Sterry Cottage Blakeney

Does anyone have a current address for Sterry Cottage, please? I believe it is ion Blakeney or on Blakeney Hill.

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Can you give any more background to your question? I am a descendant of Sterrys who go back at Awre/Blakeney to before 1800, and I'd never heard of a Sterry Cottage.

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Today I received an image of the Last Will and Testament of Mary Ann James (formerly Lewis, nee Clarke) from 1918, including the following text:

"...bequeath unto my eldest son William Richard Lewis the homestead Box Tree Cottage, garden and orchard sitauted at New Road Blakeney. I give and bequeath unto my son Thomas James Lewis Sterry Cottage and garden on Blakeney Hill. I give unto my daughter Elizabeth Ann Cadogan the house, garden and building site New Road Blakeney currently in the occupation of Mr. Oliver Virgo. I give and bequeath unto my son Charles George Lewis the cottage and garden and orchard now in the occupation of Mr. William Green and Mr. Frank Virgo respectively."

I was hoping to better identify the parcels . . .

Box Tree Cottage I am familiar with, but I don't know where the other locations are, although I am assuming they are in the immediate environs. Box Tree Cottage is now on Blakeney Hill Road rather that New Road, and I thought that someone might be able to tell me where Sterry Cottage was located.

My understanding is that some of the Sterry family had emigrated to America during the 1800s, so the land might have been sold at that time. William and Richard Clarke's wills don't give any great identifiers as to where given land or orchards are located.

Although there are comparitively few Virgos, there are multiple Franks and Olivers in earlier census enumerations listed on Ancestry. I am going to check on the 1911 census tonight in the hopes of narrowing the field.

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Thanks, mrsbruso.

From what I can find fairly quickly from censuses and family history, there was a family named Turley living at Blakeney Hill (but no more specific address) in the 1871 census. The household included the mother being Mary Ann nee Sterry and the widowed mother-in-law Sterry by marriage (nee Ann Shaw.) In the 1841 and 1851 censuses (and probably 1861) the mother-in-law was there with her husband William Sterry. (They were my gt-gt-gt-grandparents, via a brother of Mary Ann. My direct line wandered down into Lydney by the 1850s and usually became spelt "Sterrey".)

Given the small community of Blakeney Hill, and in the absence of any other Sterrys there in those years, I see a good chance that the premises thus occupied by a Sterry or nee Sterry from at least 1841 to 1871 were known as Sterry Cottage, but I can't pinpoint it.

You might turn up more by a good rummage in the parish records index on this site.

I also know a man who might know more, and I'll ask him.

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Have just looked thro Royal Mail postcodes Book for year 2000.

Searched thro the Blakeney village/Hill and no trace of any STERRY named property.

The nearest name is STRETFIELD situated in Newnham Rd.

regards
Forest

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Thank you both.

I didn't have much luck with zoopla, either, so Sterry Cottage is called something different today assuming it is still standing. I did find a marriage between a Samuel Clarke and a Mary Sterry in 1786 . . . so I wonder if that is some sort of a hint. Zoopla lists a Grannie Virgo's Cottage on Blakeney Hill, which may also be a hint.

The census brought no joy since it didn't list the address as anything more specific than "Blakeney Hill".

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You could also try raising your query with local weekly papers. Try the Forester and/or the Forest of Dean & Wye Valley Review, both based in Cinderford. The Review has gladly published items from me, resulting in identification of people in an old photo and in contact from a living and related Sterrey in Lydney (who doesn't know the answer to your question.) If you email them (editor@theforester.co.uk and/or revieweditor@tindlenews.co.uk) explaining your context and asking whether any readers can remember a Sterry Cottage at Blakeney Hill, you might well strike lucky. There are quite a few Sterrys/Sterreys and their descendants still lurking in those parts.

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Is this site of any use to you: www.sterryworldwide.com ?

Peter.

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Thank you for the great hints.

I did check the Sterry site ~~ a wealth of information but it didn't provide the answer I sought, but I didn't spent as much time there as the site deserved. I feel as though I have let the Clarke's down a bit by not providing them (us?) With such an interesting forum.

