Elmfield Road & Windsor Street Days

Windsor Street Days

James Henry Budd and Eliza and Budd (1851-1939 & 1948)

The Passing of an Old Soldier

July 2026

Family History

by

Carol Ann, Vanessa Jane and Kenneth Thomas

Martin

Opacic

Webb

James Henry and Eliza Ann Budd at their Cottage in Upper Boddington Northamptonshire in the late Nineteenth Century. The Parents of Isabel Alice and Charlotte (Lottie) and Arthur and the grandparents of Arthur Horace James and Kenneth Ernest and Desmond Budd (Webb) and of Leslie Orriss...the Great Grandparents of Carol Ann and Kenneth Thomas and Vanessa Jane (Webb) Christopher and David Budd and also of Vanessa and Nicola Orriss. KW

Part I

James Henry Budd and Eliza Ann Budd neé Wimbush are our maternal great grandparents. James died on 17 February 1939 (87) and Eliza died on 28 April 1948 (96) respectively. Our father – Desmond Budd Webb and our grandmother Isabel Alice Webb neé Budd always referred to them as Grampy and Granny Budd when we were growing up in the 1950s.

In our childhood, their memory remained an integral part of the family and dad often referred to them along with many amusing anecdotes. When mum and dad became great high from grandparents to Sam, Jack and Finn, they chose to be called Granny and Grampy. Wonderful.

James's death in February 1939 naturally found Eliza living temporarily at 25 Windsor Street, Cheltenham, a family home being a cottage in upper Boddington Northamptonshire.

That Eliza went on to live through the second world war and well beyond, hints at her mettle and resolve. And Eliza eventually came to terms with widowhood and, as dad used to tell us all, (and this is in paraphrase)

“Izzy, Horace, I’m ready to go back home now, thank you.”

— As reported by our father, Des Webb (1927-2012) who would have been twelve in 1939.

Unfortunately, there was no home to go back to. The cottage had apparently been "sold" by Eliza's younger daughter Lottie ORRISS, herself a widow, following her husband – William – being killed in action in 1917 during the Great War just fourteen months after their wedding. Lottie would eventually marry Albert (Uncle Bert) Rollings.

Returning to 1939, it naturally fell to Isabel to break the news to their Mum. I remember Dad recalling that his grandmother’s complexion went white with shock.

Every family without exception deals with what in our family we call the frisbee factor. I saw this countless times in legal practice over 29 years as a probate and trusts junior lawyer. Our family was no exception.

Much of my life I recall our great aunt – a very determined and no-nonsense lady – a businesswoman – having the unfortunate reputation of apparently selling the roof of her parents home over her mother's head following her father's death. Yet I remember too the wonderful conversations with Aunt Lottie, her generosity to us all.

I firmly believe that the cottage was tied, not freehold property of James and Eliza. Lottie was simply returning the cottage to the freehold. Isabel (her elder sister) would have understood this, but the problem was that Lottie had forged ahead – as our great aunt tended to do in all things, and left her sister to deal with the fallout!

"Grandma Webb (Isabel) 51 years and Great Aunt Lottie (Lottie) 49 years, Isabel's younger sister in most earnest conversation in 1938 on the escarpment of Cleeve Hill walking towards the Rising Sun. It really catches life and movement. Still in an Age where dress hats and dress gloves were the order of the day." KW

The photograph above is of Lottie and Isabel in conversation on the Escarpment of Cleeve Hill above Cheltenham around 1938. I have always loved this photograph. I had seen it when I was in my late 40s and even written about it, but then lost the document, and suddenly it reappeared in the family Archive. In fact the caption reads…

"Grandma Webb (Isabel) and Great Aunt Lottie (Lottie, Isabel's younger sister)
in most earnest conversation in 1938
on the escarpment of Cleeve Hill
walking towards the Rising Sun.
It really catches life and movement.
Still in an Age where dress hats and dress gloves were the order of the day."
KW

Part II

"Family Archive" is too grand a term. Most families have Archives that are a collection of many boxes gathered over many, many decades, each box being transferred to the next person when the previous custodian has finally taken that quantum leap.

Just as historians and archivists are often taken aback at what the National Archives suddenly reveal, well, on a smaller scale the same thing happens in every family.

