The Rise of Normandy and the Barons of Caus or Caux

Haute Normandie is the eastern portion of what we call Normandy today.  Probably anyone who knows Normandy will think immediately of the allied landings, Le Mont St Michel and the great peninsula reaching north toward England.  In this case we need to think about the less well known area to the east that includes Dieppe, Rouen, Etretat(famous for it's paintings of a great chalk arch reaching out into the English channel), Giverny(just barely in the area) and Le Havre. 
More specifically, our region of interest is what was once called the Pays de Caux, which is the northern two thirds of the area.

Photo of Etretat from Wikipedia

This area is distinct because of it's chalk soil(one of the possible sources of the name, Chaux which means lime or chalk)  The area is famous for it's towering cliffs of chalk facing a similar region in southern England, famous as the White cliffs of Dover.
Normandy in general was an administrative region of the Romans and the habitat of the Caletes, a tribe of Gauls(also a possible source of the name) which predated them.
In the 900s, the Vikings were in a late stage of their raids on this area of France.  They began raiding outside of their native Denmark, Norway and Sweden about 793.  This is, at least, one of the earliest recorded raids.  In this case it was at Lindisfarne on the north east coast of England.  They expanded their attacks to include all of the British Isles, and eventually ended up taking over much of the northern half of the island known as the Danelaw, and eventually became dominant players in Saxon England.
Their raids on continental Europe began just as the century was ending.  As the next century progressed they raided, raped and killed all along the coasts and along the rivers of the two countries.  Eventually they began to settle in the areas they were raiding.    By the first decade of the 900s, they became so entrenched in Normandy that Charles the Simple, king of the emergent nation of France, gave much of Normandy to the Viking leader, Rollo(Hro'lfr) in 911. After Charles' death, Rollo and his sons warred their way to the west, taking over what would become pretty much all of what is now Normandy, most of which may already have been promised to them.

 

Photo of Rollo from Wikipedia.
 Sorry this is not very clear, the original was quite small.

Evidently, Rollo was a wild man, too wild for even his native Norway.  He was pushed out, or fled to Scotland, went on to Ireland, where he married a Christian, and then moved on to France.  There were all sorts of "Vik" or "Creek" people already there in France or arrived later, but it seems that the majority of his own followers at the time of this grant were Danes, or Black Vikings as opposed to White Vikings from the north.  I have read in some accounts that the Danes that accompanied Rollo into Normandy had already settled in England, and this was a further adventure that would eventually return them to Britain again as conquerors.
In accepting the grant from the king, he was in essence becoming the king's vassal.  To do that, he was required to kiss the foot of the king.  He refused flatly, and a subordinate was elected to do the honors in his place.  The legend is that the subordinate too, refused to bend over to kiss his foot, and instead jerked the king's foot up to his mouth and toppled the king onto his ass!
The Vikings became victims of their conquests quite quickly.  They merged into the local culture, adopted their institutions and customs, till their identities were less Viking and more French than the French were themselves.  However, a local Norman dialect known as Cauchois still remains in the Pays de Caux today.
This Frenching of the Vikings in Normandy was one of the main issues in the succession in England.  Edward the Confessor clearly wanted Normans to succeed him, and he tried to surround himself with Normans while he lived.  Much of the country was Danish or at least Scandinavian in origin, and despite the fact that they were closely related to the Norman French, their culture had become very different and did not follow many of the Scandinavian traditions. 

 

Photo of Harold Godwinson from Wikipedia

 



Harold Godwinson(The king) was a member of an upstart Scandinavian family who were only related by marriage to Edward.  Harold did not have a drop of Royal(Wessex) blood, but he was a good warrior and was chosen king as the best hope of the Scandinavian people to maintain the sovereignty of England.  The only better candidate for the throne(Edgar the Aethling, was a child and would not be likely to defend the country effectively.(He was proclaimed king after Harold was killed but was never crowned.)

Photo of William the Conqueror

 also the bastard and the Tanner's son from Wikipedia. 

 



The strange thing about this whole situation was that despite Edward being a rather mediocre king, his choice of Norman succession would have saved everyone a lot of trouble, bloodshed and upheaval.  Certainly, there would not have been such a complete change in the fortunes of the old Saxon nobility and their complete replacement by Norman nobles.

The map above courtesy of Wikipedia

The Pays de Caux is the area generally to the right of the river Seine

The granted, and war won area eventually covered all of present day Normandy and the Channel Islands, but the original grant's largest identifiable geographic area was the Pays de Caux.  This leads me to suspect that our ancestor Hugh or Hugo's grand daddy or great grand daddy must have been fairly important to Rollo and his successors to have been given this large and important area so early on,
The Vikings were incredibly successful in the following century, eventually ruling much of southern Italy, Sicily, parts of the Levant around Antioch, northern France, England, Ireland, Russia, Iceland and many other areas.  They were so successful that they really became the authors of Medieval society and feudalism as we know it in the history books. 
They imposed a more institutionalized version of the traditional fealty owed to lords, on England when the conquest was complete.   This in turn influenced all of Feudalism when it filtered back into Normandy.
Prior to this time, barons and earls etc., owed fealty or support to the sovereign or their immediate overlord, but it was not exactly institutionalized.  As the Norman invasion became a Norman government over the kingdom of England, lands were granted to the earls and barons in return for very specific terms of support for the overlord.  The king was due an exact number of knights, soldiers etc. rather than a vague expectation of support.  Custom became institutionalized, and this spurred the development of Feudalism throughout Europe.  Just so my Italian relatives can have a bit of recognition here, they really never developed the rigid systems that the rest of the continent did. They chose what they liked about the system and ignored the rest.
In Feudalism, a lord holding lands granted by the king(France was not yet France, but was marching toward cohesion after the passing of Charlemagne) agreed to provide troops or money or both in times of threat. (The French were notorious for not falling into line with this arrangement, and fought against the king as often as for him, despite their oaths.  This eventually led to the end of Carolingian rule and to the rise of the Capet family in the person of Hugh Capet.  This penchant for disloyalty is obvious in the Hundred Years War.)  As Feudalism developed, the Lord, Baron or Count, then granted portions of the land granted to him to a lower order of nobles or warlords that offered the same support to him and then to the king in turn.  This also allowed the overlord to govern his territory effectively by breaking it up into manageable chunks.  Below this were various lower orders of knights, sheriffs, minor lords, and then below this were the people or serfs that were often forced to stay on the land like hereditary pseudo-slaves that provided their higher-ups with a portion of their produce and possibly labor or military service.

Photo from Wikipedia 11th century costume in the Norman world.

 



Some of the following early names may or may not be reliable:

Tradition says that the Corbeau/Corbet/le Corbeau/ Fitz Corbet... family descended from a  Roman Valerius who is said to have had a raven land on his helmet at a critical point in a battle.  Corvus, Corbeau refer to Raven.
 It is also a Danish tradition that the standard of a Raven(Reafan) was carried into battle.  There is some argument that the originator of the family line was the standard bearer under Rollo.

Roger de Corbeau(Fitz Corbet)(b. c.988) and Giovanna Carnaghi (c. 995 or 1001-1070)  Their child was:

Hugo or Hugh le Corbeau, born c. 1020, possibly in Caux, Allier, Auverne, France, married Isabella de Pays. died in the Pays Dauge, Calvados Normandy.  Alternate information has him dying in Shropshire at Moreton Corbet, if I remember correctly

Their children were:

 Baron Robert Corbet - received 15 manors from William the Conqueror.

 Roger FitzCorbet, 1st. Baron of Caus - received 25 manors from William the Conqueror. Also Earl of Cornwall(I cannot find this to confirm it.).