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I've been looking at the two Districts on Ancestry on the 1911 census England & Wales Summary Sheets - which lists the names (just the Surnames i.e. Mr WICKENDEN, my x grandparents at Nibley Mill, Blakeney) - in house order - this does give some cottage names etc (two Districts) - it may help pinpoint your cottage, as it lists all the 'heads' and numbers of inhabitants without the costs of using the 1911 census,

I've given my x Grandfather's name i.e. Mr WICKENDEN - and searched Gloucestershire (it's listed AWRE - and this gets you to the two districts of Blakeney).

Also look at 1911 Summary - East Dean Glos.- and this covers New Road/Blakeney Hill

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I suspect that the "name" is no more or less than a method at that time ( when the Will was drawn up)of identifying a dwelling or parcel of land i.e. Sterry Cottage, Virgo Cottage, Watkins Row, Jones Paddock

It may be that you need the old Tithe maps to locate the property / ownership ..

Sorry

Clark's Lane Blakeney "seems" to be in the right area described by the will :-)

http://maps.google.co.uk/maps?hl=en&safe=off&gl=uk&q=%22clarks+lane%22+blak...

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

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I'm inclined to agree with slowhands, but it may help a little bit in narrowing things down if I point out two things in the parish records on here:-

1. Mary Ann Clarke married William Lewis at Viney Hill in 1872, her address Furnace Bottom.

2. Mary Ann James was buried at Viney Hill in 1918, her address New Road.

I have also seen one indication that the Viney Hill parish boundary ran along part of New Road - www.kenmorse.co.uk/36167/36467.html, under "The Parish."

So those two addresses, together with further research into the parish boundary between Blakeney/Awre and Viney Hill, may suggest (but no more) that the properties bequeathed, including "Sterry Cottage", were more towards the bottom of Blakeney Hill than the top.

Having said that, I've just been inspecting the territory on Google Earth and a lot of the properties don't look as if they've been there since the Sterry trace of 1841 that I gave earlier in this thread.

For a spot of multiple surname coincidence, if you go to www.sungreen.co.uk and open the Essex-Sterry wedding photo under "Lydney People" in Lydney page 2, you will discover two Lewises (who we think at the time were lodgers with the Sterreys in Albert Street, Lydney) together with one Hilda Sterrey, who married a George Virgo. Alas, I know nothing to connect those Lewises or that Virgo with mrsbruso's references to those surnames.

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Thank you, everyone, for all the help. You've given me some great leads, and now I need to follow them up. I have an 1854 map that may be of some use, I have to see where it takes me. The 1911 summary will probably be as much if not more helpful that the 1911 census itself proved to be, so thank you for that also.

I am assuming that Slowhands is correct (as usual!) and that calling it Sterry Cottage simply identified for the children which cottage she intended for which child, and that reviewing the census and the map might help narrow the field somewhat.

Box Tree Cottage was always referred to as "home", but I am less sure at the moment that my great grandmother lived it that cottage continuously when she was in Blakeney. In William Clarke's will he simply identifies the cottage as where he is living at the time, he doesn't name it or identify it any further. Box Tree Cottage itself is at the bottom of Blakeney Hill (formerly New Road, now 2 Blakeney Hill Road); I have always assumed that Mary Ann's address as "Old Furnace" was still Box Tree Cottage, but perhaps not. (Mary Ann refers to it as "the homestead" which may or may not be significant.)

The Lewis brothers in the photograph aren't part of our family that I am aware of, but the Virgos are all related, so I should be able to work that out given a bit of time.

Chris W and I are both descended from the same GGGrandparents (making us sixth cousins) and I think we're both interested in determining if this land started out with the Clarke's or the Stephens'. Since most of the parcels(Harriett's, Ann Morse's, the various Clarke's) are close to one another (some in William's name are a bit further flung) we might assume common ownership in some time past. If we can trace the land itself, perhaps we will be able to make the connection for the generation before William Clarke (married Mary Stephens 1770) and Richard Stephens.

