Volume 9 Number 2 June 1994

The church of Marston St. Lawrence will be remembered by those who attended the Reunion ’93 in England. A small little church – it is Blencowe-worthy with it’s many stained glass memorial windows, plaques and cemetery headstones commemorating and recognizing Blencowes. Jack Blencowe, of Oxford, England includes an article regarding the refurbishing of the Bells of Marston St. Lawrence. The editor agrees with Jack that this would be a very worthwhile project and with your help we will reach this goal. You will find a form in the back of the letter for your participation.

One of the aims of a Family Genealogical Association is to increase and disseminate the knowledge of the history of that family. The more people involved with research and communication – the more information is made available. The article from Estella Blenko Williams of Pitt Meadows. Canada tells of the migration of her grandfather from England to Canada. Benn Blincoe of Benton, California writes of his findings at Salt Lake City. Hopefully one of our researchers can shed more light on this family. Benn also included a disk of Blencowe information he has gleaned from the Salt Lake City Mormon computer database. As time allows we will check it against the Blencowe databases.

Another article from Jack Blencowe of Oxford, England continues with the story of immigrants from Bichester, England to New York.

Betty Blincoe of Reno, NV alerted us to the June, 1994 National Geographic. Magazine. “Not a spark of pity was shewn to the sick of either sex,” wrote Robert Blincoe, who had worked as an indentured apprentice at the Litton Mill in Derbyshire in the early 1800’s. “If they dropped down, they were put into a wheelbarrow and wheeled to the ‘prentice house… and there left to live or die.” Cotton, The King of Fibers, page 71. Betty attended the England’93 reunion.

Enclosed is information and for The YMCA Camp of the Rockies where the Reunion for 1995 will be held. It is suggested that you make a $10.00 per person (or £5.00 to Jack or Maurine) refundable deposit to hold a spot.

HISTORY OF JOHN PHEASANT BLENKO

By his granddaughter Estella Williams

Grandfather John Pheasant Blenko was born January 14, 1859 in Bethnal Green and in his early teens was apprenticed to a locksmith.

In 1881 he married Jane Strawson and they had two sons – Jack Strawson, b. 1882 d. 1942, Frederick Arthur, b. 1897 d. 1968.

John worked as a locksmith in later years traveling to England and Europe where he opened safes for estates etc. In 1905 he and his family emigrated to Canada where John and Jack applied for homesteads in north Saskatchewan. Homesteads were 160 acres each of raw land that had to be clear of bush and trees, then the sod had to be broken up to prepare the land for planting crops. Within the first three years they had to build a house, usually a log cabin with earth floor and sod roof. (I can remember Grandpa saying in the spring thaw the snow melted and dripped through the sod. They stacked their belongings up and opened their umbrellas in hope of keeping their clothing etc. dry.) They also had to build a barn, dig a well and buy a team (2) of horses, a cow and 2 pigs. The climate was extreme, 0 – 90 Fahrenheit in summer and winter with 4 to 6 ft. of snow and temperatures of at least minus 30 for weeks at a time. In the fall of 1905 the Canadian National Rail came through Maidstone, the nearest town which was 12 miles away with no roads. How did these people manage coming from civilized London to the wilds of Saskatchewan bush land?

In 1907 a school district was organized, a small one room school was built with classes held in the spring and fall for a few weeks when the pupils were not needed to help with farm work. There were no classes in the winter as it was too cold. Both Dad and Mom were among the first students to attend. It was hard work clearing the land preparing it for the crops. They grew large gardens, their only source of fresh vegetables, which they canned or put in storage in a root cellar for winter use. Gradually over the years they built up their animals to 30 work horses, 12 milk cows (they sent cream to the creamery in Maidstone where it was made into butter and cheese.) There were also around 40 range cattle and 100 – 150 pigs which were shipped to meat packing plants. In the 1930’s we also raised 50 – 75 turkeys which were killed at home and I can remember working for days helping to pluck the feathers s o the bird would get a higher grade and bring a better price.

Grandmother died in 1922 and is buried in the cemetery in Maidstone. Over the years they added another 1-1/2 sections – 920 acres to the farm. In 1922 Dad married May Cross, b. 1900 d. 1984 whose parents had homesteaded on the land adjoining the family farm on the south. They built a new home hauling lumber with horses and sleigh from a sawmill over 60 miles away. Mom and Dad had three girls – June, Freda and myself. We all went to the little one room school where years before Mom and Dad had at tended.

During the early thirties life was very hard. For 5 or 6 years there was a severe drought. There were high winds blowing top soil around in clouds, stopping only when some obstacle such as a fence or tree was there to hold it. Some days the blowing soil blotted out the sun. There was no grain for sale. With such low prices for cattle and pigs that after paying freight charges to Winnipeg, the farmers often had to send extra money to cover the freight charges. We always had enough to eat but nothing extra for clothing or staples like sugar, tea etc. which we did not grow.

