RootsChat.Com
England (Counties as in 1851-1901) => England => Suffolk => Topic started by: MandaSmith on Wednesday 17 August 11 14:15 BST (UK)
-
Hi All.
I am doing some research on Darsham in Suffolk and am struggling to find previous owners/tenants of a property called Darsham House (or may be Hall). It was built in 1679. I have only been able to link the names Parry-Crooke and Purvis to the house :(
If anyone has any information I would be very very grateful x x x
-
Hello and welcome to Rootschat ;D
The Local History Recorder in the parish of Darsham is the widower of the previous LHR who wrote a couple of books on the parish. He has an archive of material on the village and may be able to help further.
When you have made three posts to Rootschat, I will be able to send you a PM (private message) with the email adddress and details.
Pat ...
www.slhc.org.uk/recorders.htm
-
These two pages may help, but it appears that it was built earlier in the 15th C.
British Isles Genealogy, http://www.bigenealogy.com/suffolk/darsham_parish.htm
English Heritage, http://www.imagesofengland.org.uk/Details/Default.aspx?id=285631&mode=quick
Michael
-
Thank you sooo much guys. I am still relatively new to all this so all your help is greatly appreciated xx
-
Hello there. I have extensive information about Darsham House and its former residents, history, current ownership. This information was gained from the excellent work of local archivists Olive and Ron Reeve, some recent archival research by Joanna Martin, architectural historian Phillip Aitken, and recent uncoverings during its current renovations. Can I ask what you need the information for? I would be very happy as well if you can add to the knowledge.
-
Hello Arnolds Hill and welcome to Rootschat.
I wonder if you are aware that Ron is continuing as the Local History Recorder for Darsham as we have lost dear Olive.
The beautiful Melford Green Alpacas now roam the grounds of Darsham Old Hall having relocated from Long Melford in the west of the county.
Pat ...
Hon Recorders' Secretary
www.slhc.org.uk
-
Dear Pat
Sadly, we never met Olive, but have heard so many good things about her. We, as current owners of Darsham House, are greatly enriched by her work.
We have been in contact with Ron, and have promised to give him all we have a soon as we have collated all material to a manageable form.
We have recently been in touch with the owners of Darsham House in the 1970s, who gave us some wonderful archive images, including a video of the village fete that was held at the Church and Darsham House in 1974. We will be sharing this with Ron very soon.
We look forward to meeting you.
Edgar
-
Hi, Ive just found this post and I see its years old but if anyone is interested I have knowledge of the Purvis family who were associated with Darsham House. Feel free to leave a message if you still require infomation
-
Welcome Jules,
I'm sure Pat or one of the others will be along soon to respond to your kind offer. :)
I have just stumbled upon this thread and having done a little googling found some information about Darsham House, in particular some undated information about repairs by Architects Nicholas Jacob. Oh my! Breathtaking! The house is stunning, and the architects appear to have done an exemplary job! The stuff that dreams are made of (my dreams anyway) ;D
Some 'before' and 'after' photos would be of great interest ....
-
Hello and thank you for the welcome Ruskie. I had been looking online for updated pics of Darsham House and stumbled apon this site. I was married to the last in line of one branch of the Purvis family for over 20 years. he is a direct descendant. Charles Purvis, once the High Sheriff of Suffolk was his great x 5 or 6 grandfather. Although we are now divorced we are still great friends. I believe he has a very old pic of Darsham House. He also has the original written family tree and the family crest. The family tree is written on some type of animal skin. He has dairies. letters, wills and other relics dating back several hundred years. His family was very good at keeping record of their past. I will ask him about the pic and try to get it scanned.
-
Hi again Jules. How wonderful to have such a wealth of family history that still survives.
I have no association whatsoever with the family, the house, the town, or even the county, but just an interest in old houses (and well, anything old actually :)). If you manage to get a scan of the picture I don't suppose you could also get one of the family tree (presumably on velum as per your description)? Obviously this is dependent upon the condition of the document as I realise they can be delicate and I would not want it damaged.
I imagine the diaries would contain a wealth of fascinating information - are they worthy of publication?
I'm just a nosey parker really. ;D
I was hoping that Edgar, as the current owner, would return and may have some 'before' and 'after' photos of the renovations he undertook (presumably it is his restoration that the architects are referring to).