Again, I can't thank you all enough for all the help.

Sandra

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Just out of interest.....

My x Uncle Rev W S WICKENDEN in 1864 - left to my x Grandparents - William & Margaret WICKENDEN, Clark's Pool Fields or Meadow, which lies at the flat top of 'Old Hill' half a mile south of Blakeney.

previous thread

http://www.forum.forest-of-dean.net/index.php?id=8200

Visited Clark(e)'s Meadow a few years back - now a Conservation Area - bought by the National Trust in 1997

may be my 'Rev' bought it off the Clark family!!!!

www.gloucestershirewildlifetrust.co.uk

under the Heading: Nature Reserves

the 'please click on map - or use the pull-down list'

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Then it's probably no coincidence that the first turning on the right up the New Road from the A48 is called Clark's Lane

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Hi
re sterrys cottage. If you go up clarks lane and turn right and go along Hitching rd you meet Blakeney Hill road( coming up off the Soudley road) turn left, about 100yds up there is two footpaths take the right one and the 1st house up the lane on the left I've always known as sterrys.A John Sterry living ther 50s 60s.

If you carry on up Blakeney Hill road to the brow of the hill on the left is the top of Clarks lane.The top part of which has always been a dirt track.It like a triangle

As I understand it to the left of Clarks lane and the left of Blakeney hill road to where it joins the New road is in Viney Hill parish.

Frank Virgo used to live in the house on the bank just before the turning up Blakeney Hill road off the New road.

Clarks Meadow is along the A48 towards lydney turning left at the Top of Nibley(right Viney Hill)abou thalf a mile out of Blakeney.

Ihope this may be of help.

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Sue,

That's absolutely brilliant! It's a huge help.

I'm still struggling more than a little with the map but everything you've said makes a tremendous amount of sense. I am frustrated at the moment to be 3,000 miles away, but if I close my eyes I can see bits of it all before me . . .(then I open them and see the good, rich, flat soil of Connecticut Valley farmland).

After Viney Hill parish opened, the family were married and buried there. Prior to that it was Blakeney Chapel/Parish of Awre.

By the description, Frank Virgo's cottage is located on the land William left Richard in 1845 . . . but again, I need to try to figure out the tithe map.

Thank you!

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You can 'walk' at least some of the way - by Google Maps

http://maps.google.co.uk/

put in the address - for example, New Road, Blakeney, Gloucestershire

just drag the 'man' symbol - and you'll have the street view. Use the arrow sign to walk along the area.

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If you're right that the Virgos were all related, you may eventually come across a George Virgo who married Hilda Sterry/Sterrey. At any rate I've always assumed that they tied the knot, although I can't find the marriage on here or Glos BMD. If you do find that link, please let me know. George was my grandmother's sister's husband. He and Hilda were living in Fairfield Road, Lydney in the years after WW2, and there is still some of their family in Lydney.

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Name:
George Virgo
Spouse Surname:
Hilda M Sterrey
Date of Registration:
Apr-May-Jun 1919
Registration district:
Chepstow
Registration county (inferred):
Monmouthshire
Volume Number:
11a
Page Number:
36

possible Virgo / Sterry offspring

Henry Virgo
Jan Feb Mar 1917
Westbury S
Gloucestershire, Shropshire, Herefordshire

Dorothy E Virgo
Jan Feb Mar 1919
Westbury S
Gloucestershire, Shropshire, Herefordshire

Zeena M Virgo
Oct Nov Dec 1920
Chepstow
Wales

Ronald G Virgo
Jan Feb Mar 1926
Chepstow
Wales

Margaret Virgo
Apr May Jun 1935
Chepstow
Wales

Brian Virgo
Apr May Jun 1938
F of Dean
Gloucestershire, Shropshire, Herefordshire

Jane Virgo
Apr May Jun 1938
F of Dean
Gloucestershire, Shropshire, Herefordshire

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

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Cheers, slowhands, you're a walking miracle

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