Memorial plaque for Samuel Collins, Jr.
St. Michael’s, Braintree, Essex
Most of Samuel’s writing was the usual correspondence with family and friends. His one published work is “The Present State of Russia; In a Letter to a Friend at London; Written by an Eminent Person residing at the Great Czars Court at Mosco for the space of nine years.” This was published, by a friend, in 1671 after Samuel’s death. Continue reading
St. Michael’s, Braintree, Essex
The Revd. Canon Bernard Davies has given us the definitive work on the life and times of Samuel Collins with his book “Samuel Collins of Braintree; A Seventeenth Century Essex Vicar”. This book is a delightful look into the history of the social and religious customs during the lifetime of Samuel Collins. Continue reading
With any handwriting analysis one needs to be sure that the sample was written by the person in question. When I first discovered Samuel’s signature in the Romford records I didn’t think he had written the data on the rest of the page because it’s written in a different style.
St. Mary, Woodbridge, Suffolk
We seldom find very much to tell us about the daily lives of ancestors who lived so long ago. We count ourselves fortunate if we find their baptismal record, marriage record, maybe the baptisms of their children and a burial record. Then we have a basic outline of who, what, when, where, etc. Continue reading
There is much of interest and not a little of human nature in these letters to a herald from old world gentlemen, anxious for the recognition of their pedigrees and arms. Similar missives, one fancies, are received by Clarencieux and Garter now-a-days, but they do not fall into the hands of the public. Those which we are printing are taken from a Manuscript in the British Museum, Continue reading
The south entrance to Framlingham Castle by Henry Davy, 1827
About all we know of John Golty is gleaned from his will. John was baptized at Framlingham on December 11, 1634 and made his will on October 25, 1669, so he was not yet 35 years old. The will was proved on October 20, 1671, only two years later, when he was 36 years old. This indicates the possibility of poor health or some chronic condition to impress upon him the need to get his affairs in order. Continue reading