Thanks paulp, and thanks again to Jefff. I too cannot get further back on the Beauchamps here than Katherine Mansfield's grandfather Arthur, who migrated to NZ from Australia as Jefff has noted.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Earl_Beauchamp puts the evolution of the Beauchamp peerage in perspective. and William Lygon, The Rt Hon. The Earl Beauchamp KG KCMG PC became Governor of New South Wales between 1899 and 1901.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/William_Lygon,_7th_Earl_Beauchamp

1891
William Lygon ( Ealrl of Beauchamp) aged 19 Madresfield Court, Worcestershire born London St George

1881
Earl Beauchamp abt 1831 London, London, Middlesex, England Head Madresfield, Worcestershire
Countess Beauchamp abt 1853 London, London, Middlesex, England Wife Madresfield, Worcestershire
Viscount Elmley abt 1872 London, London, Middlesex, England Son Madresfield, Worcestershire
Edward Lygon abt 1874 Wandsworth Son Madresfield, Worcestershire
Robert Lygon abt 1880 London, London, Middlesex, England Son Madresfield, Worcestershire
Mary Lygon abt 1869 London, London, Middlesex, England Daughter Madresfield, Worcestershire
Susan Lygon abt 1871 London, London, Middlesex, England Daughter Madresfield, Worcestershire
Margaret Lygon abt 1875 London, London, Middlesex, England Daughter Madresfield, Worcestershire
Agnes Lygon London, London, Middlesex, England Daughter Madresfield, Worcestershire
Richard (Lord) Raglan abt 1818 Paris B S Brother in Law Madresfield, Worcestershire
Mary (Lady) Raglan abt 1845 London, London, Middlesex, England Madresfield, Worcestershire

http://www.forum.forest-of-dean.net/index.php?id=10108

Madresfield Court http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Madresfield_Court near Malvern

The Earls Beauchamp were descended from Richard Lygon (pronounced "Liggon"), of Madresfield Court, Worcestershire, who married the Hon. Anne (d. 1535), second daughter and co-heir of Richard Beauchamp, 2nd Baron Beauchamp "of Powyke" (1435–1503) and through the latter from the early Earls of Warwick. Their descendant, William Lygon (1642–1721), also resided at Madresfield. His daughter, Margaret (d. 1734), married as her first husband Reginald Pyndar (c. 1687–1721), of Kempley, Gloucestershire. Their son Reginald Pyndar (1712–1788) assumed by Royal license the surname of Lygon in lieu of Pyndar. His son was the first Earl Beauchamp.

I suspect its the Pyndar family connection that also explains the Inn in Kemply taking Beauchamp as its name. There are approx 20 Pyndar records transcribed here.
http://www.nationalarchives.gov.uk/nra/searches/subjectView.asp?ID=F9798

http://www.nationalarchives.gov.uk/nra/searches/subjectView.asp?ID=F5206

I see that the original thread has been locked, so I won't pursue this any further in this forum - perhaps the mods feel we have strayed too far out of Forest affairs.

The original thread was automatically locked because of its length.

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Ἀριστοτέλης A Gloster Boy in the Forest of Dean ><((((*>

Thanks paulp, and thanks again to Jefff. I too cannot get further back on the Beauchamps here than Katherine Mansfield's grandfather Arthur, who migrated to NZ from Australia as Jefff has noted.

I see that the original thread has been locked, so I won't pursue this any further in this forum - perhaps the mods feel we have strayed too far out of Forest affairs.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ledbury_and_Gloucester_Railway

and

http://www.kempleytardis.org.uk/daff-display.php

Transport takes us neatly to the Great Western Railway Daffodil Line. Opened in 1885 it followed the bed of the old Gloucester Hereford Canal between Dymock and Over, where it linked with the Gloucester Line. The economic impact is obvious, local producers now had efficient, regular access to the major cities and the goods they needed came in on the returning trains. More than this, London Bristol and Birmingham were brought within reach. Read about the Dymock man who commuted to London between the wars taking no more time than the journey does today.

