1066 Battle of Hastings

 I remember before my addiction to family history researching, my understanding and interest in history was somewhat vague beyond one hundred years or so; English history was definitely a foggy mix of Roman occupation, War of the Roses, Kings and Queens, and the Battle of Briton. Mostly learnt through historically obscure movies or documentaries over the years, today I now only give historically accurate programs my attention. England has such a rich, well documented history that goes back many hundreds of years and because of my ancestry researching I have come to a richer and more objective understanding of past events. Through my ancestral journey I have discovered ancestors who forged history as we now know it.

During the last few day's prior to ending my 2000 visit to the UK I found my self exploring towns, villages reasonably close to Gatwick. One day I found my way to Hastings and exploring in the area I discovered the town known as Battle. Located north east of Hastings in East Sussex, approaching the town in my rental I was thinking how ominous the name Battle seemed. With my limited knowledge I'm thinking maybe the town of Battle had something in common with the Conquest and the battle of 1066. 

After driving around town for a short while I found my self at Battle Abby at first I was under the impression that I was parking in the car park of a tourist gift shop, and really didn't expect much more. My visit to Battle Abby was one of my most memorable tourist attraction visits in my 2000 UK activities.

I soon became aware that I was at the 1066 battle field were English history change with outcome of the battle between King Harald of England and William  of Normandy. I saw that for a small fee I would be able to take a self guided stroll out onto the actual battle field, an opportunity that I took up without hesitation.

 For a full Hour I wondered the battle ground taking in the imaginary images of men on foot, men on horse back glinting weaponry and armour the sounds of battle and death all over this place 14h Oct 1066. Standing at the place were King Harold of England laid dying is confronting, but then I realised when standing at almost any place on the field many men may have died at that very spot more than nine hundred years ago.

 

The 1066 Hastings Battle Field

Some years have past since the day I visited the 1066 battle field and I am now even more thankful that I had the opportunity to spend time on the field. Today thanks to the following  years spent research studying and documenting my family history, I have been successful in identifying some ancestral relationships to men at the Battle of Hastings in 1066 and my Bond family line. Each person was individually researched, not for their connection to the battle but their connection to my Bond family line; and serendipitously connected to the battle. Knowing now that I acutely have ancestors who survived the carnage at the Battle of Hastings gives me a whole new perspective of the history surrounding the battle.

King Harold of England / Husband of 29th Great grandmother.

Gyrth Godwinson / Brother in-law to 29th Great grandmother.

Leofwine Godwinson / Brother in-law of 29th Great grandmother,

William of Normandy / 27th Great grandfather.

Robert Deaumont / 25th Great grand uncle.

Walter Giffard / 27th Great grandfather.

William De Warren / 26th Great grandfather.

Hugh De Montford / 28th Great grandfather.

1066 Battle of Hastings

Recommended reading:

The Battle of Hastings, by Jim Bradbury.

1066, by Kelly Devries. 

The Norman Conquest, by Mac Morris.

Copyright © Noel Bond. Researched and written by Noel Bond, No written part of this Blog may be reproduced in any form, by any electronic or mechanical means, including information storage and retrieval systems, without written permission from the author.

New Discoveries

 New discoveries just keep on coming, just when you think you have learnt all there is to know about the people in your family one or two individuals will suddenly give up new information, that will delight you. January 2022 and the new family research year started off with two such discoveries, from people that I have been researching one from the very beginning; my grandmother Kate and the other a cousin found through DNA matching some years back 4th cousin 1x recovered Reginald Albert Gorman. 

In the case of my grandmother I received an automated Email from a family tree building and research site that I subscribe to, informing me that a new Christening record had been found for my grandmother, and inviting me to come and see the record. After a day or so, I clicked on the record link and behold. I discover indeed more detailed information than in other past records.

Name Kate Elizabeth Wise

Sex Female  

Christening date 28 Mar 1875

Christening place Wareham, Dorset, England UK 

Christening place (original) St Mary's Wareham, Dorset England 

Fathers name William 

Mothers name Julia

The new fact I see for the first time in this record is St Mary's Wareham Dorset England, I had never known that Kate was Christened at St May's Wareham so I went Googling and found that St Mary's is still active today.

StMary's Wareham Dorset England/Public Domain.

Exploring St Mary's history on line I discovered an interesting fact about the Christening font, it is apparently the only 12th century Hexagonal lead font in existence. 

Christening font St' Mary's Wareham Dorset

   Grandmother Kate is a twin sister to my aunt Louisa so this discovery of the font is an interesting new fact to add to the family story.

Reginald Albert Gorman, Australian actor who has been in the tree since 2019 was only discovered for being the so well known actor of Australian TV that we know him for, while I was exploring my DNA match to his daughter Kate Gorman, who is also an accomplished Australian TV actress. Appearing in Neighbours and many other productions. Cousin Kate Gorman and her father Reg are related through William Bond and Sarah Bond/Acton and their daughter Sarah Jane Bond.

Reg Gorman

A third new discovery was while watching the program Who do You Think you Are, Australian journalist and television  presenter Jennifer Victoria Byrne was being presented with her family history and in the course of the program it became clear that her ancestral line had similarities to my own family. I have since learnt that we are 19th cousins.

 

Jennifer Byrne 

My lesson for this new year is I don't know what I don't know, when I think I know.  

Copyright © Noel Bond. Researched and written by Noel Bond, No written part of this Blog may be reproduced in any form, by any electronic or mechanical means, including information storage and retrieval systems, without written permission from the author.