ENGLAND: LONDON
AND THE COTSWOLDS
12 - 27 May 2016
EAST ANGLIA
Sunday, May 22.
Today my tenth
cousin, Robert Peck, was picking
us up at 0615 for a trip to the
Peck ancestral homes in East
Anglia (Norfolk & Suffolk). Robert
and I had met through DNA testing.
He lives in England, but he had stayed with us in
Virginia for about three days
several years ago. When we
contacted him about our current
trip, he had generously offered to
take Andy, Liz, Jane and me to
East Anglia in his car.
Hingham
Robert picked us up a little late
due to unexpected traffic, but we
still got to Hingham (Norfolk)
about 9:30 as planned. This small,
backwater town (pop. c.2,000)
outside Norwich is the last place
my ancestor Joseph Peck
(1614-1638) lived before sailing for
America. We went directly to St.
Andrew's Church, where Rev. Robert
Peck, Joseph's brother, had been
Rector.
We arrived in the
middle of the 9:00 service. When
it ended, we were greeted by the
present Rector and many of the
parishioners. Jane and I (and
Robert separately) had been here
before and had been greeted
similarly then. I was so busy
talking to people that I barely
had time to have the tea and
cookies they offered, or to search
out pamphlets for Robert. (I had
copies from our 2005 visit.) As
the crowd dispersed, we finally
had time to look around and take
photos. It was noon before we
could get away.
Arriving
in Hingham |
St.
Andrew's
Church |
Inside
St. Andrew's |
Andy &
Darrell at
St. Andrew's |
Robert,
Jane &
Darrell |
St.
Andrew's
churchyard |
.
Beccles
Our next
stop was Beccles (Suffolk), a
larger and much livelier town
(pop. c.10,000). Three generations
of my Peck ancestors lived here
between 1525 and 1614. Theirs was
a very prominent
family. Robert Peck
the Younger held
various public
offices, including
the equivalent of
Mayor.
We arrived about
13:30 and had lunch at the Bear
and Bells pub, where a friendly
dog joined us. The Saltgate House
B&B, where Jane and I stayed in 2005, was
right around the corner. Then we
walked up Saltgate to St. Michael's
Church. The choir was practicing
an oratorio. None of us chose to
climb to the top of the Church
tower as I had done in 2005.
The Bear
and Bells |
Liz & Andy |
St.
Michael's
churchyard |
St.
Michael's
Church |
Inside
St.
Michael's |
Site of
Peck home in
Beccles |
After looking around
the town center, we walked a
couple blocks to 43-45-47 Blybergate.
This was
the site of my ancestors' family home,
now long gone. We walked back
to the car and left Beccles about
15:00.
We drove to Halesworth
(Suffolk), another quiet small
town (pop.,<5,000) and spent half
an hour there. My Peck family's
connection here is less certain,
but at least two Pecks were
living here in 1524. Both were my
relatives, and one of them may
have been an ancestor.
We
walked through the center of town,
visiting St. Mary's Church and
Market Square, both of which would
have been there in the Pecks'
time. The "oldest house" in the
Square dates to about 1350. A
large house across from
St. Mary's churchyard
dates at least to 1500;
the first wing was added
about 1550. The Angel,
on the Thoroughfare (the
main street leading out
of the Square), was an
early 16th century
"coaching inn." And
there probably were other
houses that were there
in 1524 as well, but time was
pressing. We had one more stop to
make.
Welcome
to
Halesworth
|
Market
Square-oldest
house |
The
Angel was an
early
16th C.
"coaching
inn" |
St.
James
Church |
It was only a 15
minute drive to St. James South
Elmham, seven miles from
Halesworth. The earliest mentioned
of any of my Peck ancestors was
Robert Peck, the Elder, who was living here
in 1524. This tiny village (pop.
c.200) is primarily agricultural.
Its little church, St. James, has
elements that date back at least
to Norman times, and probably has
some from Saxon times (pre-1066).
It is the church my Robert
Peck would have attended five centuries ago.
Jane and I had also visited
here in 2005. Little had changed
inside the church, but the
churchyard now looked untended and
overgrown. Andy seemed moved to be
at the site of his earliest known
origins. We only spent half an
hour in the church. We had now visited
all the known Peck sites in
England, but we
still had a three hour drive ahead
of us (four for Robert).