The romantic sounding Daffodil Line name arose from its role in carrying the local wild daffodils to markets in London and Birmingham. It also carried the Daffodil Girls as pickers, and the day-tripper tourist released from the Black Country toil and smog at Springtime. The daffodil fields as a tourist attraction were at the forefront of the Victorian and Edwardian love affair with the countryside. As an aside it should be noted that Ross-on-Wye as a base for exploring the Wye Valley and the Forest of Dean is generally regarded as the first railway fed tourist boom.

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Ἀριστοτέλης A Gloster Boy in the Forest of Dean ><((((*>

Welldone S for remembering St George's Day, something many seem to think is non p-c these days yet we happily and correctly celebrate St David & Patrick.. Especially on this warm Spring day, perfect for a "ramble" whether thro' the daffs of Dymock or on this website a la Fred. Interestingly with respect to this post and it's hints of France, Shakespeare's famous phrase immortalised in "Henry V" came from actual accounts of the battle of Agincourt and the cries of Henry and the English footsoldiers, "Hurrah! Hurrah!, Saint George and Merrie England”.
No doubt there were Foresters among the ranks of the now famous longbowmen, some firing arrows with points forged in the Forest. I'm happy to celebrate St George despite being a lifelong lover of the French country, people and way of life. We holiday there every year and have visited many historical sites from the Hundred Years War etc including Agincourt. This led to my son & now wife taking up target archery as a sport, they don't shoot traditional longbows altho' many others do and boy do they take some physical strength and unusual skills - unlike the "modern" bows which shoot low & flat straight into the target like a rifle, the longbows still shoot high trajectories up into the sky, so practising range-finding is key to hitting their targets.

Sadly despite these visits my French speaking is still only "O" level conversational standard, (altho I'm now "S" level at the backup arm-waving), so I've had to really think about the word "beche". Yes literally as a noun it translates to spade, yet like so many French words it has other meanings dependant on it's usage and also associated words in the phrase.
eg beches de la mer , or beche "of the sea", equates to seafood specifically sea cucumber from the Far East. However in fashion circles they say "tete-beche" which means "head to tail", with "tete" being head as you'll know, so ?.... and I though English could be an odd language !

Resorting to tinternet I even found a reference to a "beche" being a pneumatic forge hammer, pronounced "besh" so perhaps this is where our "bash" comes from - a great word for oldfashioned mechanical engineers like me, we're all "metal-bashers" at heart. Maybe the French army's arrow points were made by using a "beche", aka "de la beche"... ??. Which leads us to wonder if "beche" is a more generic word for a "tool" and not just spade and the family "de la Beche" were in fact metalworkers ??!!. However I think not as Pneumatic hammers and apparently the English word "bash" all have far more recent origins and this is too-lateral thinking.

I think in our case the name "de la Beche", which literally translates to "of the spade", is a reference to someone who is working the land for arable crops, akin to the seafood reference. Visitors to Normandy nowadays will see many green pastures with pampered thoroughbred race horses, I'm sure dating back to the Norman invaders and their advanced use of cavalry, plus fruit orchards much like those of Dymock and Herefordshire; no doubt centuries ago like us they also grew more arable crops than nowadays, Normandy's undulating land is not as ideally suited to the immense flat fields of modern farming.
This seems to be backedup by my schoolboy French which tells me Beauchamps literally translates to "beautiful"(fertile?) "fields", which certainly applies to the clayred fields of South Herefordshire. So I think that's the origins of this particular name, I suspect the supposedly correct pronounciation of Beecham is just a deliberate attempt to disguise it's French origins, understandably given England's long history of ongoing wars with France until relatively recent times.

That was an enjoyable ramble, time for tea methinks, the toast is Saint George !.

PS Fred, while on the subject of Beech, in case you're wondering longbows were made from especially grown yew trees, and the arrows from cedar.