"Breeches Maker" in 1790-1797 Cambridge Directory

[Keith Sherwood]

Yes, Annie,
It IS good news...and I'm off to Over and Longstanton tomorrow afternoon to claim yeoman tenant's rights again after all these years - actually, a pie and a pint in one of Over's two pubs (Longstanton doesn't seem to have any left - but please correct me anyone with local knowledge) and then a stumble over a JOHNSON headstone or three in the churchyard there afterwards.
And I'm definitely giving Godmanchester a wide berth this time (in case Rootschatters are confused, this is a strictly in-joke about the place between me and Annie from a visit I made there on her behalf a few years ago...)
keith

[Keith Sherwood]

Just to let anyone (and particularly Annie!) know,
Had a good look round Over yesterday, and there was actually a lovely large old house in Glover Street called The Glovers House.  Just wonder whether Mr BICHENO (and I have to say that all those of this family buried in the churchyard had their names spelt without the "R") had perhaps lived there.
I also found a very old but still legible 18thC headstone in the churchyard with the name of a William BICHENO on it, right up against the south door.
Must look into the origins of Glover Street.
There was a very nice pub in the village called The Exhibition, too.  Very welcoming, with good food...
keith

[liverpool annie]

How cool is that Keith ?? 

Glad you were able to have a mooch around ... you're so lucky .... it's not too far away !!

Glad the food was good at the pub .... don't suppose you were able to try anything else ?? 

I see pictures like these and it makes me yearn for a gentler time .........

http://www.overvillage.co.uk/historypicturegallery.htm

Annie 

[Keith Sherwood]

Annie,
A pity they haven't said where exactly those photos were taken...
And yes, of course I had a quenching pint of Indian Pale Ale - very good too.
keith

[Keith Sherwood]

Hi again, Everyone,
It's funny how important finds come totally out of the blue - isn't that the Serendipity factor? - but today I was idly googling with the BICHENO name when I came across the following link to Over village:
http://www.overvillage.co.uk/noticeboard.htm
and there, near the bottom of the page,  was a review of a book that has just been completed on the BICHENO family of Over by two ladies who are descended from the family...
I couldn't help phoning one of them up, ostensibly to buy a copy of the book, but as one thing often leads to another, I've arranged to go over to meet her later this week and to discuss all things JOHNSON and BICHENO.  She's a delightful woman in her eighties, and I'm very excited about what family connections might be made.
The house called The Glover House, in Glover St. was in fact lived in by William BICHENO who apprenticed John JOHNSON way back in 1767.  And the gravestone I found on my first visit to Over Churchyard near the South Porch of the church is indeed that of the 18thC glover and breeches maker.
Great news!
keith

[liverpool annie]

Keith Sherwood !! .... I've said it many times .... you always come up smelling of roses !! 

You lucky duck !!

Don't forget to tell all the juicy news and gossip when you come home !! 

Envious Annie 

[Keith Sherwood]

Annie,
Certainly the weather for lucky ducks, but perhaps not the season for roses - mimosas more likely.
Does help to be on the doorstep, though.  Not a million miles from Godmanchester, either...
keith

[annieoburns]

What a great 'story' and so encouraging to all of us to keep plugging away at loose ends

[Keith Sherwood]

Yes, Annieoburns,
The cause is never lost, especially with the internet to help us now...
I was also mistaken about BICHENO (pronounced with the emphasis on the first syllable, apparently), being perhaps of Mediterranean origin.
As it says on the Over website, it probably stems from the lost place from the Domesday Book called there Byccenho or Birchenhoe, meaning land with beech trees on it by a river, on the borders of Northants and Bucks.  The river there is a tributary of the River Great Ouse, which today forms the northern border of Over parish...
keith