Berkshire
A summary of Tim Silver's links with Berkshire
My main connection with Berkshire is through the surnames Baldwin, Meads and Tagg (Tegg, Teg) These names were introduced into my genealogy by the marriage of my paternal grandfather, Wilfred Silver to Winifred May Meads.
Main areas of interest -
Bray: Cholsey: Cookham: Wallingford: Waltham St. Lawrence
Extended family locations -
Binfield: Bisham: Bradfield: Bray: Brightwalton: Bucklebury: Burghfield: Clewer: Compton: Datchet: Egham: Eton Wick: Faringdon: Farnham Royal: Hampstead Norris: Holyport: Hungerford: Hurley: Hurst: Knowle Hill: Littlewick Green: Maidenhead: Marsh Baldon: Moreton: Mortimer: Moulsford: Newbury: Old Windsor: Reading: Reading St. Mary: Ruscombe: Shottesbrook: Slough: Sonning: Southcote: Sunningdale: Swallowfield: Taplow: Tilehurst: Twyford: Waltham: Warfield: Wargrave: White Waltham: Windsor: Wokingham
Bray, 51.503239N 0.688133W, sometimes known as Bray on Thames, is a village and civil parish in the county of Berkshire, England. It stands on the banks of the River Thames, just south-east of Maidenhead. It is famous as the village mentioned in the song The Vicar of Bray. The parish has an area of 2,498 hectares (6,170 acres) and a population of 8,425 at the 2001 census. The village contains two of the four three-Michelin-starred restaurants in the UK, and is the home of Bray Studios of "Hammer Horror" fame.
Bray has always been a very large parish, although it has shrunk considerably since Maidenhead became independent in 1894. As well as the main village, the parish contains a large number of villages & hamlets, often greens (and commons), which were originally scattered amongst the dense woodland of Windsor Forest that once covered the area. These include: Bray Wick, Holyport, Water Oakley, Oakley Green, Moneyrow Green, Stud Green, Foxley Green, Touchen End, Braywoodside, Hawthorn Hill and Fifield. ©Wikipedia
My paternal gt. grandmother, Louisa Tagg, was born in Bray and her daughterWinifred May Meads was born in Bray Common on 14 December 1897.
Cholsey, 51.575156N 1.153300W, is a village and civil parish 2 miles (3 km) south of Wallingford, in South Oxfordshire. In 1974 it was transferred from Berkshire to the county of Oxfordshire, and from Wallingford Rural District to the district of South Oxfordshire. However, during the period of interest to me, Cholsey was in Berkshire.
The village green is known as The Forty. Winterbrook, at the north end of Cholsey parish adjoins Wallingford, and is the site of Winterbrook Bridge, which crosses the Thames.
The village was originally founded on an island (Ceol's Isle) in marshy ground close to the Thames. There is evidence that the House of Wessex Royal family owned land in Cholsey in the 6th and 7th century. A royal nunnery, Cholsey Abbey, was founded in the village in 986 by Queen Dowager Ælfthryth on land given by her son, King Ethelred the Unready. The nunnery is thought to have been destroyed by invading Danes in 1006 when they camped in Cholsey after setting nearby Wallingford ablaze. However, Saxon masonry still survives in the Church of England parish church of St Mary. Most of this flint and stone church was built in the 12th century.
The novelist Agatha Christie's grave is in the churchyard. She died at Winterbrook House in the parish in 1976.
In the 13th century a tithe barn was built in the village. It was, at the time, the largest aisled building in the World, being 51 feet (16 m) high, 54 feet (16 m) wide and over 300 feet (91 m) long. It was demolished in 1815. ©Wikipedia
My link with Cholsey is 95% Baldwin. My 3x gt. grandfather, Richard Baldwin was born in Cholsey c.1821.