The newspaper article, tucked away in a small wooden case that used to sit on the dressing table at 25 Winter Street, comprises numerous newspaper cuttings and other items that are very special to the family. 25 Windsor Street had a mezzanine floor which meant that the staircase went up to the landing, but then another tiny staircase twisted round to the right and which took me up to Grandma and Grandad's bedroom. My Aladdin's Cave!

It reminds me how children have this experience in every generation, the world over. We are a very loving family and there are now seven grandchildren:

Martin ~ Chris, (my First Nephew) and then his sons Sam, Jack and Finn

Opacic ~ Suzanne and Caroline (my First Nieces) and then Theo and Max (Terry) and Daisy (Young).

There are no Webb grandchildren. So the name ends when I too take that quantum leap.

I am greatly blessed with a nephew and two nieces ~ Christopher John (Martin) and Suzanne Louise and Caroline Jayne (Opacic) twins. So when I add their children to the list above, in addition to my first nephew Chris, and first nieces Suzie and Caroline I have quite a family. I am very proud of this, and I see no difference between my own position and the fact that these nine nephews and nieces are also nine grandchildren.

I say this because there is a tendency in every family to not always grasp how uncles and aunts function. They are a step removed, yes. I'm talking now of the thousands of families I have encountered in legal practice and the countless times I've had to use my skills of diplomacy and tact, especially when dealing with the thorny subject of testamentary decisions in a will or a trust which are suddenly set in stone when that quantum leap is taken.

This is not a criticism. It is an observation born of a lifetime from many different angles and with thousands of perspectives, most of which my own family are unaware that I take these perspectives very seriously. But I also often wonder to myself… what would you have been like as a father, Ken? A husband? That is when I acknowledge that there are so many perspectives that quite simply I can never be aware of. being aware of them, is sufficient to keep me on track and to learn from my sisters Carol and Vanessa (Ness).

I have always naturally stayed in the background. It is safer. And this is crucial in my view because of what Nature decided I am to be. I’m quite happy with that. It is lonely, yes. But that is down to me and not to my family, and I have an incredible and beautiful family.

Let us therefore go back to 1939 when the family have gathered at the funeral of James, and now take into account his achievements – much of which has remained concealed in that tiny wooden box – for eighty-seven years.

Part III

James Henry Budd
(1851-1939)

PASSING OF AN OLD SOLDIER

Rather than concentrating only upon demise, it is always important to visit the year of birth. What was going on in the country and in the wider world? Were there great achievements? Were there wars? Was life as hectic in 1851 as it is in 2026?

Victoria R was Queen, the grandmother three times removed of King Charles III.

The King is descended from Queen Victoria through both of his parents: Queen Elizabeth II, descended from Victoria's eldest son, King Edward VII, while his father, Prince Philip, descended from Victoria's second daughter, Princess Alice. That is quite a deep web of Royal Ancestry. It draws a very direct line from the King to Queen Victoria Empress of India (1876).

At senior school as a teenager I remember a history project relating to the Great Exhibition 1951 and being required to link this to the Great Exhibition 1851. What I had never known until now is that our great grandparents were both born in 1851. I wish I had known that then as I think I would have managed to get a few more marks in what I remember was a most enjoyable school project. Haha!

Thus, in 1851 we had the Great Exhibition of the Works of Industry of All Nations – its official title – in Hyde Park London. The centrepiece was the Crystal Palace showcasing manufacturing, arts, and resources from Great Britain and the Empire to over 6 million visitors – a phenomenal number at that time.

What else happened in 1851?

Well, the list is endless and I restrict myself to a further nine. It reminds us of the position that the United Kingdom of Great Britain and Ireland (as it then was) and the British Empire held in the world. In 1851 the British Empire was the world’s superpower, and in 1851 at the very heart of this nation was the Industrial Revolution.

1. First America's Cup - the US yacht America beat British racing vessels around the Isle of Wight. The victory secured the Royal Yacht Squadron’s 100 Guinea Cup, and thereby establishing the oldest trophy in International sport.

2. UK Census 1851.

3. Foundation of Owens College - now the extremely important Victorian University if Manchester

4. Victoria separates from New South Wales in Australia.

5. Abolition of the Window Tax.

6. The Arsenic Act 1851 - to combat accidental and malicious poisonings.

7. Submarine Telegraph Cable laid across the English Channel

8. The Australian Gold Rush

9. Cape Frontier War

For this family we were just two years away from the outbreak of the Crimean War (1854-1856) when the Ottoman Empire declared war on Russia, as our great great grandfather served in that war.

