.
I was able to give Adrian details of Elsie Margaret Blencowe’s birth registration in Brixworth in 1898. If he gets a copy of the certificate he’ll find her parentage. Anyone out there know any details?
Gary Blinco wrote from Bristol where he lives with his wife Amanda and son Henry. Gary descends from the Blincos of Hucknall near Nottingham, and through them from our old friend John Blencowe, the Parish Clerk of Whilton. Gary sent me the piece about Christmas past, written by his uncle Frank Blinco; I was tempted to hold it over for the December issue but thought you would like to read it now.
Joan Peebles, another descendant of John of Whilton who lives in Brighton, tells me that she is a member of the Society of Genealogists and very active in research. She is a group leader for Family History at the local University of the Third Age (U3A) and visits various record offices about once a month. She complains gently that there is usually at least one member who needs to be shown how to use a microfilm reader, leaving her with little time for her own studies!
Jeanette Roper née Blincow wrote from Scotland giving me details of the relationships of the Blincows of 18thC Kings Sutton who got to Dunoon via Tipton. She mentioned that her g.g.grandfather’s brother Edward born in 1822 emigrated and died in Wisconsin. I have a note that Edward was baptised on Christmas Day 1922 in Wroxton and emigrated in 1845 on the Empress to Canada (Toronto or Hamilton). Interesting that he moved on from there to the States.
Joan Smith wrote on behalf of a friend, the son of John Gordon Blencowe born about 1924. I was able to confirm that he was the son of Walter, one of the Blencowe bakers of Kingston Road, Oxford. The family can be traced back to 18thC Bicester.
I had made an enquiry about Kenneth and Yvonne Blincoe and received a reply; Kenneth, who is living in Mayfield KY, was the first child of John Davis Blincoe and Sarah Elizabeth (Hurt) Blincoe. He has four brothers, Joe Ronald in Madras OR, Don Walker in Hickman KY, Robert Morris in Georgetown TX and David Lynn in Union City TN. Their grandfather was Dudley Dale Blincoe, originally from Lewisport KY. The descendants of the 17thC “Immigrant James” are certainly spread far and wide in the United States!
Lady Ann Blencowe’s Receipt Book
A date for your diary: Tina Stapley will be lecturing at Sulgrave Manor on Sunday and Monday 1-2 May. She will be talking about cookery (and Blencowes) in the manor kitchen in the mornings and about herbs in the afternoon. In addition to being the ancestral home of the Washington family (who were related by marriage to the Blencowes), Sulgrave Manor also hosts the national herb collection.
If you want an interesting day out you can enjoy a tour of the manor, see Tina in her lovely “Lady Ann” dress and maybe call in at nearby Marston St Lawrence and look at the many Blencowe memorials there.
The daughter of an old colleague of mine runs the village pub in Sulgrave and serves excellent food.
More about DNA
In the last newsletter I told of the recent result that Stuart Blinco of Slough had contributed a DNA sample revealing a direct link of his family group back to Adam de Blencow.
Most of our present-day family groups can be traced to origins close to Marston St Lawrence. Even if there is no ‘paper trail’ to prove it, it is easy to speculate that some un-recorded younger son of the family had moved to a village within walking distance or to one that could be reached easily on horseback. The numerous Blincos of the Slough-Windsor area descend from William Blincko, a farmer and Petty Constable of Hedgerley who married Sarah Nash at St George’s Chapel, Windsor, in 1692. William was baptised in Iver (son of William and Susannah) in 1671. Iver is some 60 miles from Marston and there is no known ‘paper trail’ linking them back to the main line of our family tree. However, there are two possible origins:
William (1548-1569), son of John Blencowe of Marston St Lawrence and Elizabeth Secole, died in Amersham where he had been betrothed to Margaret Saunders. Five years later William’s younger brother John (1553-1605) married Margaret. Amersham is about 14 miles from Iver. John and Margaret’s son John (1575-1643) married Mary Waleston of Ruislip some time before 1600 and Ruislip is only 6 miles from Iver. Both these events indicate a family connection with the area. William of Hedgerley would have been maybe three generations down from a contemporary of John Blencowe and Mary Waleston.
Another new development
I had reported that the DNA analysis of Chris Blencowe of Toronto showed a direct descent from Adam de Blencow; his earliest known ancestor was shown as:
?
A farmer near Steyning
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William Blencowe
c.1805-1873
Brighton
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(two generations)
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Chris Blencowe
Toronto
and I had speculated that the ‘farmer of Steyning’ might be descended from the 16thC Hugh Blencowe of nearby Storrington and maybe through him from the Blencowes of Cumbria. This turned out be quite wrong!
Ron Currell, who lives near Peterborough, was researching the same family group via the 1851 Census and found that William Blencowe (c.1805-1873) had been born in Runwell in Essex having ended up in Sussex through his employment on the railways! Family tradition that his father was a farmer was correct but in quite a different county.
Turning to the database I found that William was probably a younger brother of George ‘The Inventor’ whose career is described at some length in our book. Ron tracked down the Runwell parish records and confirmed this. George (and William) descended from Thomas Blencowe, Surgeon’s Mate on H.M.S. Dragon who died in 1741. Jill Dudbridge had speculated that Thomas was a the son of Thomas Blinkoe, a blacksmith of London, one of the last of a long line of Blencowes descended from the Marston family.
The importance of this result is clear: all the male descendants Thomas of H.M.S. Dragon will have the same DNA in the male chromosome. It also clinches (at least to my satisfaction) Jill’s suggestion that Thomas was son of Thomas the blacksmith and, as a Surgeon’s Mate, perhaps continuing his grandfather’s career as an apothecary.
| Adam de Blencow c.1309-1388 | (six generations) | John Blencowe 1553-1605 Marston St Lawrence | Thomas Blencowe c.1580-1616 A vintner of London | John Blinko 1608-c.1673 A ‘skinner’ of London | John Blincoe 1637-1697 An apothecary of London | Thomas Blinkoe 1669-? A blacksmith of London ? Thomas Blencowe Of H.M.S. Dragon | Thomas Blencowe 1735-1792 of Wakering, Essex | Thomas Blencowe 1763-? A farmer of Wakering | |
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| George Blencowe 1802-1870 ‘The Inventor’ of Islington | Issue in England |
James Blencowe 1803-1890 A tailor of Melbourne | Issue in Victoria |
William Blencowe 1806-1873 Railwayman & cab owner of Brighton | Issue in Canada, England and Germany |