Caus Castle in Shropshire

 



 Isabel CORBET

 Hugo Corbeau Corbet Lord Caux(stayed in France)

 Renauld Corbeau Corbet Lord Fecamp(see the city on the map.  He too stayed in France, though he was in Palestine at the end of the century.)

Hugo joined William the Bastard in his invasion of England in 1066,  along with his second and fourth sons, Robert and Roger.  They owed fealty to Roger de Montgomery or spelled: Montgomeri.  They settled in Shropshire while his other sons stayed behind in Caux.

Each of the sons who fought for William were granted manors in Shropshire on the wild, Welsh border where they aided and advised the king in his struggles with the Welsh over the centuries.

Montgomery was granted a large area of land in the northwest of England, and he became the Earl of Shrewsbury which surrounds the town of the same name.  Montgomery was also granted lands dotted all over the map of England, from Kent to Shropshire.  He in turn granted the manors to the Corbet family, though certainly at the behest of the king in return to services rendered to the invasion force.

Montgomery himself was more a player in Normandy during the invasion, arriving in England later.  He was one of the great men who cared for the government of Normandy while the Duke was busy with the invasion force and the unrest that followed Hastings.  William was forced to march back and forth all over England cleaning up small rebellions in order to firm up his control of the country, and to ward off potential rival claimants to the throne from Scandinavian countries

 

Inheritance

I had an inheritance from my father.

 

It was the moon and the sun.

 

And though I roam all over the world,

 

The spending of it's never done.


Author unknown

DEEP TIME

Geologists to some extent, but more so Physicists and Astronomers have a concept called DEEP TIME. They are thinking not in terms of thousands of years, that are fairly easy for us to grasp, or in terms of even millions of years. They think about billions of years, even 13 billion or more.
I can say that I understand the period of time they are talking about, but when it comes right down to it; I think that it is an impossible idea to grasp for any of us.
The Big Bang, the formation of the sun and all of its planets, all of these concepts are why we have a god in our minds. They are concepts beyond our understanding. Don't believe anyone who says they do understand it.
We, as amateur Genealogists, have our own concept of Deep Time.
Some of us, especially young people, cannot even imagine a time without computers, without planes, or cars. The idea of a world war in our past is only an abstract concept that some of us just take on faith, because we cannot even understand the period of time that has passed since then.
I do not know about you, but I can easily imagine Grammie's father putting out to sea in a far too small boat with a triangular sail.... and ending up in Portugal. Of course I know he mostly did short hauls around the Thyrennian, but that does not stop my imagining Portugal.
He wears a knit stocking cap, not unlike what we sometimes wear today in the winter, but perhaps floppier.
He is eating the hard tack and dried salted fish that his wife packed in barrels for him. Table wines and water are stored in demijohns or casks for him to drink, and of course there are raisins.
If he tires of the dried food he can always fish for fresh over the side.
There are lemons in big baskets to keep scurvy away and figs to keep his bowels in order. There is also a jar of olives, that he put up in salt brine from the salt pans of Salina, to munch on along with the fresh bread and Feta like cheese that will last a few days on his trip before he will be restricted to the preserved foods.
Beyond that, I can envision my ancestors with long hose and Codpieces below short coats cinched tight at the waist. I see them too, in long heavy robes of silk and velvet in some branches of the family, and others in homespun wool, all keeping warm in the little ice age when even in Sicily, it was chilly enough to wear such things in part of the summer.
I can see our ancestors and some that were almost our ancestors dreading the coming of the plagues that would kill almost half of them in the 13 and 14 hundreds. Of course, I can just see ancestors with our present day body types in shoes with long pointed toes. The toes were so long that they had to tie the pointed ends to their knees to keep from tripping over them.
I can see the Cafarellas coming to Italy by sea from Constantinople, when peace in the empire meant that there was little work for military men. In Italy the turmoil of all the little city states and the constant territory envy of the French and Germans, and the Pope defending against them, kept them busy along with Crusading.
Here, my imagination gives out on the Italian side. Not because I do not believe that they were this or that...rich or poor, master or servant, lord or serf; I just don't see them farther back.
The British side I see in their manor houses in Shropshire, battling the Welsh along the border. I see them knowing the king personally, and paying homage to their overlords who in turn payed homage to the king.
I see the Corbet branch of the family coming over with William the Conqueror from Normandy, a part of Normandy in the country not far north of Paris on the channel.
I see them too, with axes in their hands sailing up the Seine and other rivers in shallow draft ships from their homeland in Denmark, with a large, black raven on helmet and shield.
There, the images fade.
I cannot even imagine how or where they lived in Denmark, and for some reason I cannot envision the same events that happened in other branches of the English and Norman family that became the Mitchells and Jones' from New Brunswick.
But what about Deep Time for us ordinary folk.
I have been rereading an old favorite of mine called "Sarum" by Edward Rutherfurd.
It may be hard to lay your hands on outside the thrift shops and the library, but it is well worth the read and the effort to find. It is giving me(especially now that I have a better handle on my English side) a feeling of connection to the past that I never had before.
I take that back.
There was one night...in the 1980s I think, when Halley's comet was due. I saw it and was very pleased to have done so, but I was outside in Wiscasset, in the middle of the street, looking at another comet that was passing near at that time. I do not remember its name.
I looked up at it over my neighbor's roof. I stood there a little too long with my face pointing up. Perhaps I was a bit dizzy as a result, but I suddenly felt like I was on a moving sphere. I felt the Earth moving below my feet, and the moving in sync with the comet, the moon and everything else. The feeling of connection of being a part of it all flooded over me and I stood there in the middle of the street in tears.   Perhaps this is what it was like a couple of thousand years ago to have a religious revelation. But just that one night...I felt like I was part of something greater and deeper in time that I can rationally imagine. It sounds a little crazy, but there it is.
I have never felt that way again.
I go to my sister's house in the woods in Maine. We look up at the stars so thick that you can almost see the star maps by them. I hope it will happen again...But it doesn't.
I imagine people the first time they see their child's face would feel a bit like that. I feel a deeper connection to all of you...family, and almost family, because I understand a little of OUR FAMILIES' DEEP TIME.

So what is deep time in human terms? I can easily speculate on the origins of my British Isles family in deep time. On one side they were stone and bronze age hunters on the tundras of northern Britain, much like in the book Sarum. they had originated in central Europe and in turn the middle east as discussed later. But, when the Romans arrived, they were driven into the mountains of Wales and into Ireland by a people who had little respect for religions other than their own and for any peoples who resisted their will.
The Normans who later replaced the Germanic invaders(Angles Saxons and Jutes), their own cousins in fact, came from France, then in turn from Denmark and prior to that the Steppes of Russia or the "STAN" republics of the former Soviet Union. They had, prior to that, migrated from the northern reaches of the Indian Subcontinent and the Middle East(many thousands of years before the Bible, though probably not before some of the stories from the Bible), and before that the North Eastern quarter of Africa.
The Italian side was probably all over the map. They were of course also from the "STANS" and the Middle East, but they were living at the Conquest Crossroads of the world. Every Barbarian newly arrived from the Steppes or Hungary, Every Arab, every renegade religious sect, the Greeks and Romans, the pirates from Greece and North Africa and every Medieval nation of the Old World tried to gain a foothold in Italy and in Sicily particularly.
We cannot truly trace our families to any one group with certainty. We can speculate that we are related to the Romans. It would seem to make sense, but how many tribes and nations traipsed across Italy in the last 1500 years to replace existing populations with their own kind, and their own seed.
Some of these groups married local boys and girls, but many replaced the local population...So who are we really?

The only real answer to our Italian Deep Time questions will be DNA testing. This is something I hope to do with my family someday...when I can afford it. This is the only hope of us understanding who we are.