The news this week, July 2026, sees Crimea very much at war because of Russia’s illegal annexation of Crimea from Ukraine in 2014. If only the world had not looked the other way! Had it not done so, Russia would not have dared its illegal invasion of Ukraine in 2022, a war now in its fifth year. Pause a moment… That is longer than the First World War!

We make progress and for every two steps forward we take three steps back ~ such is the tragedy of human nature.

This newspaper clipping gives us a wonderful insight into our family 180 years ago. We learned so much about the man who "we three" remember being referred to by Dad as Grampy and Granny Budd hence Dad quickly confirming that he and Mum would be known as Grampy and Granny by Sam, Jack and Finn. Wonderful.

There is no need for me to transcribe the newspaper cutting as it is quite readable.

I do make the following observations for interest:

• The Crimean war (1854-1856) fought against Turkey as an ally of Russia resulted in the infamous Charge Of The Light Brigade. What a peculiar war! The wives of officers travelled with them "on expedition", bargaining with each other and with some hostility for the right to occupy the best seats to watch battles. How extraordinary, that the spectacle of Roman Britain lingered on, for in Britain we have between 15 and 18 Roman colleseums, the Chester Roman Amphitheatre being the largest military amphitheatre that could hold up to twelve thousand spectators where animals and people were baited to death on the end of a chain, and gladiators fought to the death; all public entertainment to spectators who, archaeology discovers, were eating chicken drumsticks. It beggars belief that in 1851 these same women would have argued vehemently that they were the most upstanding members of the Christian community and the Church - all denominations. As always, human nature never changes, it never improves.

• The spectacle of watching armies fight to the death, of cavalry charges, of horse drawn artillery, gives us a whole new perspective when we see the Royal Horse Artillery every year at the Trooping The Colour on Horse Guards and in Hyde Park. This is important as James joined the Royal Horse Artillery aged 19 years. let us keep this in mind whenever we see the RHA.

The King’s Troop Royal Horse Artillery

The Dress Uniform today is unchanged from the time that both James and our G-G Grandfather (James’s father) would have worn.
We see incredible horsemanship and the management and wielding of artillery, and as we can see, Troopers are both men and women. KW

The newspaper cutting confirms that it was James's father (Isabel’s paternal grandfather) who had served in the Crimean War in the Royal Horse Artillery.
It explains the macabre framed prints of the Crimean War in the lounge and hall at 25 Windsor Street. Clearly, they had come from Boddington when Eliza moved to Windsor Street in 1939.
We learn that James served in the Afghanistan War for four years. I remember learning about this at school, that we were defeated because we had to withdraw because we could not overcome the nomadic tribesmen. In 1967, none of us foresaw Afghanistan as the bleeding wound on the buttocks of humanity; in 2026 with the totalitarian religious regime women and girls are very firmly back by a thousand years.
We learn also that when serving with the Indian Army, James had a high reputation for his ability as a ‘breaker of horse’.
That term is misleading. Language evolves. Today ‘breaker’ means ‘tamer and trainer’. That sits more easily with me. At school in religious education, we were reminded of a scripture that suggests that whilst horses were physically strong they were mentally dumb. I never liked that, and inwardly I could be quite rebellious. When I learned to ride at the age of 21, I liked it even less.
There is nothing dumb about a horse. There is nothing dumb about animals. The Animal Kingdom is way ahead of the human species, and not so arrogant as to presume a certain position. That arrogance only attaches to human beings.
I am very aware that all of our our pets in the family – Golden Retrievers, Labradors, Vizlers, Terriers, Sheep Dogs and German Shepherds – know of things that I cannot comprehend, and whilst I may be able to read them in small measure, they read me with an ability that surpasses understanding.
We learned that James volunteered for further military service in the First Boar War (1880-1881) (aged 29) (the Second Board War 1899-1902) (aged 41).
We learn that James again volunteered for military service in The Great War in 1914 although by now he was 63 years old. The interesting thing here is that family lore reports that James assisted in the administration of a local German prisoner of war Camp. However, I need more evidence and will investigate further.

