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Hi David. I think he might remember. Grandad was Cecil Harrington. My Nan had the income from his estate and when I was a kid, and certainly up to the late 1960s, I used to go to Purls Hill with her or Mum to collect rent from the cottages - and at least one of them was rented by a family called Jeggo. I have no idea when the cottages were sold or why.

I was told by an elderly cousin that Grandad had retired from his tenant farm and was going to farm at Purls Hill which had been left to him, but I can't find anything about it.

I know that the farm was owned my two elderly ladies from Castle Hedingham, Beatrice and Sophia Harvey, and I think they had inherited it from their parents. Grandad had worked as a chauffeur for them in the 1920s and, even after he became a farmer, he was still at their beck and call when they needed to go anywhere. He also did handyman work for them.

I checked granddad's Will and I also sent for the wills of both Miss Harvey.  Sophia Harvey had died in 1937 and all her estate was left to her sister.  There was no mention of any bequest to anyone else.  Granddad died in December 1959 and left quite a lot of money, which would have included property, but there was nothing in the papers to specifiy exactly what he owned. The second Miss Harvey died in March 1960. I wondered whether she had not changed her Will and that maybe there was a bequest which had passed into Granddad's estate, but I checked and there was nothing specified for him - only an allotment for his brother.  The only other thing I can think of was that she gave him the cottages/farm while she was still alive.

If your family know anything, I am just fascinated to find out how we came about the cottages and whether there was ever a farm involved.

I'm still missing half a town and, with it, a lot of my relations.  I told FindMyPast in November and named the streets that I know are missing.  As they hadn't replied, I decided to remind them today and, before I did so, I searched on TNA Discovery and entered all the Piece numbers for the town with various item numbers on each Piece (yes, I am that sad), and there were no results for an entire series.  I've sent another email .........

I unlocked a record for someone who was single and at school when the register was taken, subsequently married in 1943, divorced on 28 March 1950, married 29 April 1950, widowed 5 February 1982 and died 2013. I can see her name was changed twice, which was correct, but I can't work out the abbreviations in the first column. I thought they might relate to her date of divorce or widowhood, but they don't match up. Does anyone have any idea? I think DDK refers to Halstead in Essex, but it is the rest of the figures that I can't understand.

I worked my way through all the A Parmenters on Ancestry or FindMyPast in any military record from 1898 onwards.  That led nowhere, so out of frustration I clicked on a poorly indexed page on FindMyPast, with just the surname, a DOB of 1871 and Place, Halstead.  It solved the puzzle (or at least some of it)!  As soon as you view the record, you can see the first name of the soldier and his regimental number in the RA  (so no idea why it is not indexed).  It has all the details of the service, the DCM, gunshot wound to his side and pension of 18d per day.   Sadly, it wasn't Arthur.  It was Albert, and I can't even claim a distant relationship to this hero.   

Interestingly, Albert (who had not been in the Essex militia) had previously served in the Submarine Miners Militia at Harwich which I had not heard of before.

It doesn't explain Arthur, though.  There was one man in the 1st Essex who received a South Africa medal, with clasps for Cape, Orange and Transvaal, and I can't find anything about him (service no 5440).  Would Arthur have transferred back to the Essex from the RA for the remainder of the Boer war, after attending the Queen's funeral?  If so, why the 1st?  If that is not him, and Albert clearly is not Arthur, I can only assume Arthur did not go abroad in the Boer War.  The 1901 census says he was in the 92nd battery.  It would be interesting to know where 92nd Battery were in 1900-1903. 

I am beginning to think Arthur remained on the reserve and was recalled in 1914, but did not go abroad.  Some of the Essex were on Home Defence or maybe his job was  protected - the foundry made those big cast iron Tortoise stoves and they were in demand for public buildings, including (I would think) hospitals and military establishments all through the war.   

Well, that's a weekend I won't get back but I learnt a few things about the Boer War and now have a history of Albert Parmenter if anyone is interested!

Thank you Ken

My great uncle, Arthur Parmenter, born 1884, attested for six years to 3rd Essex on 29 August 1899, and was given regimental number 6097.  He stated on his papers that he belonged to the 2nd ?Coln Battalion Essex, although I have not been able to find any more on that.  The only other papers in the service records are the Description sheet and the Statement of Services which reads "40 days drill on enlistment."  After that, it says something like "RA 16 10/99"  I assume that meant he transferred to the Royal Artillery on 16th October - would that be right?

On the 1901 Census, he is a driver in the 92nd Battery of the Royal Field Artillery in Aldershot but I can't find any further information about his service with the RFA. Is there any other place that might hold records of soldiers who transferred?   

I am now trying to put the jigsaw together.  Driver Parmenter (and Driver Bodill) were mentioned in dispatches for conspicuous gallantry in attempting to rescue the guns of their battery at Colenso on 15 December 1899.  The Second Boer War had broken out on 11 October 1899, so it is logical that Arthur was sent there but I can't prove that it was him who was mentioned.  The Medal Roll for A Parmenter 76136 shows he was a Driver and was invalided back to England on 17 January 1900, but it states he was in the 14th Battalion RFA.  I am not at all clued up on Battalions and Batteries so have no idea if they were at all linked.  Can someone help with that?

When Arthur died in 1946, his obituary stated that he had served in the RFA and was amongst those on duty at Queen Victoria’s funeral on 2nd February 1901 so he clearly had not returned to South Africa.  By 1911, he was back in his native town working in the local foundry but I can find nothing to suggest he was recalled during WW1.  If he had been invalided out of the Boer War, he may have not been fit enough.  There is a medal card for A Parmenter 29311, Essex regiment but he was killed.  There are no others in Essex or RA. 

If any one could advise me, I would be grateful.