Ultimately, we are all Africans, most recently, probably from the northeast of the continent(Perhaps Ethiopia or Somalia, certainly not far from the Great Rift Valley, but ultimately from central or southern regions of the continent. This is our collective EDEN...More of a jungle or Savanna than a garden really, and there were no apples there, allegorical or otherwise.

A Period Piece

If you have an interest in the world of the 11th century that would be the earliest researched period of the family, try watching The War Lord.  A mid sixties movie about a war lord of that period that is supposed to be very accurate to the time period.  It stars Richard Boone, Charlton Heston, Rosemary Forsyth and Guy Stockwell.  Quite an enjoyable film.
My Cafarella cousin, Nancy Bailey went to the movie Barry Lyndon when it first came out.  As the movie was supposed to be extremely accurate in costuming, and she and her husband were professionals in that field, she was very excited.  She came out of the theater saying,"can you believe they used a zipper in the back of that dress?!"
I wonder what a true historian or costume person would really say about the film.  Still it is worth watching for the feel of the time period.
For a review of the movie, try the link below. 


http://charltonhestonworld2.homestead.com/WarLord1.html

Ubi sunt qui ante nos fuerunt?

Where are those who lived before us?

Translation

Se avete bisogno di tradurre i miei post in inglese in francese o in italiano, prova a cercare per Google Translate, all'indirizzo sotto indicato. È possibile copiare e incollare il testo oppure digitare alcune parole nella prima casella e selezionare la lingua desiderata.

Si necesita traducir mis mensajes en inglés al francés o al italiano, intente buscar el Traductor de Google en la dirección abajo. Usted puede copiar el texto y pegue o escriba unas palabras en la primera casilla y seleccionar el idioma que usted necesita.

Si vous avez besoin de traduire mes messages en anglais en français ou en italien, essayez de rechercher Google Translate à l'adresse ci-dessous. Vous pouvez copier du texte et collez ou tapez quelques mots dans la première case et sélectionnez la langue dont vous avez besoin.

http://translate.google.com/

Other family blogs

This is the only blog I have started on this side of my family. This is mainly because the information is so sketchy thus far. If you remember my mother at all you can check out the other blogs on her side of the family, including the beginnings of the family cookbook. If you like Italian food, this is the one to visit.

http://cafarella-cincotta.blogspot.com/ This is the beginnings of the family story especially concerning my grandmother's island and her move here. Other stories will gevelop.

http://cincotta-cafarella.blogspot.com/ This is all family pictures from that branch of the family.

http://cafarela-cincotta-cucinare.blogspot.com/ This is all family recipes.

If you have comments or can help with any photos and old stories, you can contact me at: anerio@yahoo.com or you may call me at 508-339-8146. (you may need to leave a message.)

http://mio-giardino-grazie-nonna.blogspot.com this is all about my garden in Massachusetts some plants from family members.

http://ahouseofyourveryown.blogspot.com NEW

I would much rather that you leave me messages in E-mail or call me instead of leaving comments on the blog. Things get a little cluttered looking on the site with a lot of messages.

Nostalgia for Littleton, Maine

For some reason, while reading " Under the Tuscan Sun"  for the fifth or sixth time, I was reminded of Littleton.  Perhaps it is all the discussion of country ways that triggers this.
I was the youngest, and born in Caribou, Maine, where my father had found work in the construction of Loring Air Force base housing and administrative buildings.  Funny, I found out years later that the base housing at Loring Air Force Base was supposed to be shipped in kits to Georgia, and completely different kits to Maine.  Of course, neither was especially suited to the climate where they were eventually installed. 
As a result of this move to Caribou, I really have few memories of living in the house on the Canadian border.  But I have heard stories.  By the time I was aware of details of the place, Mom had reduced the visits to the house to once or possibly twice a year. 
My father had died at age 47, in 1955.  The diagnosis was Bright's disease.  My sister Mary, being a nurse, tells me whenever the subject comes up, not to put too much stock in that diagnosis. 
My parents built the house themselves soon after they married.  Prior to that time, he had lived in a camp along the stream farther down the Campbell road from the property.  I guess that he purchased or was given the land by the Campbells.  He had worked for them for some time prior to this.
My father was the consummate outdoors man.  He was a hunter out of necessity, knew the way of the forest, animals, plant lore, and the Indians(before they were referred to as Native Americans).  He had grown up in an impoverished household, and had the skills needed to survive with little ready cash.  Living in a camp in the woods was just what he did and knew.  This has influenced my sister in her choice of living in a self sustainable way, more or less "Off Grid".  My brother has a way with animals and survived his hard times working in the woods and on his farm to help make ends meet, especially as a young man.
My mother was fairly anxious to get out of the house in Medford, and when her best friend Vera was dating Everett Mitchell, she was introduced to his younger brother Richard.  She was swept off her feet, by this man who said he was a Foreman at a RANCH in Maine.  My mother obviously did not know where Maine was; did not know what the average temperature was; did not know how far from civilization this land was, and did not know how many mosquitoes and black flies there were per cubic inch in the spring and early summer.
My sister and her husband spent much of one summer there in a camper trailer while they were building their house in Lakeville in later life(more than an hour away).  It was a miserable experience.  Obviously she had forgotten it from her childhood.  To be fair, I guess it was an unusually wet year as well.  If I ever spend time up there, it will not be in the winter(more on this later) or in the post freeze season up until the flies and mosquitoes ease up in July.   I have to say though that in town, bugs are no problem.

They built the house there in 1937.  It was cute, sitting on the crest of a hill a few hundred feet from the lightly guarded border.  They could cross the border and go to Jackson Falls for fishing, swimming and picnics. 
My father had good skills as a carpenter, electrician etc.  He was no artist though.  The house he did for his mother-in-law a mile or so north was about the ugliest house you ever saw. 
Their little house was shingled and had pretty windows,  There were rock gardens planted around it along with simple hedges.  You needed something to break the wind, sitting as it was on the south edge of a huge field that virtually disappeared in the distance to the north.  Strangely, the north side was completely exposed. 
The land was marshy and steeply sloped, and this three acres was cut off from the useful land across the little road.  It was not useful to most people and that was probably why they ended up with it. 
They were able to use the land to some extent however as their demands were not too great on it.  The land there is lime ridden and the topsoil is not deep.  You did not have to dig more than an inch or two before you hit rocks.  The area was full of glacial till, eskers and hogbacks.  Farther north, there are volcanic dikes, sills and pillow lava from ancient sea-beds.
The land is very pretty in that whole area.  Heavily forested areas alternate with rolling fields, and it is dotted with pretty farm houses.  There was a beautiful covered bridge on the back road to town, no longer used for traffic..
The land across the street was fine for potatoes and perhaps oats.  When you are hungry, you could always go across the road and find some potatoes. 
The town of Houlton was about 8 miles(I am estimating)down route one.  About 11 miles total.  You would then turn off route one to the right on the Shaw road and drive about a mile toward the border.  You would then take a right on the Framingham Road and a left  on to the Campbell road, and keep going till you went down a deep stream cut valley(deep but not wide...valley may be a rather grand name for it).  The road went down at perhaps a 40 degree angle and was often rutted deeply.  It flattened out for a few yards as it crossed the stream, continued a few yards and climbed again to a point where it almost leveled in front of the house, and then rose again to the border.  There were marshes on the right in the cedar woods beyond the house, and a marshy area on the left beyond the house that was eventually graded into a farm pond serving the neighbors' land.  In later years, they would use the pond for mixing the poisons used on the crops, then toss the cans into the woods not far from where the concrete lined dug well was.  Too late now to know if this sort of practice might have contributed to my father's early death.  Certainly they were breathing these pesticides for many years.  A more direct route from route one was the Ingraham Road, but passage was sometimes difficult over a small bridge. 
The land sloped down to the stream through mossy and heavily shaded cedar woods.  I remember them that way, walking through the cedars on composted vegetation, springy to the step, except for one allee of maples where maple sap was tapped in the early spring for sugar and syrup.  I understand that a favorite treat would be warm syrup drizzled over a dish of snow wherever "Sugaring" was done.   They would drill the trees, drive metal cones with hooks on them into the holes and hang buckets under the spouts to collect the sap.  This was boiled for hours to thicken the sap into syrup.