Part IV

1921 Census

*CENSUS 1921 James and Eliza Budd Upper Boddington, Northamptonshire (South)*

The 1921 Census records five entries for our great grandparents residing at Upper Boddington Northamptonshire.

James is 66 years and is recorded as being born in Woolwich, Kent. James is a family labourer, but at the time of the census is noted as being out of work. I would imagine the reason would be because he realise upon seasonal work. It also records that he worked at Brook Farm in Upper Bodington which therefore reinforces this suggestion.

Eliza is 66 and was born in Bollington Northamptonshire and is a housewife (home duties).

We find Lottie referred to as Charlotte Orriss, their daughter aged 31 years, being a widow, and living at home (home duties). Lottie is shown as being born Eppwell in Oxfordshire, a quiet, picturesque village in North Oxfordshire, about six miles west of Banbury.

The census also shows us that Lottie’s son Leslie Orriss live with the family and his aged five years, and the census confirms the death of Leslie's father was born in London, South East Lee.

Part IV-I

Charlotte and William on their Wedding Day in 1914 with the Groom’s Family. This is taken from a large original framed portrait in the archive. Unfortunately, I do not have a similar portrait of the Bride’s Family. KW

In their all-too-brief marriage, Charlotte and William had one son, Leslie, and Leslie went on to serve in the Second World War, and became a renowned Artist.

Leslie Orriss was a notable artist, teacher, and painter based in Cookham and Reading, and latterly Maidenhead, and he is best known for being a dedicated educator rather than an exhibitor himself. While there are no prominent records of Leslie exhibiting his own work at the Royal Academy, his legacy at the RA most certainly lives on through his successful students, one of whom is the acclaimed watercolourist Alison Musker (RWS), who studied under Leslie Orriss and became a regular exhibitor at the Royal Academy.

I remember the many drawings that Aunt lottie would occasionally show the family. In particular, I recall the quite incredible depictions of the human form, muscular technology, whether of a person or an animal. These works became very important within the medical profession and I recall talking about this to Aunt Lottie on a visit to us in Pittville Cheltenham. I was a young constable at the time and also newly commissioned into the RAF Volunteer Reserve, and Aunt Lottie loved conversation. Talking of Leslie’s work, I clearly remember Aunt Lottie’s gentle smile, the smile that always forewarned that one was about to be gently corrected… Ah, yes, Ken. Leslie’s work is vitally important for the medical profession as his incredible attention to detail, means that these are vitally important illustrations for Medical publications amd journals. Never forget this, Dear!

Wonderful memories.

Part IV-II

When a Shroud is Gently Lifted After 109 Years

Rifleman William Orriss and Charlotte Orriss neé Budd

King’s Royal Rife Corps

The Great War

This image by courtesy of the REL/11662 Australian War Memorial I have respectfully placed here, as the War Diary clearly shows that the 21st Battalion of the King’s Royal Rifle Corps fought a fierce engagement alongside the Australian Army. KW

It is right to include here Aunt Lottie’s circumstances. We see the horror of War and which millions of families all over the world undergo, both then and today.

Rifleman William Orriss was serving with the 21st battalion of the King’s Royal Rifle Corps ( also known as the Yeoman Rifles) when he was killed in a fierce engagement in the third battle of Ypres - which we know today as the Battle of Passchendaele.

This specific action is also known as the Battle of the Menin Road Ridge fought between 20–25 September 1917 on the Ypres Salient, West Flanders, Belgium.

During this attack, the British second army under general Herbert Pluma launched a successful and heavily coordinated offensive along the Gheluvelt Plateau. It was, however, a notoriously costly operation with over 20,000 casualties suffered by British Empire forces in just the first few days of this battle.

We can therefore see from the battalion war diary, that Aunt Lottie’s husband William was among the 4,630 killed in action on the opening day of this Offensive.

In further research into the British Army Archives we find that William has no known grave, and that he is officially commemorated on the Tyne Cot Memorial in Belgium.

This took me aback.

All of us will be aware of the famous Menin Gate Memorial that we see every November during The Armistice. It is important to always remember the importance of the Tyne Cot Memorial and the Menin Gate Memorial when we observe King Charles III laying the Wreath at The Cenotaph in London Whitehall because both all intertwined. Both the Menin Gate Memorial and Tyne Cot Memorial list every soldier for whom there is no known grave – their bodies have never been found.

