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A
Brief History of the Offleys of Terrington St. Clement. C. 1836-1946.
At
this the 12th Annual Meeting (held in 1999) of the Offley Family Society, as it
is being held in Terrington St. Clement, it seems appropriate to relate
something of the history of the 'Terrington Offleys'
These
Offleys are of the Fenstanton Pedigree; the first recorded member being John
Offley of Fenstanton, Hunts, died in 1581. Following the generations down we
arrive at one Henry Offley who was
baptised at Bourn, Cambs., in 1789 and married to Lydia
Brett at Long Sutton, Lincs., in 1809. It is from this couple that the 'Terrington
Offleys' are descended.
The
couple had issue five sons and three daughters. The first indication of their
presence in Terrington was the marriage of their eldest daughter here in 1836. Henry
died and was buried here in 1847 and Lydia
in 1863. Three of their sons settled and farmed in Terrington. It seems likely
that the fifth son, James Brett Offley,
may have remained at Beacon Hill Farm where he had lived with his widowed
mother, Lydia. In 1854 James Brett Offley
was married to Susannah, daughter of Farmer
and Elizabeth Mallett of Spalding, and we are pleased to welcome one of
their descendants as a guest here today. James
Brett Offley and Susannah had
issue two sons and two daughters. All were baptised here at Terrington. Very
sadly James died in 1860, two weeks
before the younger daughter Caroline Jane,
of whom we shall learn more of later, was born. In 1867 widow Susannah
married Benjamin Stockdale. Her two sons, Henry Farmer Offley, born 1856, who married Sarah Jane Green in 1887, and William
James Offley, born 1858, who later married Alice Tebbs, joined their mother and step-father at West Walton,
helping on his farm for a time. William
James and Alice returned to farm
at Terrington, maybe at Beacon Hill again. The couple had issue two sons and six
daughters, one of whom, namely Dorothy,
taught in Terrington School. This family left the village around 1918 to farm at
the Old Hall, South Wootton. William
died in 1941 and Alice in 1937.
This couples first son James William Offley married Florence
Bryant in 1920. Florence was the daughter of the Headmaster of Terrington
School. They had issue one son and four daughters.
Henry
and Lydia
Offiey's third son Samuel Brett
Offley married Susannah Sophia
Sampson at Terrington St. Clement in 1850. They had issue one son and two
daughters, all of whom were baptised at Terrington together on 19April1867. The
family farmed 100 acres in the Sea Newland Field (Emorsgate) area of Terrington,
but Samuel and
Susannah died in Croydon.
Henry
and Lydia's
second son, Henry, married in 1845, Elizabeth
Gagen, daughter of John Gagen who
farmed in the Hay Green area of Terrington. Henry
and Elizabeth farmed at Orange
Row farm and had issue six sons and two daughters. Three of the sons farmed at
Shouldham with sister Elizabeth as
housekeeper until her marriage in 1887. The third son, William
and his sister Charlotte Jane
remained with their parents until they died; Henry in 1901 and Elizabeth
in 1905. William and Charlotte
Jane retired from Orange Row Farm in 1918.
Goddard,
the sixth son of Henry and Elizabeth,
married his cousin Caroline Jane,
younger daughter of James Brett and
Susannah Offley, at West Walton in1884. They had issue one son and eight
daughters, most of whom were born in Terrington (Correction : most were born
at 2, Leverington Common, Leverington, Gorefield, Cambs where Goddard farmed). All had issue except Beatrice
who remained unmarried. The fifth daughter, Charlotte, was married to William
Victor Warnes, farmer, at Terrington Church in 1915. They farmed at
Wetherall Farm, the Marsh, and had issue two sons and six daughters. The family,
with the exception of the eldest daughter Mary who remained in Terrington with relatives, left the village in
1932. This daughter, the writer, was married here in 1941 to Haydn
Hill and the couple's eldest child Rosemary
was baptised here in 1943. That baptism was the last church service held for the
'Terrington Offley’s' at Terrington St. Clement.
Thus
we have traced the Offleys at Terrington - farmers, participants in village life
and church affairs, from a marriage 1836 to a baptism in 1943. The blood-line
actually finally leaving the village in 1946.
It
is most gratifying that some of the 'Offley' descendants are among our guests
today, and sincere thanks are extended to the Chairman and Offley Family Society
Committee for allowing this much appreciated privilege. It has been so nice to
come home!
Mary
Hill
Daughter of William Victor and Charlotte (nee Offley) Warnes and wife of Haydn L.H.Hill.