In 1937 we had a pvisit from Alf Browne, son of Frederick Brown and Mary Ann Blenko. Alf had received our address form Nora Blenko Millar, daughter of Thomas Richard Blenko. I had corresponded with Nora from the time I was very small but lost contact with her during the war when she moved to Essex to stay with her daughter. Alf Browne lived in Langley, in the Fraser Valley area of B.C. He had been in W.W.I and fought at Vimy Ridge. His mother lived with him until she died in 1927. In 1939 Alf and his sister Harriet Ship of Vancouver came again to visit.

Harriet had three children – Lillian Burns, b. 1900 is still living in a nursing home in Victoria, B.C. (1 son Conrad). Alf had no children and George had 2 children, both of the boys have passed away.

In 1942 Uncle John died at the height of the labour shortage due to the war. I left school and became the equivalent of the English land girl. Together Dad and I managed to keep the farm operating until the end of the war and the boys came home to work again as hired men.

In 1947 Dad sold the farm and moved to Maidstone where June and Freda finished high school.

In 1950 Mom, Dad and Grandfather moved to Jasper Park, Alberta, where Grandpa died in 1950 on his 90th birthday. He is also buried in Maidstone.

In 1952 Mom and Dad moved to Surrey, B.C. where Dad worked for the municipality until he retired in 1965. He passed away in 1968. Mom died in 1984.

My sisters and I live in different municipalities within 55 miles of Vancouver, B.C.

Estella Williams, Pitt Meadows, Canada

Dear Helen,

Recently I returned from my second trip to the Family History Library in Salt Lake City where I researched Joseph A Blincoe, my great grandfather. Enclosed are summaries of my notes from my two trips.

On my first trip, last October, I was able to find that Joseph Blincoe was born in September 1851 in Loudoun County, Virginia. At the age of 9 he was living with a family of the name Thomas. Official birth records were not started in Virginia until 1853, so it looked like a dead end.

I returned to Salt Lake City in early April in order to find out why Joseph Blincoe was living with Thomases at the the age of nine, and who his parents might be. did not find out anything definite, but did develop a theory. I think that the Joseph Blincoe and Mary Thomas who were married on January 11, 1845 are the parents of Joseph A Blincoe. While Joseph A was born six years after the marriage of Joseph Blincoe and

Mary Thomas, the fact that Joseph A was living with Joseph and Martha Thomas at the age of nine seems to support my theory. My theory is that Joseph Thomas and Mary Thomas are related, possibly brother and sister, and that Joseph Thomas adopted Joseph A, for some unknown reason.

NOTES:

Ages listed in 1900. 1910. 1920 censuses consistent with birthdate of Sept.1851.
Several families of Blincoes were listed as living in Leesburg, Virginia in the 1860 census.
Only one other Joseph Blincoe was listed in Virginia in 1860 census; his age of over 50 indicates not the person being researched.

1850 Federal Census, Virginia

1840 Federal Census, VA, Heads of Family
Martha Blincoe Loudoun in household

• M 1 (15-20)

• F 1 (5-10), 1 (10-15). 1 (15-20), 2 (20-25), 1 (40-50)

Joseph Blincoe Loudon 224 in household

• M 2 (15-20), 1 (60-70) F 2 (20-30), 1 (30-40)

Benn Blincoe, Benton CA

How it was all arranged

In an earlier note I told of the two families of Blencowes from Bicester who have been listed as immigrating into the United States but who seem never to have left home. The remainder of the party, 105 persons, set out from Bicester for Liverpool on 24 May 1830. We do not know how they fared on the ocean crossing or after they arrived in the United States but the story of the preparation for the voyage is a fascinating one. It does not support the view that the paupers were being shipped out of the country merely to save the cost of maintaining them in their home parish. A real effort was made to help make a new start in life.

When the Napoleonic Wars ended the release of men from military service and the greatly-reduced demand for clothing and footwear for the armed forces led to serious unemployment; weavers and shoemakers in Oxfordshire and Northamptonshire were particularly badly affected. Towns such as Bicester and Long Buckby suffered extreme poverty. The idea of helping paupers from Bicester to emigrate to the United States arose because a party had recently been sent from Kings Sutton, a village about 16 miles away, not far from Banbury. On Sunday 9 May 1830 Messrs Waters, Foster and Neal went from Bicester to Kings Sutton to find how it had been organised and what the costs had been.

They were told that 36 persons had emigrated, 9 men, 5 women and 22 children. The cost had been met by a levy of 6d per acre paid by local landowners and by a charge of 6d per £ on the local rate (the equivalent of a municipal tax). The group had been sent to Liverpool by wagon, taking 8 days for the journey of about 140 ml and at a cost of £15 (£20 had been paid to a contractor but another parish had reimbursed Kings Sutton for some other passengers). The party had waited for three days in Liverpool before embarking staying “At Mr John Browns nr Princes Dock” at a cost of 7s per adult and 4 s per child.