The woods were full of ferns(fiddleheads) up to your knees, and was dotted with woodland flowers like Stink-Pots(Wake Robin, only the red kind as I remember), occasional yellow Lady-slippers, Bloodroot(I still have these in my garden transplanted from Littleton) and Jack-in-the-pulpits. 
The land was about three acres in a right triangle formed by the road(the long side) the Canadian border, and the stream bed.  The stream flowed into the Meduxnekeag river that crossed the border there. 
There were chickens and a cow..Elsie.  Eggs and milk were available, but chickens do not lay well in the winter.  I doubt if the locals knew the trick of saving eggs in large crocks covered with waterglass.(Sodium Silicate)
Mom used a wood cookstove in one of the two downstairs rooms.  the south side was the kitchen and the north was the living room.  A staircase ascended from the door in the picture above.  One bedroom was on the left and two smaller ones were on the right, south side.  I seem to remember a chamber pot at the top of the stairs.  There was a regular toilet that emptied into a home made cedar log lined septic tank on the East side of the house.
My sister recalls and I have heard stories of the bizarre extremes of weather there.  It was high on the crest of the hill, and had a few large spruce trees around it. 
She remembers them taking refuge in the car under the trees during bad thunderstorms.  What can I say, my mother was a city girl. 
Once my sister went off to school(one room on route one) on a threatening winter day.  Up there, you did not pay too much attention to snow, or you would not see daylight for six months of the year. Also there were animals to tend.  It was not really unusual to have temperatures of 25 below zero, and still going out to play. 
She went to school, and it started to snow profusely.  The kids were sent home!...in the beginnings of a blizzard.  Much of that walk was along roads that were little more than slightly raised tracks through potato fields(among other crops).  The wind had no obstacle to slow it for miles on end, so the wind would blow and the snow would drift to the point that you could not see more than a couple of feet in front of you.  This was one of those days.  She got three quarters of the way home, but lost her way in the blowing snow, and got off the road.  Totally disoriented, she found shelter under the raised roots of a large fallen tree.  My father went out searching for her, and walked right past her.  Eventually the storm stopped or let up briefly after darkness had fallen.  She got out into the fields and was able to find a landmark.  She got down the hill, and over the narrow wooden bridge and back up the other side.  There was an oil lamp glowing in the window to guide her back home where Dad had returned and Mom was waiting for her. (frantic I assume)
It was not unusual for the snow to be far over your head.  I remember one winter where we crawled out the second storey windows of our tall Victorian house in Houlton, on to the porch roof, and slid to the ground.  We would run back through the house, up the stairs, and do it again.
There was one cold spell when I went outside and the breath vapor came out of my mouth and literally dropped to the ground. 
People do not always believe such stories now as the winters are milder.  They are in entirely different climate zones now. 
Getting back to thunder storms... Sis remembers one storm when ball lightning came down the chimney and out through the oven door of the wood cook stove.  It bounced around the room, and Mom swept...probably more like a hockey move...it out the door.  My eighth grade teacher, Mrs. Churchill had a burn mark on the back of her leg where she evidently backed up into a screen door while ball lightning was bouncing around her house.  The ball hit the screen while the back of her leg was touching it.
Both this house and Grammie's house at the Johnny Farm had plants that were transplanted from Medford, Mass.  Grammie, though untutored, had great success with ornamental plants.  We once had a photo in the local paper of an Easter Lily blooming in the snow in November. 
Needless to say, some plants were more successful than others in this far northern climate.  Mom always bemoaned the fact that her Forsythia plant had no flowers.  Once in a while, there would be a few tentative blossoms near the ground where the snow had covered and insulated the branches.  She had moved Rhododendrons there as well, but they never bloomed at all as I remember.  Nevertheless, there were rock gardens there populated with plants from "home".   Lilacs and Rugosa roses did well, Irises were there, columbines etc..   Mock Orange was planted there as well.  Mom had a terrible allergy to it, but it was worth it.
Needless to say, in the aftermath of the depression, there was little work in this rather remote outpost of civilization.  Dad was attached to the area as he had spent much of his youth in Canada, and his sister Lauretta lived not too far away in the Kars area of New Brunswick. 
Another obstacle for the family was his failing health.  The "so called" Brights Disease is not easy on the body for some time before death occurs. 
Not having work was not the same as not being a worker.  He was lean and strong, and worked like a dog when the jobs were available.  Mom said he would come home from working in the fields on a tractor or truck at lunch time and down a pot of tea even on the hottest days.  That could not have been good for the kidneys by itself.  I have seen the tea the Canadians used to make, and you would almost expect the spoon to stand up in it. 
His progress toward death, always short of money and miles from the doctor and hospital in Houlton was extremely cruel, and they were living in a time period when there were few safety nets to help out.   Mom was forced to crawl down through the woods and snow to gather wood in the winter.   Food was scarce enough that she would feed the kids and Dad, while she would eat the cooking grease in the pan.  Meanwhile, his skin had thickened and hardened so that she had to give him injections through skin like shoe leather.  I know that Dick and Mary"known as Dolly" did what they could, but I am sure it was a blessing when Mom could send them to the Johnny farm for a meal early on, and near his death, my sister was sent to live with my uncles and Grandmother where they had moved on Fair Street.  There she went to school at Ricker Classical Institute.
Dick witnessed many of his father's agonies I am sure, and the extreme distress he felt at not being able to support his family with no help coming from anyone.  You must remember that Dick was only11 and Sis was only 15 when he died.   I was too young to know anything about all this.  I think that in this situation, they placed a lot of mental burdens on themselves through all of this, and my sister never got over being sent away.
Dot Campbell told me that she would give Dad rides into Houlton to the doctor or hospital.  She said that the last time she did this she waited at the top of the hill on the opposite side of the stream for him.   He crawled on his hands and knees to the top of the hill, and she had to help him into the vehicle.

To be continued...