Cookham, 51.560000N 0.707197W, is a village and civil parish in the north-easternmost corner of Berkshire in England, on the River Thames, notable as the home of the artist Stanley Spencer. It lies 2 miles (3.2 km) north of Maidenhead close to the border with Buckinghamshire. It has a population of 5,519, and was deemed Britain's second richest village by The Daily Telegraph in 2011.
The area is made up of three villages:
- Cookham Village - the centre of the original village, with an attractive High Street which has changed little in appearance over the centuries.
- Cookham Dean - the most rural village.
- Cookham Rise - the bit in the middle that grew up around the village's railway station.
The River Thames flows past Cookham on its way from Marlow to Taplow, and forms the boundary with Buckinghamshire. Several islands in the Thames belong to Cookham, such as Odney Island, Formosa Island and Sashes Island which separates Cookham Lock from Hedsor Water. The Lulle Brook and the White Brook are tributaries of the River Thames which flow through the parish.
A good amount of common land remains in the parish, such as Widbrook Common, Cookham Dean Common and Cock Marsh. Winter Hill affords excellent views over the Thames Valley. ©Wikipedia
My 5x gt. grandfather, Thomas Meads, was born in Cookham c.1757 - at least, he was baptised in Cookham on 17 October 1757. He also married his wife, Hannah Church, in Cookham on 20 July 1778.
Wallingford, 51.600320N 1.124886W, is a market town and civil parish in the upper Thames Valley in England. Until 1974 it was in Berkshire, but was transferred to Oxfordshire in that year. So again, during the period of interest to me, Wallingford was in Berkshire.
Wallingford is on the western side of the River Thames and lies at the foot of the Chilterns. Across the river is the village of Crowmarsh Gifford. The two are linked by Wallingford Bridge, a 900 ft long mediaeval stone bridge across the river and the adjacent flood plain. The southern end of the town adjoins Winterbrook, in the parish of Cholsey.
Wallingford grew up around an important crossing point of the River Thames. The place has been fortified since at least Saxon times, when it was an important fortified borough of Wessex with the right to mint Royal coinage. It was enclosed with substantial earthworks by King Alfred the Great in the 9th century as part of a network of fortified towns known as burhs or "burghs" to protect Wessex against the Vikings. These defences can still be clearly discerned as a group of four roughly square areas around the centre of the town and are probably the best preserved such fortifications in England. Wallingford became the chief town of Berkshire and the seat of the county's Ealdorman. During the Norman conquest of England in 1066, the Saxon lord Wigod allowed William the Conqueror's invading armies to cross the Thames unopposed from west to east in order that his army might march on Berkhamsted, where he received the English surrender before marching on London. At that time, the river at Wallingford was the lowest point at which the river could be forded. The town subsequently stood in high favour with the Normans. The Domesday Book of 1085 lists Wallingford as one of only 18 towns in the kingdom with a population of over 2,000 people. ©Wikipedia
My 3x gt. grandmother, Ruth Baldwin, was born in Wallingford c.1823 - at least, she was baptised in Wallingford on 25 September 1823.
Waltham St. Lawrence, 51.484961N 0.806742W, is a small village and civil parish in the English county of Berkshire. The name 'Waltham' is believed to be derived from the Anglo-Saxon words Wealt and Ham, meaning 'dilapidated homes'. The church is called St. Lawrence and thus gives the village its name. There is evidence of the existence of a Roman temple in Weycock Field in the parish. The word Weycock is thought to be a corruption of the Saxon word, Vic-cope, meaning 'the road on the hill'. Most of the coins found from the site are of the lower empire (except for a silver one of Amyntas, the grandfather of Alexander the Great) and the area was occupied until AD 270.
My grandfather, Walter Meads, got his first job as a gamekeeper in Waltham St. Lawrence and it's most likely to be where he was introduced to the Tagg (Tegg) family.
Waltham St. Lawrence boasts a truly wonderful pub - The Bell Inn. Excellent real ale and absolutely delicious food - they're not sqeamish; Bambi Burgers can be found on the menu. A real gem!