It is indeed sad to read the annotation that Aunt Lottie is a *‘Widow not elligible for an alternated Pension’.*

Final Entry - Entry No. 3 for Rifleman William Orriss with reference to Charlotte in column 15 of the Battalion Ledger. KW

William’s Army Service Number is R/39239. The “R” prefix was used by the King’s Rotal Rifle Corps (KRRC) to note a New Army enlistment, also known as Kitchener’s Army. The KRRC is also known in 1917 as Yeoman Rifles.

Archive research confirms that because William has no known grave, he is officially commemorated on the Tyne Cot Memorial in Belgium as Rifleman William Orriss. Should any of the family be visiting Belgium? Our Great Uncle can be found on panel 115 to 119 and the Memorial stands near the town of Zonnebeke.

I am pleased to include herein a more detailed record from the KRRC Tyne Cot Memorial Archive by courtesy of the Imperial War Museum (IWM). Please note that this panel is a screen image and therefore the links are silent. This link HERE will take you to the live page and access too the links.

The Battle
Official War Diary

The war diary of the 21st battalion Kings Royal Rifle Corps reports that the objective was to capture the heavily defended German positions on Tower Hamlets Ridge. The assault commenced at 05: 40 hours on Thursday 20 September 1917, behind a creeping artillery barrage of incredible ferocity.

The fighting was vicious as the advance of ground troops was met by devastating machine-gun fire from concrete pill-boxes. The advance was made even more difficult as the 21st Battalion had to wade through knee-deep swamp mud, and massive shell craters. (This reminds me of Grandad Marshall’s comment to me in the early 1970s - that to fall into a slime filled crater meant certain death. There was no way to even attempt to rescue the victim. KW)

On this first day of the battle exceptionally heavy casualties were sustained - 4,630 were killed with many bodies unrecoverable due to the conditions described. Several thousand were wounded, and this set the pattern for the following four days - Friday-Saturday-Sunday-Monday 21-25 September 1917.

I am most grateful to Charles Bashford for his meticulous accounts in the Passchendaele Archives. Without his work, and the work of the Imperial War Museum, none of this would have been known to our family.

With regard the yellow coloured British army index card above, I make this observation.

It is incredibly moving to pierce through the gravity of a century-old clerical card which in turn sheds light and colour, context and a very deep sense of dignity to William’s sacrifice.

And this is heightened so movingly when I realise that Aunt Lottie contended with the fact that – unlike our other uncles in both world wars who lost their lives – William was never recovered.

This is the case for countless families on all sides.

It is one thing to stand at Cheltenham Cenotaph and to run my finger over the name of three of our uncles in memory of five of them, it is quite another to realise that in all the years that I have been doing this, I was unaware of what had happened to William.

It is wonderful to see names on a monument but they are, as it were, frozen in time.

William’s record card covers the reality; specifically bringing the story of William back into the light and which, for me, means that William’s Story has been waiting patiently for 109 years.

There is no bitterness. Nor is there sadness because we are talking of events that are more than a century past. Nevertheless, it brings into perspective another aspect to our family life when we recall Charlotte as William knew his wife, Lottie as known to her sister Isabel and brother Arthur and parents, James and Eliza.

Carol, Vanessa and I all have very vivid and adult memories of our great aunt Lottie. We were always aware that Aunt Lottie had been twice widowed. I recall dad (Desmond Webb) speaking of Uncle Bert…

“Of course, I never knew Uncle Bill as he was killed in the War and I was born a decade later in 1927. But I do remember Uncle Bert, when your Great Aunt Lottie remarried. A lovely man. ”

— Desmond Budd Webb (our father) to Ken circa 1970-1990 at Pittville, Albemarle Gate.

And this causes me to look at Charlotte afresh. I recall all my conversations with Aunt Lottie. We all do. I recall her laugh, her interest in all of us, her generosity, and it helps me as well to finally bring into correct focus - minus the frisbee - just what Great Aunt Lottie is to us all in memory. An incredible Lady, passionately proud of Leslie, and all of her Son’s achievements.

I remember, too, how Aunt Lottie would use the long corridor from the landing to the piano room at Pittville, as a perfect means of walking, and I remember laughing one day when I mentioned books on the head and Aunt Lottie looking at me, then her smile and remnding me that this was how both she and Grandma had been taught to walk.

