Category: cobbwebs-news-and-views

We are indebted to John Bülow-Osborne for the story of the John Cobbold which is abridged from an article by John Whitmore with drawings by Macintyre.

It is not generally known that up to the middle of the 19^th century shipbuilding was one of the principal industries of the port of Ipswich.  There were, at one period, four shipyards in the port and between 1804 and 1813 vessels of war to the number of 39 were built at one shipyard alone.  There were also many fine vessels built at these yards for the merchant service.  I was reminded of this fact a short while ago when I came into possession of what is known in the shipping world as a disbursement book.  On the cover of this book, printed in bold type, were the words JOHN COBBOLD.  Inside was a detailed record of the disbursements of this vessel dating from the year 1847.

The John Cobbold was built at the shipyard of Wm. Bayley & Sons in 1847 and the first entry in the book reading “Disbursement of the Sch. John Cobbold, Wm. Jas. Handley, commander, on a voyage from London to Jaffa, thence to Alexandria, from thence to Gloucester, beginning April 20^th and ended 17^th Nov. 1847” is her maiden voyage.  She commenced her career as a schooner but was later converted into a brig as evidenced by an 1851 entry “Disbursements of the Brig John Cobbold on a voyage to Coquimbo”.  Further on there is a record of a heavy shipyard account which no doubt represented the extra cost of the spars, sails, etc. required to convert her into a brig.

Later on, in 1855 it is certain her rig was again altered and this time into a barque for the entry includes “Lengthening 26 feet in Midships as per agreement….£900 0 0”.  Henceforward she is described as the Barque

John Cobbold. This is the only intimation in the book that the rig was altered but what a fine piece of craftsmanship! To cut a brig in halves and lengthen her 26 feet amidships, and fit another mast, spars and rigging, to make her into a barque was a wonderful achievement.  And this was done over 150 years ago; so much for stretch limos!

This is the only intimation in the book that the rig was altered but what a fine piece of craftsmanship! To cut a brig in halves and lengthen her 26 feet amidships, and fit another mast, spars and rigging, to make her into a barque was a wonderful achievement.  And this was done over 150 years ago; so much for stretch limos!
 

With the centenary of the start of the 1^st World War approaching we should not forget the agony of the Rev. Robert Russell Cobbold (1853-1925) #232 in the tree, and his wife, Mary Elizabeth Wanklyn (1864-1936) #233, who lost two of their three sons early in the war.

Robert Henry Wanklyn Cobbold (1892-1915) #375

Educated firstly at King’s College Choir School and then won a foundation scholarship to Marlborough College (C3) in 1906 and won a Junior Scholarship the following year.  He left in the summer of 1912 having been Head Boy and gained a Classical Scholarship to St John’s College, Cambridge.  He was photographed as a member of the Eagles Society at St John’s in 1914.

Robert was commissioned into The Rille Brigade in November 1914 and was serving with the 2nd Bn when he was killed in action on 9th September 1915 in Flanders.  The Officer Commanding his division wrote as follows “Your son had done excellent work whilst serving this division, and was a most promising officer.  You have every reason to be proud of his gallantry and devotion to duty.  H HUDSON, Major General, Commanding 8th Division.”

He is commemorated in the Memorial Hall at Marlborough and in the church at Earls barton.

Another memorial in the church at Hitcham reads as follows:

In loving memory of Robert Wanklyn Cobbold, St John’s College, Cambridge, Lieut. 2nd Battn. The Rifle Brigade, Killed in Action Sept. 9th 1915.  Resting at Fleurbaix, Aged 22years.
Blessed are the pure in Heart.

Edgar Frances Wanklyn Cobbold 91895-1916) #378

Like his elder brother, Edgar went to Marlborough College arriving in January 1908 and leaving in the summer of 1912 (C3).  He was commissioned a Lieutenant in the Cheshire regiment in 1914 but transferred to the Royal Flying Corps in 1915.  He died flying near Beauchamps on 12th January 1916 very soon after arriving in France.

