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Marcham
Marcham maps
Historic maps of Marcham and the local area, hand-drawn by Ordnance Survey and Samuel Lewis. View all Marcham maps
Marcham area books
Displaying 1 of 7 books about Marcham and the local area. View all books for this area
You can read extracts and browse photos from these books.
Memories of Marcham
Displaying a selection of personal
memories of Marcham.
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4 The Gap And 7 Parkside
NO 4 THE GAP My memory of Marcham started in 1946-7. My grandmother, Lydia Lawrence, used to live at no 4 The Gap. She was born in Long Wittemham, then she married my grandfather in 1906 (Victor Davis, he was killed in the First World War). They went to live in Sutton Courtenay, by then they had two children, Victor Davis (my father) and Eileen Davis (my aunt), in 1920 she meet and married a Marcham man called John Lawrence, who used to live at Pack Horse Lane, Marcham, so they all moved to no 4 The Gap in 1921. There were four bungalows up The Gap, nos 2, 4, 6,... Read more
Fortescue And Church Families
I don't have a memory as such, but I have been researching my family history and have traced my mother's family back to this place. My mother was born in 1916 and lived in Oxford. However, her grandfather came from Marcham and I've now traced the family back (so far) to the 1600's. They were Fortescues and Churches, all from Marcham. In the main the males were farm labourers and my mother's grandfather moved to Oxford to become head gardener at one of the colleges.
There is a record of the family being joined by marriage 200 years ago and, also, my mother's parents were a Fortescue and a Church.
If anybody has any memories of these families, or descend from them, I'd love to hear from you! anniewoodford@hotmail.com
Oxfordshire memories
Mr Hemmings Traditional Abingdon Morris Invite Whitethorn Morris to Their Day of Dance
I remember this well - a glorious early Summer's day and lovely spots to play music, dance and drink beer with Mr Hemmings Traditional Abingdon Morris.
We started - I think - at a pub called "The Ox" and progressed through the day with dance spots in the Market Square and The Almshouses. Beer and a picnic surrounded by musical and dancing friends made this a lovely outing. I was there as the bandleader for Whitethorn Morris playing a 48 button Hohner piano accordian. The lovely women of Whitethorn Morris wore their well known kit of scarlet and blue dresses, blue mob caps and shiny black clogs.
This view marks one spot where we danced - the only difference being EXACTLY one hundred years! Who knows - maybe in the year 2090 someone may recall our happy dancing in Abingdon in 1990?
Cheers Steanes Langfords Simons And More
My mother's ancestors all seemed to live in Abingdon and the surrounding villages of Launton, Kiddlington, Bicester, Charlbury etc. and I am collecting photographic records of these families and their activities for a family tree. Photos are a good way of recording events. There are many text genealogical websites, but few, if any where one can get photos of one's ancestors activities. Where people can give and recieve photos for research. Villages I've visted when in England seemed to have changed little over time.
12a The Camp, Hanney Road, Steventon.
My memory of Steventon started in 1947. For those who don't know about Steventon Camp, it was a disused army camp about 1 to 2 miles from Steventon village, on the Hanney road. (I see the storage depot is still there, which when I was a lad was full of army lorries.) My family (Victor and Kathleen Davis, my sister Kathleen and myself) lived at no 12a, it was at the far side, away from the road, second one in from the corner of the camp facing open fields and Steventon. To be honest, itwas a bit basic, but clean, for us children it was a great place to live. The reason we came to live there was because of overcrowding at my gran's in Marcham and her ill health. We moved out, and with nowhere to go, squatted on the camp like so many people in our situation. 12a consisted of half an old barrack block (all made of wood) with two bedrooms and one big room for... Read more
The Prior Family of Steventon
My grandmother lived in Steventon with her own grandmother around 1880. She was Florence Prior and her own gran was Eliza Prior who by then was a widow and a laundress living in Timsbury Cottage. I have tried to find the cottage but the only place I have seen with a similar name is Timsbury Villa. I sometimes wonder if it is the same place. My own visit to Steventon was around 1986. I remember visiting St Michael's Church and having a picnic in the next field among all the cowslips and other wild flowers. It was beautiful. I walked around the churchyard and found many tombstones for the Prior family including one who was in the Grenadier Guards and was killed in the First World War. Intriguingly, I found a stone with an inscription remembering Stephen Prior who died 30 May 1864 aged 46. I am tempted to guess that this is my own great-great-grandfather who married Eliza the laundress. Who knows?
A Year in England
At the age of 11 I lived in Steventon with my family at 103 The Causeway for the school year 1968-69. This was a tremendous experience I have treasured all of my life. I attended school at St. Michaels and went to church there. My father was on a sabbatical leave as a college professor which is how we ended up there for that year. I now in 2007 am hoping to return with my family. My friend was Howered Wilkins. My parents reguarly had drinks at the North Star pub. My brother and I loved recording the engine names and numbers of trains as they passed and became friends with the men who operated the trains gates manually. I am Jim Steamer from the US.