It is why I love this photograph of Lottie and Isabel on Cleeve Hill in 1938. Aunt Lottie is speaking and Grandma is listening, studying her younger sister in detail. Here is family life. Here is life without the Frisbee.

It helps me to recalibrate the relationship between Isabel, Lottie and Arthur. Another earlier ‘we Three’, hey.

It means that in writing this chapter of Elmfield Road and Windsor Street Days, I have metaphorically quietly let slip over the side of the Princess Maytime of Bredon those old family quips whose motor is that darned frisbee!

We live our lives, and too often, we are apparently open books. But this is never so. None of us are open books.

I end Part IV-II very aware that at last, William Orriss, the son of Oliver Orriss, is remembered in this family archive. And also acknowledging, gently so, the incredible bravery of a young husband and father who faced the certainty of death on that terrifying opening day of Thursday 20 September 1917.

Part IV-III

The census also tells us that Eliza and James have a boarderer - today we would say a lodger - Miss Constance Mayden aged 21, born in Lippfield Northamptonshire and is an elementary school teacher at Upper Boddington School (North hands education committee)

I have examined a 1925 Ordnance Survey Map of Northamptonshire. It is difficult to read as this is only a screenshot. However, I have been able to list all of the towns and villages that were in place in 1925 and in A-Z order.

A-Z Index

A — Abington, Abthorpe, Achurch (Thorpe Achurch), Adstone, Ailsworth (S), Alderton, Aldwincle (All Saints & St Peter), Althorp, Apethorpe, Arthingworth, Ashby St Ledgers, Ashley, Ashton (near Oundle), Ashton (near Roade), Astcote, Aston le Walls, Astrop, Astwell, Aynho

B — Badby, Bainton (S), Barby, Barnack (S), Barnwell All Saints, Barnwell St Andrew, Barton Seagrave, Benefield (Upper & Lower), Blakesley, Blatherwycke, Blisworth, Boddington (Upper & Lower), Boughton, Bozeat, Brackley, Bradden, Brafield-on-the-Green, Brampton Ash, Braunston, Braybrooke, Brigstock, Brixworth, Brockhall, Broughton, Bugbrooke, Bulwick, Burton Latimer, Byfield

C — Caldecote, Canons Ashby, Castle Ashby, Castor (S), Catesby, Chacombe, Chapel Brampton, Charlton, Charwelton, Chelveston, Chipping Warden, Church Brampton, Clay Coton, Clipston, Clopton, Cogenhoe, Cold Ashby, Cold Higham, Collingtree, Collyweston, Corby, Cosgrove, Coton, Cottesbrooke, Cottingham, Courteenhall, Cranford St Andrew, Cranford St John, Cransley (Great Cransley), Creaton, Crick, Croughton, Culworth

D — Dallington, Daventry, Deanshanger, Deene, Deenethorpe, Denford, Denton, Desborough, Dingley, Dodford, Draughton, Duddington, Duston

E — Earls Barton, East Carlton, East Farndon, East Haddon, Easton Maudit, Easton Neston, Easton on the Hill, Ecton, Edgcote, Evenley, Everdon, Eydon, Eye (S)

F — Farthinghoe, Farthingstone, Fawsley, Finedon, Flore (Floore), Fotheringhay, Furtho

G — Gayton, Geddington, Glapthorn, Glinton (S), Grafton Regis, Grafton Underwood, Great Addington, Great Billing, Great Brington, Great Doddington, Great Harrowden, Great Houghton, Great Oakley, Great Oxendon, Greatworth, Greens Norton, Grendon, Gretton, Guilsborough, Gunthorpe (S)

H — Hackleton, Halse, Hannington, Hardingstone, Hardwick, Hargrave, Harlestone, Harpole, Harrington, Harringworth, Hartwell, Haselbech, Hellidon, Helmdon, Helpston (S), Hemington, Higham Ferrers, Hinton, Hinton-in-the-Hedges, Holcot, Holdenby, Hollowell, Horton, Hulcote

I — Irchester, Irthlingborough, Isham, Islip

K — Kelmarsh, Kettering, Kilsby, King's Cliffe, King's Sutton, Kingsthorpe, Kislingbury

