Forest of Dean: Part I

As stated previously, the Forest of Dean is located in the southwestern area of England, in Gloucestershire (or Gloucester) (see the figure below). The Forest is generally bounded by the River Severn and River Wye (portions of which form the border with Wales). I highlighted the two principal towns from whence our Whittington ancestors lived; ­Ruardean and Bicknor. The River Wye divides the historic town of Bicknor; consequently, there are now two distinct communities: English Bicknor and Welsh Bicknor.



The cultural history of England spans several millennia. Stonehenge is perhaps the most popular monument in the country. Located on the Salisbury Plain, about 85 miles south and west of the Forest of Dean, this ancient structure appears to have been constructed in at least four phases spanning the period of BC 3,200 - ­1,100. Within the Forest itself, a number of sites have been documented that date to the Neolithic period. Ruins of a hillside fort have also been documented that pre-date Roman occupation (ca. AD 43 - ­410). Iron ore was mined in the Forest by the Romans, though settlement does not appear to have been nearly as extensive as other areas of the island. In the subsequent post-Roman period (ca. AD 410­ - 650), England witnessed a barrage of intruders, including the Irish, Picts, Angles, and Saxons. The Anglo-Saxon Chronicle (compiled ca. AD 890) wrote that in the year 577: “Cuthwine and Ceawlin fought against the Britons and slew three kings….and they captured three cities, Gloucester, Cirencester, and Bath.”At this time (at least from what I’ve read), the Forest of Dean was not included in what would become the county of Gloucestershire.

The Forest of Dean was first mentioned in the Domesday book; a census, so to speak, commissioned by William the Bastard (aka William the Conqueror). The book was prepared in AD 1085 and includes information on several communities in the Forest, including Ruardean (sp. Ruuirdin in the book). The county of Gloucestershire under Norman rule (William and several generations of successive Kings were Norman) consisted of numerous small towns and settlements, as well as land holdings. It was the Normans who initiated the concept of Royal Forests, which were established by the monarchy to reserve the game and trees for use by the Crown. One of the area's historic landmarks is St. Briavel's Castle, which was constructed around 1209 as a protectorate of the Royal Forest of Dean. Residents born and residing within protected Royal Forests were given limited rights to land development, including rights to pasture and mining; however, outsiders could not develop within their boundaries. We all remember how Robin of Loxley became a “Hood.”

In these early centuries of Norman rule, the main industry was forestry. Timber was used by the Crown, especially for the construction of ships. Over the course of many centuries, settlement increased in the Forest, mainly by encroachment by outsiders, which was illegal. By the early 19^th century, a number of small settlements and communities had developed in the Forest as a result of these illegal activities. Rather than just kick them all out, the government decided to grant legal status to these lands; from this point on, further encroachment was strongly resisted.

Internet links for the curious:

http://www.stonehenge.co.uk/

http://www.domesdaybook.co.uk/index.html

http://www.castlewales.com/stbrivls.html

http://www.wyenot.com/stbriavels.htm

http://www.fweb.org.uk/

http://harrypotter.wikia.com/wiki/Forest_of_Dean

Whittington and You

So how exactly does the Whittington Family fit into our complex lineage? I have a completed chart that would show you, but it’s much too large to display on the blog. I will attempt to explain it in the biblical sense. Henry Horsham Whittington (1849-1902) married Anna (Hannah) Gough (1851-1923). Together they had eight children. It would appear, based on Clare’s research, that three of the children produced heirs that have extended the family line to the present. These three children included Clara Ellen Whittington (1874-1954), Mary Ann Whittington (1880-1935), and Joshua T. Whittington (1888-1959). 

Undated photograph of Anna and Henry Whittington 

Clara Ellen Whittington

Our lineage (the Jones and Myers clans) is descended from Clara Ellen, who married Thomas Arthur Myers (1862-1906). The couple had seven children before Thomas passed away in 1906, including Arthur Thomas Myers (1896-1984)--Grandpa Myers. Clara Ellen married George Hildebrand shortly after her first husband, Thomas Arthur died; they had two more children, Paul and Clara Hildebrand. You may remember Uncle Joe’s stories of his childhood talking about George, and how he wished that he had simply called him Grandpa. Arthur Thomas married Elizabeth Ann Moran (1901-1988) in 1922, and they had eight children, whom all of you know. Other descendants of Clara Ellen include the Burnett, Barrick and Reese families, many of whom still live in the Carbondale area.