He is commemmorated in the Memorial Hall at Marlborough and in the church at Earls Barton.

Another memorial in the church at Hitcham reads as follows:

RAF
Enter thou into the joy of the Lord.
Edgar Francis Wanklyn Cobbold, 7th Battn. Cheshire Regiment and The Royal Flying Corps.  Fell January 12th 1916.  Resting at Harbourdin, Aged 20.

 

The Trust was delighted to wish Lady Kenya Tatton-Brown a happy 90^th birthday recently, and to be invited to display some family tree information.  A traditionally drawn family tree would have been too large so information was provided on multi-generation descendent charts for the families of

Kitchener – Tatton-Brown – Monins – Chevallier – Cobbold

Books

The Trust is happy to have acquired recently the following books to add to its library: Aldeborough A Song of the Sea (which includes a piece on Richard Cobbold); Miracles in Lady Lane (Co-authored by Dr John Blatchly); Return from the Natives (the story of Margaret Mead, celebrated anthropologist, by Professor Peter Mandler, Fellow of Caius College, Cambridge, for which the Trust provided a fragment of information) and Diaries 1832-1921 (transcribed by Lady Kenya Tatton-Brown containing great insight into the lives of Gen. William Hassel Eden (1800-1882) and Elfrida Tatton-Brown (1873-1951)).

The Trust is grateful to Jonathan Shackleton for a copy of the November 1960 issue of East Anglian magazine containing an interesting article on the Eastern Union Railway and to Lady Kenya for two plates once the property of Mrs. John Cobbold, née Wilkinson.

Some generations of Cobbold owners of the Rannoch Estate in Scotland had their own exclusive tweed woven in Aberfeldy.  The Trust is grateful to Iain Somerville, the present owner of the Estate, for a metre length of Rannoch Tweed given for inclusion in the Trust’s archive.

People will not look forward to posterity, who never look backward to their ancestors. 
Edmund Burke

 

 

July heralds the launch of the Trust’s FRIENDS campaign and a little modification to the Trust’s corporate identity both of which are illustrated.

The CFHT seeks your support initially to build up an endowment fund to ensure its long term survival but as time goes on the Trust will need a body of support to continually enhance and develop its work.

Please show your support for the FRIENDS now by subscribing or donating and in the future by helping with specific opportunities such as gifts in kind, legacies, book purchases and one-off fund raisers.

Here’s a thought for you!  When you have decided to become a FRIEND please try to think of two or three other family members who might be persuaded to do likewise.  We need every bit of help we can muster and small donations will be equally appreciated.  Thank you.

Anthony Cobbold
July 2013

Aline Irene Dorothea (Dolly) HOPE (1880-1968) #1436 on the tree was a granddaughter of Lucy Cobbold (1828-1916) #182; she compiled two very intriguing scrap books which have recently been kindly donated to the Trust by Kathy Bailey.  Quite apart from Dolly’s grandparental connection, Kathy’s mother, Mrs. Margaret Prior worked at the brewery in the 1980s and 90s and with the scrap books has come a framed picture invitation showing the brewery in the early 1900s.  Much information from the many newspaper cuttings has yet to be extracted but in the mean time our sincere thanks to Kathy Bailey.

Bruce Cobbold #542 has kindly donated a copy of his latest translation: Red Flare, Cicero’s On Old Age; full of good sense and lacking in sentimentality; for which the Trust is most grateful.

N G L Hammond’s account of his exploits; Venture into Greece with the Guerrillas, 1943-44 has been acquired by the Trust.  Hammond (1907-2001) #3823 was a classical scholar whose knowledge of Greece won him a DSO and was of enormous help to the Allies.

