This postcard featuring a view of Bricett Hall was shared with me late last year.

The postmark on the reverse is very faint but appears to have been posted July 1938, and addressed to:

Mrs. Gomm
10, Garrick Road
Greenford.
Middx.

The note reads:

Griffen: House
Monday evening

Dear Elsie,
Arrived here 6.15 had an easy ride with the wind all the way, called at Mrs Proctor’s for a cup of tea she was very pleased. Taint arf quiet here. Had a sleep all afternoon in a cornfield, wasn’t arf good, am sleeping here tonight may go to sea-side tomorrow Love to all
Gilbert

Gilbert and Elsie Gomm were both recorded at the address on the postcard in the 1939 register. The couple had married in 1931, and since both had also been born in the London area, there appeared to be no link to Great Bricett.

However, after receiving the postcard I blogged about recently, I noticed both involved the surname Gomm. It turns out that Gilbert was the son of the sender of the previous postcard, Ernest Gomm, and the Bricett miller’s daughter, Cinderella Clark! An amazing coincidence considering the postcards had been shared by different owners.

Gilbert writes from ‘Griffen House’. This would not be the property currently named Griffin House, but more likely to be the buildings that used to be the Griffin Inn. His uncle, Herbert Clark, was recorded living at Griffin Cottage the following year, so Gilbert was probably staying there.

The Mrs Proctor who Gilbert visited for a cup of tea, could be Gladys Proctor (nee Lazenby), who was recorded living on Griffin Hill in 1939. She was the widow of George Andrew Proctor, a farm labourer, who had died two years previously.

Or it could have been Elizabeth Proctor (nee Richardson). Elizabeth and her husband Andrew George Proctor, an agricultural labourer, were living on The Green of Great Bricett in 1939. These were the parents of the above Gladys Proctor’s deceased husband.

OR it could have been a completely different Mrs Proctor that he visited on the way.

Either way, Gilbert seemed to have a lovely time in the area – sleeping in a cornfield seems a very relaxing way to spend the day.

More details of Gilbert Gomm, Gladys Proctor, Elizabeth Proctor, and their families can be found on WikiTree

*Another amazing coincidence while researching this postcard:
A few years ago, a friend recalled that a great aunt of his had lived in Bricett – the Gladys Proctor likely referred to in the postcard was this same woman!

The post A Cup of Tea appeared first on Geneageek.

Ernest was born in Buckinghamshire but appeared to live most of his early life in Chiswick, London – at the address on the postcard even – 4 Hogarth Lane.

At the time Ernest sent this postcard, the couple had just one child, Gilbert Walter, but the next year, their daughter Grace Minna would arrive. I’d love to know why Cinderella was referred to as a ‘bundle of worry’ – I like to think it was a term used affectionately.

The post A Bundle of Worry appeared first on Geneageek.

On the same day, in the same church, her elder brother, Frederick Bramford, married Mary Ann Emsden.

One of Frederick’s witnesses, Ellen Morphew, was his married eldest sister, while the other, Edward William Sparrow was the husband of his second eldest sister, Maria.

The event was such an interesting occurrence that the Reverend Frederick R Lee made note of it next to Selina’s marriage entry (one and a half years later).

“note. Selina Bramford of Entry no. 98 and Frederick Bramford of Entry no. 99 are sister and brother. F. Lee. 14/3/94.”

But what makes it even more notable, is that on the very same day, their brother, Albert Bramford, was ALSO married, only 12 miles away in Ipswich.

The three Bramfords were three of six siblings all born in Great Bricett – Ellen, Maria, Frederick, Albert, Selina, and Alice. Their mother died in 1878, just over a year before the eldest sibling, Ellen, married in 1880. Less than two months later, their father died. In 1881, the rest of the siblings (except one) were recorded at Great Bricett with their Aunt Mary. Frederick (18) was listed as the head of household, but their aunt had presumably stepped up to care for her brother’s orphaned children and keep house for them.

Maria, the second eldest, was the next to marry in 1885, before Aunt Mary died in 1887.  The youngest, Alice, married in 1890. The three remaining siblings, Frederick, Albert and Selina, were still recorded together in Great Bricett in the 1891 census.

I’m surprised Albert didn’t also marry at Great Bricett. All six siblings were baptised there, their parents (and Aunt Mary) were buried there, and all the siblings were married there, except Albert. His bride, Emily Marian Brode, was from Hertfordshire, but the previous year was recorded in the 1891 census, at the School House in Ringshall, as a ‘National Governess’. Albert’s residence was given as St Matthew (Ipswich) on the marriage record but we don’t know how long he was resident there – a week? a year? He had been recorded in Bricett the previous year as an agricultural labourer, but was now a general dealer.

What conversations had been held around all three weddings being held the same day? Was it planned? Did any family attend Albert’s wedding in Ipswich? Had there been a falling out? I’ll just have to add this to the list of things that we will never know.

Bramford Family Timeline (1878-1892)
1878 mother died
1880 Ellen married (Jan)
1880 father died (Mar)
1885 Maria married
1887 Aunt Mary died
1890 Alice married
1892 Frederick, Selina and Albert married

More details of Selina Bramford and her family can be found on WikiTree

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