:)
-
Hi again Ruskie
I also have an interest in old things, preferrably English. I spoke to my ex today, he will email me some information. He also has a very old hand drawn pic of Darsham House. I will find out who drew that. There is one main diary, but several other documents that could be put together in one publication. I wonder though how much interest there would be outside of the family. The main diary covers 9 years with an entry everyday of that time even if there was nothing to tell for that day. It makes for very interesting reading.
There is a book called Soldier Of The Raj: The Life of Richard Fortescue Purvis 1789-1869. I cant find a copy to buy but have read several parts of it online. My ex can verify alot of the information in it first hand with some the documents he has.
I will leave a message here as soon as I get an email from him :)
-
I must say I find all of this fascinating and couldnt help looking around for info myself.
I love anything to do with British History and admire the new owners of the House and wish them well :)
Just for anyone interested on this Site;
http://www.bigenealogy.com/suffolk/darsham_parish.htm
-
Thanks Jules. I think there are several of us who would be interested. (we're a bit starved of this kind of history in our part of the world aren't we Trish?)
-
Hi Trish, I had read that article you posted :) Hi again Ruskie :)
Im from New Zealand and compared to England we are still a baby country and I dont mean just small. Unfortunately not alot of folks are able to access thier family line back too far. In my ex's family it was always the women who took care to keep up to date with family records and these records were past down for many generations. When they came to my ex (Cameron James Purvis) his grandmother apologised to me for the state they were in (nothing was in chronological order) saying she just wasnt able to keep up with it all. It took me many weeks/months to find a semblance of order amongst it all because I would become immersed in the happenings of a particular generation and just read and read lol. The further back one went, the harder to read as the language was often terribly oldfashioned. But oh (!!) to have and hold paperwork handwritten so long ago, to read of the lives they lived. There are even copies of wills, birth and death certificates all hand written. I never did get it all sorted properly but I spoke to my ex today and we are going to take another look at it all soon so I can tidy it all up abit more.
-
Hi Jules.
Greetings from Sydney from a ex Hamiltonian (where I was born).
Please do keep us informed.
Yes, agree Ruskie!
Cheers,
Trish
-
Well being a New Zealander Jules, you'll understand how Trish and I feel. :) Are you living in NZ or the UK now?
-
Born and raised here in New Zealand, I live in Auckland, have spent alot of time in Hamilton, Trish :)
Ive travelled overseas several times but unfortunately not the UK. Its still on my bucket list though so who knows!
As I said earlier Ruskie, I love all things old and English. My ex and I still own a BSA motorcycle and he has a Triumph also. From that we developed an interest in english bicycles and have a collection of over 50 all pre 1940s from BSA to Triumph, Royal Enfield, Douglas, Ariel, Philips, Hercules, Rudge-Whitworth, Sun and many more. We show them in museums and at motorcycle rallies and rent them to film companies for movies.
We have numerous pieces of silver dinnerware, candlesticks serving platters and utensils with the Purvis family crest. I just need to get a little more infomation and I will tell you about a painting we have also, I just want to be sure I have the correct names :)
-
Hello - does anyone have any info on Arthur Edward Hadley (1870-1954) or his son Ronald Arthur Hadley (1917-1968) who I believe lived in Darsham House? In particular, when were they in residence there? And do you know of any paintings or drawings by AEH?
David
-
Hi All.
I am doing some research on Darsham in Suffolk and am struggling to find previous owners/tenants of a property called Darsham House (or may be Hall). It was built in 1679. I have only been able to link the names Parry-Crooke and Purvis to the house :(
If anyone has any information I would be very very grateful x x x
I have been researching the Parry-Crooke family recently (I used to teach the piano to a lovely lady who married into the Parry-Crooke family and discovered, sadly after her death in 2008, that her husband had been a very distant relation of mine via his paternal grandmother, Georgiana Harriet St. Leger, whose pedigree can be seen at http://thepeerage.com/p6286.htm#i62854).
I don't know whether you know that Darsham Hall is now a guest house, doing 'Luxury Bed & Breakfast' - here is their website: http://darshamoldhall.co.uk/
Best wishes,
Janice
-
http://darshamoldhall.co.uk/history/
-
I've just seen your post regarding Arthur Hadley. Is there something you are still researching? I am related to the family.