William Flack

[gumboots]

You would be right Dave.  Sorry!  I have two photocopies of census records which were sent to me, one is almost unreadable but both must be for the same census year - 1851.  It is the same handwriting.  I can't read the entry for Ann Flack on the poorer copy but on the better one there is a black dot over Ann Flack's birthplace, so I presumed it to be Mellis.   Mellis is the town given to me by Shire Hall in Cambridge.  On a second look with a magnifying glass it may well be Melles.  William Flack's birthplace does look like Walston.  But with Ann maybe born at Melles and not Mellis, I am even further away from getting this couple sorted than I thought I was.  You get that!  Just one other thing, neither William nor Ann Flack could read or write.  I was interested to note that the census records we see are transcripts even though they are handwritten.  Never knew that!

[gumboots]

Can't find Melles Suffolk on the map.  Does it still exist?

[suffolk*sue]

Can't find Melles Suffolk on the map.  Does it still exist?

As far as I am aware there is no such place in Suffolk as Melles, I think this is an ennumerating spelling error for Mellis.

As far as Williams birthplace is concerned, the  only place I can come up with is Woolverstone, thinking of how its prounounced in a Suffolk accent it could well come out a Walston.

[Suffolk Mawther]

Melles/Mells is a hamlet and is a well known area of the village of Wenhaston (say Wenerst'n).

I wondered abut Melles as it is clearly and 'e' rather than in 'i' on the 1851 - but it could be an error on the part of the enumerator writing the names down and mis-hearing the Suffolk accent.

Good thinking on Woolverstone Sue 

Pat ...
Recorders' Secretary
Local History Recorders in parishes throughout the county
www.slhc.org.uk

[gumboots]

Found Wolverstone on the map.  It is near a major waterway.  Perhaps this had something to do with William Flack the soldier.  Is it possible the hurt or sick soldiers were held there?  Or maybe it was just an army camp.  Many of the soldiers died of things that had nothing to do with soldiering.  The family must have made their way back home though - wherever that was - as William Flack the soldier is on the burial register in October of 1808 for Hundon.  But that may have been after the baby William was born at Wolverstone.  I have read that sometimes the wives travelled around a bit with their soldier husbands.  I never would have looked twice at Wolverstone, but then I am not familiar with the most likely accent.  An Aussie would not come close to Walston!

[gumboots]

Just on Ann Dye from Mellis/Melles.  I thought I had found this family at Mellis.  Shire Hall, Cambridge, told me Ann's father was Thomas Dye.  A Thomas and Ann Dye lived near William and Ann Flack at Oakington, and in fact died there.  Thomas Dye died in 1846 aged 65 and Ann Dye in 1848 also aged 65, and that all fits with the family I found in the records from Mellis (which I ordered through our local Mormans Centre).  But families often used the same few names, so it may well be that a Dye family from the Melles area would fit as well.  Can you tell me if I am likely to learn anything useful if I sent for the death certificates of Thomas and/or Ann Dye who died at Oakington?  It gets to be a tad expensive this family history interest, so I limit the purchase of certificates to those which are necessary.

[gumboots]

I suspect this 'chat' is going to peter out very soon.  There is probably no obvious answer to my query and therefore people will soon lose interest, so may I say thankyou to those who responded.  You have given me some new ideas to explore and some new places or parishes to consider.  Thanks!

[Suffolk Mawther]

Hi Gumboots,

No BB signal last night, so thought I would try this morning 

I had not realised you had information to confirm the village of Mellis, my apologies.

I have not come across any military connections to Woolverstone before, unfortunately  do not have a Local History Recorder for that parish at the moment.  Their community website is at
http://www.any-village.com/UK/England/Suffolk/Woolverstone/home.aspx

I know that the prominent Berners family were living at Woolverstone Hall and that it is indeed situated on the river Orwell, the main waterway into the port of Ipswich.  In days gone by, goods from London were often transported along the river Thames out into the sea and then up the Orwell and into Ipswich (and vice versa).

Will send this now, as connection has been and gone and now back again.
Back later (I hope)

Pat ...

[Suffolk Mawther]

Cooo - got a connection!  Wish this windy weather would go away 

Just a thought, I wondered if my old chum Simon's page of place names might help in your research.

http://www.suffolkchurches.co.uk/pronunciation.htm

I was prompted to forward this after musing on your problems last night with my husband who said, 'well don't forget Worlingworth is Walln'th', so anything is possible'.

Not sure Simon has all the pronunciation correct, but it might give you an idea of how letters in place names are swallowed up 

Pat ...