Arthur Thomas and Elizabeth Ann Myers, 1922.

Joshua and Mary Ann Whittington 
We also have cousins descended from Joshua Whittington (1888-1959). For those of you who frequent Carbondale, you’ll recall a nice little restaurant called Ben-Mar on Main Street (http://www.ben-mar.com/index.php). Marina and Patrick Whittington own and operate the restaurant with their children (Patrick the descendant). Other families in Joshuas’s lineage include Chellino and Greathouse. Of the third Whittington child discussed above, Mary Ann Whittington (1880-1935), there are the Cook and Higgin’s families. I have not listed all other related families, but will do so when the time comes. Many of these families still reside in the Carbondale area.


So there is the whole story in a nutshell; the Whittington, Myers and Moran family history in just a few paragraphs. You will all be tested as soon as I find a gadget for creating multiple-choice quizzes.

Whittington: Sapere aude---Dare to be Wise

The Whittington family name is English in origin, but is now widespread across the globe. A perusal of Ancestry.com reveals that there are more than 270,000 registered family trees that include the name Whittington; every state in the U.S. hosts one or more Whittington family. Based on U.S. immigration records, most of the Whittington’s came from England, although a small number also emigrated from Ireland, Germany and Norway.

The Whittington roots of our family derive from Gloucestershire, England, which is located in the southwest portion of the country along the River Severn, and bordering Wales. Indeed, some of the earliest recorded records of the Whittington name derive from this part of the country, including England’s favorite, Richard Whittington (ca. 1350-1423). One can certainly argue that we are descended from English nobility; however, Clare’s descendant list extends back only to 1709. By this time, the Whittington’s were no longer held in high regard with the English nobility, having lost prestige and status. Perhaps future research will firmly associate us with the early nobles of Whittington.

So where does the Family motto come from? I have no idea. It is printed above several variations of coat-of-arms that I’ve located on the Internet. I’ll update you whenever I find out. So what of the coat-of-arms? A Google search of the Whittington Family Crest will result in a wide variety of arms, one of which adorns the family book published in 2010. However, the Coat-of-Arms does not apply to the surname, but only to male individuals and their descendants; hence the wide variety. The College of Arms (the official repository of registered arms) provides a good definition on their website:

Do coats of arms belong to surnames? A. No. There is no such thing as a 'coat of arms for a surname'. Many people of the same surname will often be entitled to completely different coats of arms, and many of that surname will be entitled to no coat of arms. Coats of arms belong to individuals. For any person to have a right to a coat of arms they must either have had it granted to them or be descended in the legitimate male line from a person to whom arms were granted or confirmed in the past.

In other words, we must first have a male descendant who registered a coat of arms in order for us to actually claim one. Unfortunately, the College of Arms does not appear to have an online search engine to look up coats-of-arms. Perhaps in a later post, I will display the variety of coats-of-arms related to the Whittington Family.

Billy's Status...

I realized I've been quite neglectful in keeping my siblings and family up to date on my job status. I'll start using the blog now :-) Although now it's under construction and I have to dodge through all these piles of bricks and lumber and crap.

I completed my certification training in Pittsburgh and flew home on March 26th. That ended a good month and a half certification period up there. I did quite well in the certification process and learned a lot. Since then I've been in a "mentoring" program where I'm sent to job sites as a trainee, working with experienced techs. I'll be doing this until they feel I'm ready to be on my own.

I'm currently on my second visit to the Upper Peninsula area of Michigan, in Quinnesec and Iron Mountain. People up here call themselves "Yoopers" and they have that funny accent you hear in that movie "Fargo". This is my second time up here working at a paper plant run by Verso Paper. My only other trip besides these two was one in Maxwell, CA, which is about 100 miles North of Bobby and Nikki. There I worked at a Natural Gas compressing station owned by PG&E. Unfortunately I couldn't make the time to go down and visit with Bobby and family, but there will be other trips.

It looks like the week of 5/9-5/15 I may be in Beaumont, TX (75 miles east of Houston), the following week sent to Detroit for a couple of weeks, and then a trip to Saginaw, MI for a week. I'm not sure why they keep sending me to Michigan. Hmmmm...

I've had a lot of down time at home as well since being certified, and have been able to complete a LOT of projects. So things are going well and we're getting ready to host a cubic butt-ton of Jones family members in July. whoo hooo

Lot of loving memories of Mom today, on Mother's Day.