MACHEN Family and SMITH Family Letter 1873-1889 (General)

by jevans , USA, Thursday, January 03, 2019, 18:21 (2161 days ago) @ Mike Pinchin

Greetings again everyone,

I am writing to tie up some loose ends on my original query about the letters I posted.
Before I do that I want to thank everyone who responded on this forum. My cousin Jane and I were able to visit the FOD in September of 2017. And thanks to the help of this website and others who guided us, we were able to visit English Bicknor church, Christchurch, and Mailscot Lodge. The current owner Brian, was most gracious about letting us walk around his yard and take photos of the house. To top it all off, we were able to locate the headstone of Richard and Mary Ann Smith at Christchurch but only with the help of Trevor who stood out in the cold wind and rain to find the stone. It was an amazing emotional moment to place my hand on the headstone of my ggg grandfather and mother. His mother is also buried with them.

So here's the new information. Yesterday I found a tiny envelope amongst my papers that had gotten tucked down in the larger envelope. It was a funerary memento with a tiny lock of hair inside. No letter. It was addressed to Jame Smith c/o Rev. J. Temple at Wambrook Rectory, Wambrook. This proves that Jane probably met her future husband John Collins while in Wambrook which was near his birthplace of Heathstock.

Our guess is that she knew the Temple family while living in FOD (as he was the curate of West Bicknor) and travelled with them when they moved to Wambrook to be a servant. The envelope was posted from Malvern. There was no return address so I don't know who it came from but am researching the possibility of the death of a young niece or nephew. The Temple family must have had the means to employ servants, as there were servants listed on the census for 1871 and 1881. Jane would have been with them around 18-67-1869, so unfortunately no census during those years.

Anyway the envelope solved a huge mystery as to how Jane Smith of Hillersland met John Collins, of Heathstock. They emigrated to the U.S. in late 1869 and married when they arrived.

I just wanted to put some closure on this discussion and thank everyone for their help. My cousin Jane and I plan another trip in October of this year back to the Forest. It is truly a special place and is calling us back.

-Janet Evans