Lockwood and Norman

Birth:	Jan. 14, 1600 Combs Suffolk, England
Death:	Sep. 11, 1658 Fairfield Fairfield County Connecticut, USA
***My Eighth Great Grandfather Robert Lockwood*** Robert married SUSANNA NORMAN, 04 Mar, 1634, Watertown, Middlesex County, MA, MY EIGHTH GREAT GRANDMOTHER. She was born abt 1616, day and month unknown at this time, Combs, Suffolk, England., d. 23 Dec, abt 1660, Greenwich, Fairfield County, CT. To this union, 10 children were born: JONATHAN, DEBORAH, JOSEPH, DANIEL, EPHRAIM, GERSHOM, JOHN, ABIGAIL, SARAH, and, MARY. Jonathan, b. 10 Sep 1634, Watertown, Middlesex County, MA, d. 12 May 1688, Greenwich, Fairfield County, CT. He married MARY FERRIS, 1662, day and month unknown at this time. She was born Abt 1636. Nothing more is known about her at this time. Deborah, b. 12 Oct, 1636, Watertown, Middlesex County, MA, d. unknown at this time. She married WILLIAM WARD, 20 Oct, 1658, Fairfield, Fairfield County, CT. He was born Abt 1635, nothing more is known about him at this time. Joseph, b. 06 Aug, 1638, Watertown, Middlesex County, MA, d. 1717, day and place unknown at this time. Three ladies are said to have been married to Joseph: HANNA JESSUP, ISABEL BEACHAM, and MARY COLEY. Nothing further is known about them at this time. Daniel, b. 21 Mar, 1640, Watertown, Middlesex County, MA, d. 30 May, 1691, Fairfield, Fairfield County, CT. He married ABIGAIL SHERWOOD, 1668, day and month unknown at this time. Nothing more is known about her at this time. Ephraim, b. 01 Dec, 1641, Watertown, Middlesex County, MA, d. 13 Jun, 1685, Norwalk, Fairfield County, CT. He married MERCY SENTION, 08 Jun, 1665, Norwalk, Fairfield County, CT. She was born 1640, day and month unknown at this time, Windsor, Hartford County, CT, d. 1694, day and month unknown at this time, Norwalk, Fairfield County, CT. Note: MY SEVENTH GREAT GRANDPARENTS. Gershom, b. 06 Sep, 1643, Watertown, Middlesex County, MA, d. 12 Mar, 1718/19, Greenwich, Fairfield County, CT. He married ANN MILLINGTON, Abt 1660, day and month unknown at this time. Nothing more is known about her at this time. He married ELIZABETH TOWNSEND WRIGHT, 03 Aug, 1697, place unknown at this time. Nothing more is known about her at this time. John, b. 1645, day and month unknown at this time, Fairfield, Fairfield County, CT. d. unknown at this time. No spouse found at this time. Abigail, b. 1647, Fairfield, Fairfield County, CT, d. 1690, day and month unknown at this time. She married JOHN BARLOW, Abt 1667, day and month unknown at this time. He was born 1630, day and month unknown at this time. Nothing more is known about him at this time. Sarah, b. 27 Feb, 1651, Fairfield, Fairfield County, CT, d. 1688, day and month unknown at this time. She married ABRAHAM ADAMS, Abt 1675, day and month unknown at this time. He was born 09 Sep, 1650, place unknown at this time. Nothing more is known about him at this time. Mary, b. Abt 1654, Fairfield, Fairfield County, CT, d. 15 Aug, 1749, Westport, Fairfield County, CT. She married JONATHAN HUESTED, 1682, date and place unknown at this time. Nothing more is known about him at this time. She married JOSEPH KNAPP, 1706, date and place unknown at this time. Nothing more is known about him at this time. *************** Robert Lockwood's parents were EDMUND LOCKWOOD, b. 02 Sep, 1574, Combs, Suffolk, England, d. 03 Mar, 1634/35, Cambridge, Massachusetts, and ALICE COWPER, b. 1573/74 in England, d. 14 Jan, 1600, Combs. Suffolk, England. They were married 03 Mar, 1591/92, in Combs, Suffolk, England. Edmund came to New England with the JOHN WINTHROP fleet, "THE GREAT MIGRATION", arriving 18 Oct, 1630, with two sons and a daughter, Edmund, b. 09 Feb, 1594, Robert, b. 14 Jan, 1600, and Eleanor, b. 1609, all born in Combs, Suffolk, England. The Winthrop migration began in 1628 when a group of separatist Puritans obtained a patent (license) from the Earl of Warwick, a proprietor of the New England Company, to form the Massachusetts Bay Company and establish a plantation in New England. The next year, with other members of the company, leader John Winthrop, a lawyer, signed The Cambridge Agreement, in which members vowed to emigrate if the Massachusetts Bay proprietors themselves could relocate there and take the patent with them. On 14 Mar 1629, four days after King Charles I dissolved Parliament in the dispute that would eventually lead to civil war, the King agreed to let Winthrop and the Massachusetts Bay Company relocate to New England. In Massachusetts, Edmund Lockwood was made a freeman 18 May 1631, and lived in Newtowne (today's Cambridge) in 1632. Edmund reportedly moved south to Connecticut in 1636. ROBERT'S FIRST KNOWN ANCESTOR WAS: BARON ROGERUS de LOCKWOOD, b. Abt 1390, in Lockwood, Staffordshire, England, d. Abt 1450. His spouse is unknown at this time. There was a son: RANULPHU Ranulphu de Lockwood, b. Abt 1420, Lockwood, Staffordshire, England, d. Abt 1480. He married MARGERIA de DULVERNI, before 1450. She was born Abt 1430, place unknown at this time, d. unknown at this time. There was a son: HENRICUS Henricus de Lockwood, b. Abt 1450, place unknown at this time, d. unknown at this time. He married AGNES de LaSHAWE, Abt 1486, place unknown at this time. She was born Abt 1465, place unknown at this time, d. unknown at this time. There was a son: ROBERTUS Robertus de Lockwood, b. 1486/87 in Eye, Suffolk, England, d. 25 May 1558, in Eye, Suffolk, England. He married JOHANNA LEE, Abt 1520, place unknown at this time. She was born Abt 1500, place unknown at this time, d. unknown at this time. There was a son AND a daughter: THOMAS & AGNES Thomas de Lockwood, b. Abt 1520, Eye, Suffolk, England, d. date and place unknown at this time. He married AGNES de BACHETON Abt 1540, place unknown at this time. She was born Abt 1520, place unknown at this time, d. unknown at this time. There was a son, Richardus. See below, after Agnes. Agnes de Lockwood, b. Abt 1535, Eye, Suffolk, England, d. 1586, Hessett, Suffolk, England. She married WALTER de HOO, date and place unknown at this time. He was born Abt 1530 in Hessett, Suffolk, England, d. 1589, Hessett, Suffolk, England. There was a daughter, Joan de Hoo, b. Abt 1570, Hessett, Suffolk England, d. unknown at this time. THE de HOO's HAVE A RICH LINEAGE, TOO VAST TO RECORD HERE. Richardus de Lockwood, b. Abt 1545, Eye, Suffolk, England, d. date and place unknown at this time. He married ELIZABETH CRESWELL, Abt 1568, place unknown at this time. She was born Abt 1550, place unknown at this time, d. unknown at this time. There was a son: EDMUND Edmund de Lockwood, b. 02 Sep, 1574, Combs, Suffolk, England, d. 03 Mar, 1634/35, Cambridge, Middlesex, Massachusetts. He married ALICE COWPER, 03 Mar, 1591/92, Combs, Suffolk, England. She was born 1573/74, England, d. 14 Jan, 1600, Combs, Suffolk, England. It was Richadus and Elizabeth Creswell de Lockwood's son Edmund de Lockwood who arrived in America, 18 Oct, 1630. Emigrating to New England with Edmund were his sons EDMUND, ROBERT, and a daughter, ELEANOR, and their families. The "de" in front of Lockwood was dropped. Edmund was born 09 Feb, 1594, Combs, Suffolk, England, d. 09 Mar, 1634, Cambridge, Middlesex, MA. He married ELIZABETH MASTERS. She was born abt. 1612, day unknown at this time, Combs, Suffolk, Engand, d. 14 Apr, 1712. Robert married SUSANNA NORMAN. See above. Eleanor was born in 1609 in Combs, Suffolk, England, d. 16 Aug, 1658, Stamford, Fairfield County, CT. She married NICHOLAS KNAPP, abt. 1631, Watertown, Norfolk, MA. He was born 16 May, 1592, Bures St. Mary, Suffolk, England, d. unknown at this time. Note: There is some controversy about Eleanor being a Lockwood. Note: The spouse link for SUSANNAH NORMAN LOCKWOOD FERRIS on this page was created by another member. As is stated there, there were no children from her subsequent marriage to Jeffery Ferris. Family links: Spouse: Susanna Norman Lockwood Ferris (____ - 1660)* Children: Jonathan Lockwood (1634 - 1688)* Deborah Lockwood Ward (1636 - 1660)* Joseph Lockwood (1638 - 1717)* Daniel Lockwood (1640 - 1691)* Ephraim Lockwood (1641 - 1685)* Gershom Lockwood (1643 - 1718)* John Lockwood (1645 - 1677)* Abigail Lockwood Barlow (1646 - 1690)* Sarah Lockwood Adams (1651 - 1688)* Mary Lockwood Knapp (1654 - 1749)* *Calculated relationship
Burial: Unknown

