What a fascinating few days I have just spent in the very enjoyable company of my clients Patricia and John Hahn from Michigan, as they walked in the footsteps of Patricia’s direct ancestor Nathaniel Tilden. The Tilden family were a prosperous and influential family in the 16th and 17th century, with strong connections to both farming and the cloth industry of the Weald, (a subject I have mentioned before in this blog and that I find of particular interest.) Several Tildens were Jurats, Mayors and Chamberlains of Tenterden in their time including Nathaniel, but in 1634 for reasons that we have not quite pinned down, Nathaniel and his family set sail from Sandwich in Kent to Boston,(Scituate,) Massachusetts on “The Hercules,” to start a new life in the New World. His motive may have been, like many others in the area, religious freedom, but I think perhaps not as there is evidence that his departure was economically motivated, with several well-planned journeys made back and forth before he moved his family. There is evidence also of a family rift between him and his brother Joseph, so perhaps there were many contributory factors.
On our first day, we were joined by Diane Thomas my colleague and cousin, (5th, once removed to be exact,) who has extensive knowledge of the passengers of the “Hercules.”
Tenterden Museum very generously laid on a splendid tour of their premises even though they were supposedly closed for the season, for which I give very grateful thanks and we then visited St Mildred’s church in Tenterden and again were shown around and had the church history explained by a delightful gentleman called Alec.
Our next stops, after a fine lunch in a 15th century inn called The Woolpack ,which must have seen a few of Patricia’s ancestors through its doors in its time, were Biddenden, Benenden and Bethersden, all parishes with close connections to the Tildens, Suttons and Huckstepps that Patricia has been researching for so long and so ended the first day.
Our second day was trip to Sandwich from where The Hercules set sail and what a beautifully preserved medieval town it is. The once broad navigable estuary has long since silted up, but the town itself is a half-timbered delight and also boasts a house once occupied by Thomas Paine, the famed English/American rebel whose famous writings inspired the wording of the American Constitution.
Our final day together was fortuitously spent at the Kent History and Library Centre in Maidstone, where Patricia spent a few hours making copies of various baptisms marriages etc and looking for future leads to pursue. Fortuitous because the weather was very much against us and an outside tour would have been most disagreeable for everyone.
I wish Patricia and John Bon Voyage for the rest of their trip and wish them a safe return to America. I also look forward to seeing them again for the next chapter of their hunt.
T Jay Collins' whistle-stop visit to Kent
I really enjoyed my chance to show T Jay Collins and his wife round a few of their ancestral parishes on the 3rd November. The highlight for all of us was being allowed a private tour of Allington Castle thanks to the generosity of Sir Robert Worcester. All Saints church in Maidstone also provided a fantastic tour for us which particularly pleased Jay as there is a memorial to George Washington's Great Uncle in the church. A quick dash around the parishes of Shipbourne, West Peckham and Wrotham were also squeezed into the day before they had to head back to Houston. I hope their next visit will be a little longer.
What I am really hoping to find for them is a male Collins who knows his family has been in the Maidstone, Shipbourne and Gravesend areas for many generations.Jays family migrated in the 1600s and he has a YDNA profile which ties him to Kent. He is very keen to find living cousins, so if you are male and would be prepared to have a YDNA test which involves no more than a cheek swab, please let me know.
Posted 13th November 2014 by Unknown
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