RootsChat.Com
England (Counties as in 1851-1901) => England => Berkshire => Topic started by: chatachak on Thursday 14 January 21 05:04 GMT (UK)
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I am a descendant of the longtime recusant Catholic family of Hunt from East Hendred. I have traced my ancestors in the village back to the late 1600s. I have reason to believe my earliest Hunt in EH may have traveled there from Nottinghamshire during religious upheavals in the early 1600s, seeking haven under the suzerainty of the solidly recusant Eyston family, the village squires. The Eystons are prominent in EH to this day, but my Hunts have all long since scattered for the hills. (I, for instance ride a retirement rocking chair into the sunset in Nevada.) The East Hendred barn of my ancestors is now an exhibit in the Vale and Downland Museum in Wantage. I'd be grateful for any news, dirt, gossip or scandal, or, indeed, a whiff of anything that might further my researches. Many thanks in advance.
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What have you unearthed so far, eg parish register entries? Have you been in touch with the Eystons?
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I pretty much outlined in my query what my research had divined. And yes, I have had discussions with the Eystons -- a couple of members of the family. But this was some time ago. One was a bit doddery, in a nice sense. They could not add much to my inquiries. I've also researched in the Catholic diocese that holds the records of the area -- Bournemouth, I think it was. This was, as I said, some years ago. Once the Wuhan Flu hysteria subsides and I am able to wander again, I must get back to EH and environs and pick up where I left off. One story from a Hunt relative who moved to Oxford frm EH: As a young girl, she told me, she refused -- in less-subservient modernish times -- to curtsy to an Eyston grande dame in the village as her ancestors had done and she was expected to do. The frosty Eyston female told her: "Your ancestors have lived in this village as long as mine; you should know this is the tradition!" I know the Eyston family -- by other names -- have been rooted in EH since the Conquest, but I have reason to believe my, and my cousin's, Hunt ancestors perhaps migrated to the village in the 1600s from elsewhere in a time of religious turmoil. That is the what, where, why and how of what I am searching. I have read Tony Hadland's otherwise excellent book on Thjames Valley Papists, but there ain't much in it about East Hendred -- and just a passing reference to the Eystons. Anyone? Anywhere? I offer my first-born child as a perpetual slave for any clues. Thanks.
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Have a look at Tony Hadland's blog - just noticed that you've seen his book, maybe there's more online.
KN