Watertown Settlers

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Standard Notation to Help "Unconfuse" the Other Posts

1. John Jones = Margaret Clayton
...2.  Edward Jones = Margaret Trevoe
.....3. Edward Jones Junior = Eleanor Davis
......4. Jessie Jones = Martha Adams
.......5. Moses Owen(s) Jones = Mary Matilda Johnston
........6. Celia A. Jones = Henry Day
..........7. Ida Day
..........7. Emma Day = Thomas Burns
..........7. Ellen Day
..........7. Mary Day
..........7. Blanche Day
..........7. Henrietta Day = William Everett Mitchell
.............8. Everett Day Mitchell = Veronica Merrow
................9. Everett Mitchell
................9. Mary Mitchell Ross Williams
................9. Carol Mitchell Doubleday
................9. John Mitchell
.............8. Helen Mitchell = Oscar Price
.............8. William Harold Mitchell = Marguerite Rice
.............8. Richard Bruce Mitchell = Mary Carolina Cafarella*
...............9. Mary Rose Mitchell = Frederick Wendell Burrill
...............9. Richard Bruce Mitchell II = Jane Teresa Callnan
...............9. William Philip Mitchell = Marcia Kim Good (DIV.)
............8. Lauretta Mitchell = Northrup
.........7. Martha Day
.........7. Anna L. Day


*  See http://cafarella-cincotta.blogspot.com



1. William Everett Mitchell = Maggie Patterson
....2. William Everett Mitchell = Henrietta Day
........3. Everett Day Mitchell = Veronica Merrow
........3. Helen Mitchell = Oscar Price
........3. William Harold Mitchell = Margueritte Rice
........3. Richard Bruce Mitchell = Mary Carolina Cafarella*
........3. Lauretta(Bertha) Mitchell = Northrup


1. Captain Richard Norman = Mary or Margaret Alford
....2. Susanna Norman = Robert Lockwood
........3. Gersham Lockwood Sr. = Elizabeth Townsend Wright

1. Edmund Lockwood (senior) =Alice (Ales) Cowper
..2. Robert Lockwood = Susanna Norman
....3, Gersham Lockwood Sr. = Elizabeth (Townsend) Wright
.....4. Joseph Lockwood = Sarah Green
......5. Abigail Lockwood = Samuel Adams
.......6. Nathaniel Adams = Mary Owen
........7. Martha Adams = Jesse Jones
.........8. Moses Owen Jones =  Mary Matilda Johnston
..........9. Celia A. Jones = Henry Day
...........10. Henrietta Day = William Everett Mitchell
.............11. Richard Bruce Mitchell = Mary C. Cafarella
...............12. Mary R. Mitchell = Frederick W. Burrill
.................13. Diane E. Burrill = Daryl McPherson
...................14. Michael P. Mc Pherson
 



1. Samuel Adams = Abigail Reynolds or Lockwood
....2. Nathaniel Adams = Mary Owen
........3. Martha Adams = Jessie Jones
............4. Moses Owen(s) Jones = Mary Matilda Johnston
................5. Celia A Jones = Henry Day
....................6. Henrietta Day = William Everett Mitchell


1. Moses Owen = Elizabeth Cornell
....2. Mary Owen(s)= Nathaniel Adams
........3. Martha Adams = Jessie Jones
............4. Moses Owen(s) Jones = Mary Matilda Johnston
................5. Celia A Jones = Henry Day
....................6. Henrietta Day = William Everett Mitchell



1. James W. Johnston = ?
....2. Mary Matilda Johnston= Moses Owen Jones
........3. Celia A. Jones = Henry Day
............4. Henrietta Day = William Everett Mitchell

Edward the Second is on the English throne and Edward the first had just recently conquered and annexed Wales so naming his son the first Prince of Wales.  Edward I and II begin a campaign of castle building in Wales.  Robert the Bruce is on the throne of Scotland.  Louis X is on the throne of France.  Spain is a collection of tiny kingdoms and is mostly ruled by the Moors.  Robert of Anjou is ruling Naples, Frederick II on the throne of Sicily only a few years after the Sicilian Vespers.  When he is 28, the Black Plague is killing people in England.  The Renaissance has just sputtered into existence in Italy.  In his life the hundred years war will begin.  The first Mechanical clocks are only 10 years old.Pope Clement has recently moved the papal government to Avignon.  The Welch name Owen or Owain means well born or noble.

 
1. David Owen b. 1320
..2. Owen Owen
...3. Cadwallader Owen = Margaret Pigot
....4. Cadwallader Owen
.....5. Owen Owen = Margaret Hanmer
......6. John Owen
.......7. David Owen = Alice Blount Oxenbridge
........8. David Lloyd Owen = Joan Rees
.........9. Edward Owen = Sarah Oteley or Oreley
..........10. Richard Owen = Johanna Pitt
............11. John Owen = Rebecca Wade
..............12. George Owen = Martha Naibor
................13. Moses Owen = Mary
..................14. Moses Owen = Elizabeth Cornell
....................15. Mary Adams = Nathaniel Owen
......................16. Martha Adams = Jesse Jones
........................17. Moses Owen(s) Jones = Mary M. Johnston
..........................18. Celia A. Jones = Henry Day
............................19. Henrietta Day = William E. Mitchell
..............................20. Richard B Mitchell = Mary C. Cafarella
................................21. Mary R. Mitchell = Frederick W. Burrill
..................................22. Diane E. Burrill = Daryl McPherson
....................................23. Michael P. McPherson

Michael and the children of his generation are the Great Great Great Great Great Great Great Great Great Great Great Great Great Great Great Great Great Great Great Great Grandchildren of  David Owen, who was born 692 years ago at this writing.

1. John Mainwaring 1475 = Joan Lacon 1475
....2. Sir Richard Mainwaring = Dorothea Corbett
........3. Marie Mainwaring = Adam Oteley
............4. Richard Oteley =  Katherine Mac Worth
................5. Sarah Oteley = Edward Owen  see 9 above

 

Pitchford Hall.  Touted as the finest Elizabethan house in England. 

It was built for our ancestor Adam Ottley(Oteley) in about 1560.

 It was reserved as a "safe house" for Queen Elizabeth and King George,

 during the Second World War

and mentioned in the diaries of Queen Victoria. 

Photo from Wikipedia. 

