Darsham Suffolk

[Jules MacP]

Hello and thank you for the welcome Ruskie. I had been looking online for updated pics of Darsham House and stumbled apon this site. I was married to the last in line of one branch of the Purvis family for over 20 years. he is a direct descendant. Charles Purvis, once the High Sheriff of Suffolk was his great x 5 or 6 grandfather. Although we are now divorced we are still great friends. I believe he has a very old pic of Darsham House. He also has the original written family tree and the family crest. The family tree is written on some type of animal skin. He has dairies. letters, wills and other relics dating back several hundred years. His family was very good at keeping record of their past. I will ask him about the pic and try to get it scanned.

[Ruskie]

Hi again Jules. How wonderful to have such a wealth of family history that still survives.

I have no association whatsoever with the family, the house, the town, or even the county, but just an interest in old houses (and well, anything old actually  . If you manage to get a scan of the picture I don't suppose you could also get one of the family tree (presumably on velum as per your description)? Obviously this is dependent upon the condition of the document as I realise they can be delicate and I would not want it damaged.

I imagine the diaries would contain a wealth of fascinating information - are they worthy of publication?

I'm just a nosey parker really. 

I was hoping that Edgar, as the current owner, would return and may have some 'before' and 'after' photos of the renovations he undertook (presumably it is his restoration that the architects are referring to).

 

[Jules MacP]

Hi again Ruskie
I also have an interest in old things, preferrably English. I spoke to my ex today, he will email me some information. He also has a very old hand drawn pic of Darsham House. I will find out who drew that. There is one main diary, but several other documents that could be put together in one publication. I wonder though how much interest there would be outside of the family. The main diary covers 9 years with an entry everyday of that time even if there was nothing to tell for that day. It makes for very interesting reading.

There is a book called Soldier Of The Raj: The Life of Richard Fortescue Purvis 1789-1869. I cant find a copy to buy but have read several parts of it online. My ex can verify alot of the information in it first hand with some the documents he has.

I will leave a message here as soon as I get an email from him

[trish1120]

I must say I find all of this fascinating and couldnt help looking around for info myself.
I love anything to do with British History and admire the new owners of the House and wish them well

Just for anyone interested on this Site;

http://www.bigenealogy.com/suffolk/darsham_parish.htm

[Ruskie]

Thanks Jules. I think there are several of us who would be interested. (we're a bit starved of this kind of history in our part of the world aren't we Trish?)

[Jules MacP]

Hi Trish, I had read that article you posted Hi again Ruskie

Im from New Zealand and compared to England we are still a baby country and I dont mean just small. Unfortunately not alot of folks are able to access thier family line back too far. In my ex's family it was always the women who took care to keep up to date with family records and these records were past down for many generations. When they came to my ex (Cameron James Purvis) his grandmother apologised to me for the state they were in (nothing was in chronological order) saying she just wasnt able to keep up with it all. It took me many weeks/months to find a semblance of order amongst it all because I would become immersed in the happenings of a particular generation and just read and read lol. The further back one went, the harder to read as the language was often terribly oldfashioned. But oh (!!) to have and hold paperwork handwritten so long ago, to read of the lives they lived. There are even copies of wills, birth and death certificates all hand written. I never did get it all sorted properly but I spoke to my ex today and we are going to take another look at it all soon so I can tidy it all up abit more.

[trish1120]

Hi Jules.
Greetings from Sydney from a ex Hamiltonian (where I was born).
Please do keep us informed.

Yes, agree Ruskie!

Cheers,
Trish

[Ruskie]

Well being a New Zealander Jules, you'll understand how Trish and I feel.  Are you living in NZ or the UK now?

[Jules MacP]

Born and raised here in New Zealand, I live in Auckland, have spent alot of time in Hamilton, Trish
Ive travelled overseas several times but unfortunately not the UK. Its still on my bucket list though so who knows!
As I said earlier Ruskie, I love all things old and English. My ex and I still own a BSA motorcycle and he has a Triumph also. From that we developed an interest in english bicycles and have a collection of over 50 all pre 1940s from BSA to Triumph, Royal Enfield, Douglas, Ariel, Philips, Hercules, Rudge-Whitworth, Sun and many more. We show them in museums and at motorcycle rallies and rent them to film companies for movies.
We have numerous pieces of silver dinnerware, candlesticks serving platters and utensils with the Purvis family crest. I just need to get a little more infomation and I will tell you about a painting we have also, I just want to be sure I have the correct names