Life and Death in Pompeii and Herculaneum at The British Museum until 29^th September is worthy of a ‘bust gut.’  Richard (Dick) John Frederick Edgcumbe MVO JP (1843-1937) #797 was a writer and a great lover of Italy.  He visited Pompeii in April 1925 when new excavations had taken place.  In his book brought back from Pompeii we have found his poem dedicated to a Roman Sentry found on his post at the Porta Marina, written in his own hand.

 

 

Ghillie

Congratulations to Ipswich Borough Council on winning £2.8million from the Heritage Lottery Fund and the Big Lottery Fund for the restoration of Holywells Park.

Holy Wells (as it was then spelled) was built by John Cobbold (1745-1835) and he and his second wife, Elizabeth (1764-1824) moved in with their large family just before Christmas 1814.  Next year’s celebrations of the completion of the restoration of the park will therefore take place on the 200^th anniversary of the Cobbolds’ occupation and coincidentally the 250^th anniversary of Elizabeth’s birth.  In modern parlance (with which the writer is not very familiar!) how cool is that?

The mansion stayed in the family until 1930 when, following the death of John Dupuis Cobbold it was sold to Lord Woodbridge who gave it to the Borough.  The park was opened to the public in 1936 but the main house was pulled down in 1962.  The remaining stable block and orangery will be restored as part of the project.

To mark the start of the restoration there is to be a Heritage Day at Holywells on August 14^th 2013 at which the Trust will be displaying the Elizabeth Cobbold scissor-cut Valentines (these are not often shown) alongside a demonstration of paper cutting by Lois Cordelia (scalpel) and Erica (scherenschnitte – scissors) Bülow Osborne, both well-known Suffolk artists.

Our three illustrations show the gardens, the clock tower and the orangery as they were in 1985.

Anthony Cobbold

Family Relationships

It’s more than a silken strand that links family members but many of us sometimes have difficulty determining such relationships accurately so we have provided a chart which should help.  Go to Family Relationships on the main menu.

Family History Anthem

Reproduced from the March 2013 issue of Genealogists’ Magazine.
Source and author unknown; possibly a medieval spoof, but a rather nice one!

 

Last month we promised a description of the wonderful new window at Wortham Church, designed by Deborah Lowe.  It has to be seen to be fully appreciated but our description here should be sufficient to whet your visual appetite.  The window comprises two vertical lights, left and right with  four tracery panels above and they are described in that order.  The three roundels in each of the vertical lights illustrate the passage of the day using soft morning colours at the bottom, sunny midday skies in the middle and sunset colours at the top and each contains a natural scene to represent the hamlets of Wortham or its place in Suffolk

Left Hand Light 

The lower roundel represents The Marsh and The Brook hosting Flag Iris, Marsh Marigold and Alder enlivened by a dragonfly in flight.

The middle roundel has a tractor ploughing a field with a horse drawn plough in the background symbolising continuity in times of changing technology, framed by Hawthorn and Queen Anne’s Lace, surmounted by aeroplane vapour trails forming a cross in the sky.

The top roundel shows an open view across The Ling above which flies a Gatekeeper butterfly symbolising Life after Death.

Right Hand Light

The lower roundel shows the Faith, Hope and Charity arches of the Wortham Primary School (built by Rev. Richard Cobbold in 1862) with a pair of Magpies representing Magpie Green and locally found Celandine, Black Poplar and Lime.

The middle roundel has at its centre the Cathedral Tower at Bury St. Edmunds with the old priory ruins in the background and features Ivy (faithfulness and eternal light), a Holly Blue (resurrection and life after death) and Poppies to remind us that 1914 saw the start of WWI as well as the creation of the new Diocese of St. Edmundsbury with Ipswich.

The top roundel includes a portrait of the 1953 Coronation Oak on Long Green, (60^th anniversary this year) above which is a glimpse of a Skylark, the epitome of joyful praise.

Tracery Panels

Theses contain the Coats of Arms of the Diocese, and of the Friends of Wortham Church (illustrated) together with flowers to symbolise our patron saint, The Virgin Mary.

Anthony Cobbold
June 2013