1. William Oteley 1509 = Margaret Leighton 1513
....2. Adam Oteley = Marie Mainwaring
........3. Richard Oteley = Katherine Mac Worth
............4. Sarah Oteley = Edward Owen see 9 above

1. Thomas Mac Worth 1470 = Agnes1470
....2. John Mac Worth = Elizabeth Hosier
........3. Katherine Mac Worth = Richard Oteley
............4. Sarah Oteley = Edward Owen see 9 above

1. William Pitt 1535 = Elinor? 1535
....2. ?
........3. Johanna Pitt = Richard Owen see 10 above


1. James Naibor 1641 = Martha S
....2. Martha Naibor =  George Owen  see 12 above

The Corbet Line to Us

Roget Corbeau 1000 to 1055,  married to Giovanni(a) Carnaghi

 

 

Hugo Le Corbet Chevalier du Pays de Caux Normandy
       Before 1040 to before 1086.(1020 is commonly used, possibly born in Caux, Allier, Auvergne, France)
       Wife unknown

With thanks to Wikipedia


Roger Fitz Corbet  First Baron of Cause.   Alretone, Shropshire in Domesday book Sheriff/governor of Shropshire.
       About 1050 to about 1134.  
      Wife was  the Heiress of Talsey

William Corbet   Second Baron of Caus.  Lived in Wattlesborough/Castle of Cause
      Wife and dates unknown

Simon Corbet of Pontesburie
      Wife and dates unknown but probably predeceased his father

Thomas Corbet the Pilgrim

Sir Richard Corbet of Wattlesborough 
      early 1200s but may also be the same as :


Sir Richard Corbet of Wattlesborough
      Estimate only  1176 to before 1255 
      Wife by 1196 Joanna Toret of Moreton Toret Salop

Sir Richard Corbet  Son of Richard, Knight of Wattlesborough, Lord of Moreton
      Before 1225 to after 1272. 
      Wife Petronilla, the Lady of Edge Baldenham and Booley.

Sir Robert Corbet  of Morton Corbet, Shropshire.  Sheriff of Shropshire
       Approx 1234 to 1375. 
      Second wife in 1280, Mathilda De Arundel

Thomas Corbet
      1281 to 1310. 
      Wife Amice Hussey? Daughter of Ralph Hussey

Sir Robert Corbet Lord of Moreton Corbet
      Approx 12-25-1304 to 12-3-1375. 
      Wife Elizabeth Le Strange.  Parents Fulk Le Strange & Eleanor Giffard

Sir Thomas Corbet
      Died 1359.
      Wife Elizabeth (Amice)

Sir Roger Corbet of Moreton Corbet
      About 1330 to 1394. 
      Wife Margaret De Erdington, Dau. of Giles De Erdington.

Sir Robert Corbet  Orphaned at age 11, became ward of Percy, Earl of Worcester then John Burley I of Broncroft.  Sheriff of Shropshire from 11-1419
      12-8-1383 to after 1419. 
      Wife Margaret last name unknown.

Sir Roger Corbet
      1415 to 6-8-1467. 
      Wife Elizabeth Hopton Dau. of Thomas Hopton and Eleanor Lucy.

Sir Richard Corbet of Moreton Corbet
      1451 to 12-6-1493. 
      Wife Elizabeth Devereaux, Dau. of Sir Walter  Devereaux and Agnes Ferrers.

Sir Robert Corbet of Moreton Corbet
      1477 to 4-11-1513. 
      Wife Elizabeth Vernon, Dau. of Sir Henry Vernon and AnneTalbot.
      She lived another 50 years and was known as "old Lady Corbet of Shawbury".

Dorothy Corbet
      1511.
      Husband Sir Richard Mainwaring  of Ightfield

This is a variation there are several similar.  This is my drawing of a Mainwaring/Manwaring crest.  I can by the way, do watercolors of any crests you want, and if you are interested in needlepoint, I can paint canvases for a fee.  You must remember that we in our immediate family have no right to bear these arms, especially, we should avoid carrying them in our local jousts.  Perhaps drag races would be a good analogy.  All these names come from a female line and from long ago.  They are nice to display as nostalgia though.  The whites and grays in this crest represent a silver color.  This might sometimes have a black diamond in the top silver bar.  The diamond would have a silver center diamond.


Marie Mainwaring = Adam Oteley
Richard Oteley = Katherine Mac Worth
Sarah Oteley = Edward Owen 
Richard Owen = Johanna Pitt
John Owen = Rebecca Wade
George Owen = Martha Naibor
Moses Owen = Mary
Moses Owen = Elizabeth Cornell
Mary Adams = Nathaniel Owen
Martha Adams = Jesse Jones
Moses Owen(s) Jones = Mary M. Johnston
Celia A. Jones = Henry Day
Henrietta Day = William E. Mitchell
Richard B Mitchell = Mary C. Cafarella
Mary R. Mitchell = Frederick W. Burrill
Diane E. Burrill = Daryl McPherson
Michael P. McPherson 2012

34 or 35 generations from Hugo Le Corbet to Michael P. McPherson and more than 972 years at this writing.

Moreton Corbet castle.  Photo from Wikipedia. 

 



Hugo's family probably had Danish origins, as the Normans in general were from Scandinavia, arriving mostly as Viking raiders who decided to stay.  The use of the raven was a device for heraldry that possibly even goes back to Roman history when Marcus Valerius Corvus had a raven land on his helmet at the beginning of a battle.  Is there a family connection to the General?  It is possible but who knows.  It makes a good story though.  A Reafan was used as a symbol for the family in Danish times and was translated to the French Le Corbeau and later to Corbet.

Lady Sybilla Corbet of Alcester was born in 1077(Daughter of Roger Fitz Corbet?)  and though married to the Duke of Cornwall, became the mistress of Henry I and bore him children.  This is very muddled, but it may be that the Dukes of Cornwall were descended from this alliance.  Henry is reputed to have fathered at least 20 children out of wedlock.

Fryeth alias Norman

Captain Richard Norman Sr.(Probably changed his name from Richard Fryeth possibly adopting the maiden name of his mother Joan Norman) was born between 1580 and 1587 in Dorchester or Charminster, England (Dorset)(Long John Silver country).(Also reported Orchard Portman, Somersetshire)  He came to  Massachusetts in 1623/4, and soon moved to Cape Ann. Then, when the original settlement failed because the settlement was too far from the fishing grounds, for the Dorchester Company(he was an employee of the company and may not have intended to stay here at first)he moved to Salem(Naumkeag) in 1626 under the organization of Richard Conant, before Governor Endicott arrived and later moved to Marblehead.  
He became a fisherman and/or a shipwright along with his son, John, and was probably not a Puritain.  He died between April 22, 1653 and June 27, 1664.
 

The existing information is garbled as there are conflicting reports but these facts should be essentially correct or at least give a feeling for the circumstances.

Richard's wife's name was Margaret or Mary Alford, b 1585, m. September 2, 1605, d.1645...though this too is a bit inconsistant in the reports.(She may have been a second wife.)

There is a story of Lt. Richard Norman Jr. in August of 1683 who tried to swim to shore from his Shallop(a pleasure barge) near Misery Island(off Beverly Farms in Salem Sound)and drowned on the way.

There is a reef named Norman's Woe between Cape Ann and Marblehead near where one of the Normans had settled. There were a number wrecks there.  The most famous was the ship "Favorite" out of Wiscasset, Maine in December of 1839.  A number of bodies washed ashore, one, an older woman, was lashed to a piece of the ship.  It inspired Longfellow to write "The Wreck of the Hesperus" .
I cannot say for sure that these Normans were related to ours, but it seems like a remarkable coincidence.

John Fryeth SR. was supposedly born in Ipswitch, Somerset England, but the family is reported to be in Bishopworth.  He was born about 1500 and died around 1578 in Windford, England, while married to Joanne(Joan)(last name unknown, but probably Norman)also reported to have a similar lifespan from 1500 to 1578.  They had a son named John (Fryeth)Norman born between 1520 and 1530 in Bishopworth,died 3/7/1579  He married Agnes(last name unknown) between 1555 and 1556 in Ipswich.  There is a missing generation here, but John was the grandfather of Captain Richard Norman, the immigrant discussed above.

Richard Norman Sr. deeded to Richard Norman Jr. a house and ten acre lot "in Marvellheade upon Darbe Fort side" along with cow commons.