The passages to New York had been arranged with the brokers Beckets & Donovan at a cost of £2 15s per adult £1 10s per child. On arrival the fee for medical examination was one Spanish dollar per person, the dollars were purchased through a bank (at 4s 3d each) in Liverpool before departure. Provisions for the voyage had been estimated at 20s per adult and 7s per child but an account of the actual amount paid out survives:

and there is, amongst the Bicester papers, an actual copy of a receipt drawn out by Messrs Beckett to Mr Thomas Parish and annotated “for a man and wife with six children:

The emigrants had been provided with money, once on board, to cover immediate expenses after landing; a couple with 6 children had received £14, a couple with 3 children £10, single men had been given £2 10s each; compared with anticipated earnings of $1 per day this does not seem unreasonable. The total expenditure had been £218 14s 10-1/2d.

Reports received had been good. The emigrants found they could earn $1 per day and the cost of food was low they “can procure the finest Flour at 3/6 per Bushel, Beef & Mutton I-1/2d per lb, in fact they are so well satisfied of the advantage [they?] derive from being there that they are pressing their friends and relatives to join them

In an era before tape recorders (or even carbon paper!) the conduct of the interview had been recorded in question and answer form; some verbatim extracts give something of the flavour of the times:

• Q: Did you provide any clothing
• A: for one person only

• Q: Do you know whether clothing is easily obtained there
• A: I have not understood there is any difficulty except in procuring Smock Frocks [for the men!], which together with shirts if taken out I think would be very serviceable

• Q: Do you feel so well satisfied with the accounts you have received from them as to be induced to send more
• A: Yes – ten or twelve Families

• Q: Do you know how far they had to travel before they could procure employ
• A: Some are employed within 50 Miles of New York in one instance a Man named Billington with a wife and six children has gone 400 Miles to which distance he got for Four Pounds & procured greater Wages from being more distant from New York

In the same folio, so presumably on the way back from Kings Sutton, there is a ‘Communication with Mr Arne of Banbury’:

• Q: Do you contract to take Persons per Boat to Liverpool
• A:Yes – on what terms – For Adults twelve shillings each children not exeeding 14 Years of Age half that Sum. For luggage 4/- per Cwt

• Q: What time will it take to convey them there
• A: 4 days

• Q: Should we send Fifty or Sixty Persons would you take them for a less sum
• A: No

• Q: Should we send a number of Persons shall you require any previous notice
• A: Yes – three or four Days

After this meeting affairs seem to have moved forward with remarkable speed and efficiency. The Committee proposed to provide shoes to each person, strong calico shirts for everyone, smock frocks [!] a gown for each woman and child, stockings, etc. It appears that working parties were set up to help each group of 6 or 10 emigrants. On 17 May one group was sent a parcel of cloth:

The work involved in stitching clothes for a hundred people – in the days before Mr Singer’s invention – must have been enormous.

Amongst the various estimates for the journey to Liverpool jotted down on various pieces of paper is one for beer on the journey.

This would have been “small beer”, not very alcoholic; in days when coffee and tea were expensive luxuries this would have been the normal drink at meal times.

The affair had obviously attracted more than local attention. A letter of 22 may 1830 from Messrs Edwards & Poole of Liverpool quoted an article in the Morning Chronicle and offered their services to provide shipping. Recognising that many families prefer going to the United States they suggested, however, that Canada would be better ‘being a British Settlement and having British laws and religion. Also Van Diemens Land and New South Wales have a perfect climate [there are] thousands of acres … are a perfect Garden. We have a large vessel the “Czar” sailing in June. Shipping agents must have kept a close eye on the press, another letter on 22 May from Mr Rolls of Yolands & Co. offered ‘two vessels to sail at close of this month and numerous ones during June … Passage E6, Children under 10 £5 10s, under 7 £3 IOs He mentioned yet another alternative destination: ‘Many emigrants have gone lately to the fertile and improving region of Ohio by way of Quebec. Passage and provisions £5’.

Meanwhile another letter dated 25 May had been received from Hertford asking for information, that town was considering assisting emigration also. Mr George at Bicester replied on 27 May; the letter had reached him by stage coach, probably via London, it might not have got there so speedily in 1994! George’s reply gives us a precise date and time of the group’s departure: ‘I am at liberty to say that on Monday morning last [May 24th] by 4 o’clock One Hundred and five persons were for warded in Waggons on their way to Liverpool from this place with the expectation of getting a passage to America & also that proper persons were sent to make the passage arrangements.

So, just 15 days after the meeting in Kings Sutton, our emigrants are off on the road that would lead them to the New World. What a triumph to get things moving so quickly and to send them off apparently so well provided for! But why did they go by road instead of canal boat? Well, that’s another story!

Jack Blencowe, Oxford, England

St Lawrence, Marston St Lawrence

TO REHANG THE ANCIENT BELLS IN THIS HISTORIC CHURCH