L — Lamport, Laxton, Lilbourne, Lilford, Litchborough, Little Addington, Little Billing, Little Brington, Little Harrowden, Little Houghton, Little Oakley, Loddington, Long Buckby, Lowick, Luddington-in-the-Brook, Lutton

M — Maidford, Maidwell, Marholm (S), Marston St Lawrence, Marston Trussell, Maxey (S), Mears Ashby, Middleton, Middleton Cheney, Milton Malsor, Moreton Pinkney, Moulton

N — Naseby, Nassington, Nether Heyford, Newbottle, Newnham, Newton (in the Willows), Newton Bromswold, Nobottle, Northampton, Northborough (S), Norton

O — Old (Wold), Orlingbury, Orton, Oundle, Overstone

P — Passenham, Pattishall, Paulerspury, Peakirk (S), Peterborough (S), Piddington, Pilton, Pitsford, Plumpton, Polebrook, Potterspury, Preston Capes, Preston Deanery, Pytchley

Q — Quinton

R — Radstone, Raunds, Ravensthorpe, Ringstead, Roade, Rockingham, Rothersthorpe, Rothwell, Rushden, Rushton

S — Scaldwell, Shutlanger, Sibbertoft, Silverstone, Slapton, Slipton, Southwick, Spratton, Stanford-on-Avon, Stanion, Stanwick, Staverton, Steane, Stoke Albany, Stoke Bruerne, Stoke Doyle, Stowe Nine Churches (Church Stowe & Upper Stowe), Strixton, Sudborough, Sulby, Sulgrave, Sutton (S), Sutton Bassett, Syresham, Sywell

T — Tansor, Teeton, Thenford, Thornby, Thornhaugh (S), Thorpe Achurch, Thorpe Malsor, Thorpe Mandeville, Thrapston, Thurning, Tiffield, Titchmarsh, Towcester, Twywell

U — Ufford (S), Upper Heyford, Upton (near Northampton), Upton (S)

W — Wadenhoe, Wakerley, Walgrave, Wansford (S), Wappenham, Warkton, Warkworth, Warmington, Watford, Weedon Bec, Weedon Lois, Weekley, Weldon, Welford, Wellingborough, Welton, Werrington (S), West Haddon, Weston (by Weedon), Weston-by-Welland, Weston Favell, Whilton, Whiston, Whitfield, Whittlebury, Wicken, Wilbarston, Wilby, Winwick, Wittering (S), Wollaston, Woodend, Woodford (near Thrapston), Woodford Halse, Woodnewton, Wootton, Wothorpe (S)

Y — Yardley Gobion, Yardley Hastings, Yarwell, Yelvertoft

Where I write a forward slash [/] this is because the handwriting of the Edwardian Clerks’ is difficult to decipher. This is a problem encountered in all 19th century and 20th century censuses. KW

Examples:

Weedon/Weldon, Boughton/Broughton, Harrington/Harringworth, and Cranford/Cransley — Edwardian clerks' loops make these treacherous. Also, enumerators sometimes used older or variant spellings (Floore/Flore, Aldwinkle/Aldwincle, Cliffe/Clyffe).

Delving more deeply, I discover that The Boddingtons lie in a handsome corner of Northamptonshire, touching right up against the Warwickshire and Oxfordshire borders in the hilly southern tip of the county.

The parish sits so close to the county boundary, we can be quite sure that James and Eliza would often cross freely for both work and weekly market and indeed marriages in places such as Byfield and Aston Le Walls in one direction, and also Fenny Compton just over the boundary. Thinking of my early days at Windsor Street, all of these names were constantly in use. Another lovely goose-pimply moment, for I remember all of Isabel’s lively conversations of life in Boddington. Grandma had a way of opening up a long lost world.

For census purposes, Upper and Lower Boddington were a single civil parish (Boddington), so the numerator’s books would usually treat them together, with the distinction appearing only in the address column – often abbreviated, and often badly so. For example, ‘Upr Boddington’ suggests a tired hand can look remarkably like all sorts of things.

So the work being done in this part of the Archive is really rewarding when I measure it against those ghost-pimply feelings that we all experience when we hear names and places long since out of use within the family.