Susanna Norman was born about 1612-15 and died on December 23, 1680.  She was living in Greenwich, Connecticut, having married Robert Lockwood around 1633-1635 in Watertown Massachusetts.
Robert was born on January 14, 1599-1600,in Combs, Suffolk England.  He died Sept. 11 1658 in Fairfield Connecticut.  She had a second husband: Jeffry Ferris who she married about 1661.  He was born about 1610 in England and died in Greenwich Connecticut on May 31, 1666.  

Wikipedia states the following:

Charminster was the English town of origin of Richard Norman and family, one of the Planters of the Massachusetts Bay Colony in America, who arrived there in ca. 1626.


<sup>Fryeth as a name only really comes up with names related to John Fryeth.  He is cited as the father or in some cases the grandfather of Richard Fryeth alias Norman, but there are disputes as to the relationship.  Playing with the spelling produces a variant spelling of FRIETH.  Searches for this results in towns in central(that is very central) England named Frieth in Buckinghamshire and Oxfordshire.  This could be the origin of the name, but I am just speculating.

I just picked this up from Ancestry.com, thank you Mr. Forsythe...</sup>
from Public Record Office, Court of Requests, Unindexed Records, Bundle 466:
"On 23 October 1603 Richard Fryeth alias Norman brought SUIT AGAINST AGNES FRYETH alias Norman, WIDOW OF JOHN FRYETH alias Norman of Ipswich, co. Suffolk, AND HER DAUGHTER ELIZABETH, WIFE OF EDMUND GREENLEAF, about land in the parish of St. Mary at the Tower, Ipswich. The evidence shows that the plaintiff, Richard Fryeth alias Norman, was son and heir of John Fryeth alias Norman, that Elizabeth Greenleaf was the plaintiff's half sister, and that Agnes Fryeth alias Norman was his stepmother and evidently much younger than her husband, whom she described as having been old and decrepit in 1576, when the land in dispute was purchased, so that she was obliged to support the family until he died in September 1590. Richard Fryeth alias Norman claimed the land as his father's son and heir, but his stepmother claimed that the land was bought with money that she herself had earned."   


Additional info published:               

Richard Norman Sr., (fisherman, shipwright)'s Timeline

1576	March 18, 1576	christened on 3/18/1576 Horningsheath, Suffolk, England, United Kingdom
1587	1587	Birth of Richard Charminster, Dorset, England, United Kingdom
1606	February 7, 1606 Age 19	Birth of John Norman, Sr. Charminster, Dorset, England, United Kingdom
1610	January 12, 1610 Age 23	Birth of Elizabeth Norman Charminster, Dorset, England, United Kingdom
1613	1613 Age 26	Birth of Margaret Fowler England
1617	July 31, 1617 Age 30	Birth of Susanna Ferris Dorchester, Dorchestershire, England
1619	October 17, 1619 Age 32	Birth of Florence Alford Norman Charminster, Dorset, England, United Kingdom
1623	1623 Age 36	Birth of Lt. Richard Norman Southwick, Hampshire, England, United Kingdom
	1623 Age 36	immigrated on 1623 Cape Anne, Gloucester, MA

 

Wikipedia Exerpt on Fairfield Connecticut

The Lockwoods came to this country in 1630 on one of two ships to be researched.(Either the Arbella or the Elizabeth)  This was part of what is called Winthrop's fleet.
The Winthrop Fleet consisted of eleven ships sailing from Yarmouth, Isle of Wright to Salem. Some sailed April 8, arriving June 13, 1630 and the followng days, the others sailed in May, arriving in July. The total count of passengers is believed to be about seven hundred.   Financing was by the Mass. Bay Company.
The ships were the Arbella flagship with Capt Peter Milburne, the Ambrose, the Charles, the Mayflower, the Jewel, the Hopewell, The Success, the Trial, the Whale, the Talbot and the William and Francis.
Sailed April 8 1630: Ambrose, Arbella, Hopewell, Talbot,
Sailed May 1630: Charles, Jewel, Mayflower, Success, Trial, Whale, William and Francis
Winthrop wrote to his wife just before they set sail that there were seven hundred passengers. Six months after their arrival, Thomas Dudley wrote to Bridget Fiennes, Countess of Lincoln and mother of Lady Arbella and Charles Fiennes, that over two hundred passengers had died between their landing April 30 and the following December, 1630. That letter traveled via the Lyon April 1, 1631 and reached England four week later.
Funny that the Lockwoods are listed in the passenger list, but the Elizabeth does not appear in the records, and the Arbells seems to have held only a few leaders.
  They came to Cambridge Ma. and settled in Watertown.  They later moved to Fairfield, Ct. and owned land in Windsor inherited from his first wife.

The following is an excerpt from Wikipedia's post on Fairfield, Connecticut.


 The Colonial era
In 1635, Puritans and Congregationalists in the Massachusetts Bay Colony dissatisfied with the rate of Anglican reforms sought to establish an ecclesiastical society subject to their own rules and regulations. The Massachusetts General Court granted them permission to settle the towns of Windsor, Wethersfield, and Hartford in the area now known as Connecticut.
On January 14, 1639, a set of legal and administrative regulations called the Fundamental Orders was adopted, and established Connecticut as a self-ruled entity. By 1639 these settlers had started new towns in the surrounding areas. Roger Ludlow, framer of the Fundamental Orders, purchased the land presently Fairfield, and established the name.
According to historian John M. Taylor: "Early in 1639 the General Court granted a commission to Ludlow to begin a plantation at Pequannocke. He was on that errand, with a few others from Windsor, afterwards joined by immigrants from Watertown and Concord. He bought a large tract of land from the Pequannocke sachems, - afterwards greatly enlarged by other purchases to the westward,- and recalling the attractive region beyond (Uncoa), which he had personally seen on the second Pequot expedition, he also “set down” there, having purchased the territory embraced in the present town of Fairfield, to which he gave its name."^[3]

Towns created from Fairfield
Fairfield was one of the two principal settlements of the Connecticut Colony in southwestern Connecticut (the other was Stratford). The town line with Stratford was set in May 1661 by John Banks, an early Fairfield settler, Richard Olmstead, and Lt. Joseph Judson, who were appointed as a committee by the Colony of Connecticut.^[4] The town line with Norwalk was not set until May 1685.^[5]
Over time, it gave rise to several new towns that broke off and incorporated separately. The following is a list of towns created from parts of Fairfield.

• Redding in 1767
• Weston in 1787
  • Easton created from Weston in 1845
• Bridgeport in 1821 (also partly from Stratford) and again in 1895 when the Black Rock section left Fairfield
• Westport in 1835 (also partly from Weston and Norwalk)

 Revolutionary War

When the American Revolutionary War began in the 1770s, Fairfielders were caught in the crisis as much as, if not more than, the rest of their neighbors in Connecticut. In a predominantly Tory section of the colony, the people of Fairfield were early supporters of the cause for independence. Throughout the war, a constant battle was being fought across Long Island Sound as men from British-controlled Long Island raided the coast in whaleboats and privateers. Gold Selleck Silliman, whose home still stands on Jennings Road, was put in charge of the coastal defenses.
In the spring of 1779, he was kidnapped from his home by Tory forces in preparation for a British raid on Fairfield County. His wife watched from their home as, on the morning of July 7, 1779, approximately 2,000 enemy troops landed on Fairfield Beach near Pine Creek Point and proceeded to invade the town. When they left the following evening, the entire town lay in ruins, burned to the ground as punishment for Fairfield's support of the rebel cause. Ten years later, President George Washington noted after traveling through Fairfield that "the destructive evidences of British cruelty are yet visible both in Norwalk and Fairfield; as there are the chimneys of many burnt houses standing in them yet."^[6]
Fairfield recovered slowly from the burning, but soon after the end of the war its houses and public buildings had all been rebuilt.