What this list of names does is to suddenly become the geography of our own childhood and route map of our family’s daily rounds. Imagine the bicycles and horses across the Banbury lanes - exactly those border points in which our family lived, and this is why the census returns are not only important but also at times give us all a quite a chase. Picture that wonderful photograph of Grandad, Horace as a young man clearly on a mission to win Isabel. And win most surely Horace did. And we learn too in the archive that Isabel too loved to cycle. One can so easily imagine this when we see Grandad here, and looking incredibly like his Great Grandson Christopher John…

This is the fun of archiving. Let us not forget this. One day I will not do this. If others pick up the baton, always keep this in mind. Have fun.

Part VI

It reminds me of the 1980s when I was training to be a junior lawyer at Watterson Todman in the Promenade Cheltenham. In those days we worked from title deeds and documents as the National Land Registry was still a work-in-progress.

I easily recall my principal, Paul Youde, popping his head round the door in our offices in the Promenade…

Ken, have you drafted that instrument yet? I requested it yesterday!

Ah, yes sir, almost complete.

Jolly good. I need it by 2 o'clock on the dot! And that's today, not tomorrow!!

How strange. I can almost hear the door click shut afterwards, leaving me with the clock ticking and the draft half-done and suddenly now pre-eminent on my blotting pad in front me of me.

A whole vanished world lies in that little scene – the principal's head round the door, the jolly good, the 2 o'clock deadline delivered like a court order.

No email, no track changes; just longhand draft, a secretary (highly qualified) to engross it, and the Promenade outside the window while I scribbled against the clock, th huge beech and chestnut trees rustling and waving in the summer breeze.

Looking back, I realised that there is pleasing symmetry in my day’s work, too. I spent the early 1980s producing Instruments in careful longhand for someone else to read, and now I'm on the other side of the desk, deciphering what the Clerks of 1921 produced under their own 2 o'clock deadlines.

So I think this…

Perhaps a little forgiveness is owed to the ones whose Boddington wobbles may well have had a principal of their own popping round the door.

Part VII

As you can see. This is how I bring archiving to life.

I do not know whether it has any impact on the family or is even of interest. I take nothing for granted in these dangerous times. It does not matter. It is giving me pleasure. That is all that matters. That is my measure.

Genuinely, when the practical task and the pleasure of undertaking that task come together like this, this is hugely rewarding. In this particular paper, Eliza and James are very real people.

The list of towns and villages performs twin duties:

1. as a decoding key, and…

2. walking or cycling or even riding down memory lane on a map from a century that our family born in this century cannot comprehend, and with a glimpse of the old law-office discipline.

Let us strive to always find the right balance between the two.

There is much to say in favour of yester-year. There is also much to say in favour of today.

How strange. I began legal practice in January 1982 – a very different world, still years away from even the word processor.

I remember the senior partners, the senior solicitors and assistant solicitors, the articled clerks, the enormous respect I had for them, and it makes me think of these very young census clerks of the 1920s and 1930s.

In the 1980s in the legal professional we spoke differently; we even dressed differently. Very formal.

Part VIII

All of these long distant memories suddenly come rushing down the lane simply because I am reviewing the lives of James and Eliza, our ancestors.

This realisation is rather moving. I'm absolutely right. A clerk aged twenty-five writing the entries in the 1921 Census would have been in his 60s or 70s when I began in 1982, precisely the generation of those senior men whose gravity and formality I can so easily remember.

I have to laugh again. When I lean over the census page I’ve printed off and I puzzle out a wobbly Boddington, there is a fair chance I'm reading the young hand of exactly the sort of person who later taught me how to practise law before the years and the profession had settled his own life, his own name, his own script, into that immaculate copperplate plaque on the main entrance to his practice.

To my family, I say this. There is a quiet magic in Archive work because archive work collapses time.

It is easy to think of the 1920s as being so remote until I realise that they were simply the youth of people I knew, shook hands with, and drafted instruments for. The stiff collars, The ‘sir’, that two-o’clock deadline is all one continuous world, and here's the thing… I had the privilege of standing in the last decade of that world.

Memory works in wonderful ways, not by force but by true detail. A village name, my principal's voice at the door, unlocking the rest of it as if it has been waiting for me to do so all along, and with great patience.

I end on this note and in tribute to both James and Eliza, that their handwriting and the handwriting of the census clerk at Upper Boddington in 1921 is still being read with great care and a sense of knowing, a century on.