Ancestral Home

A Memory of Car Colston.

With my newly obtained lawyer´s degree and after joining a British bank based in Buenos Aires, Argentina, I was sent to London, to follow an international training course of one year, along with my wife Rosemarie and our one year old daughter Cecilia. It was my first time in the UK and one of the things which I had decided to do was to visit Car Colston, the birthplace of my gt-grandfather, Prof. Albert Euerby Martin, who had emigrated to Argentina, in 1888, with the objective of opening english schools and musical academies. He did in fact open many schools which would become the starting point of a long life dedicated to education in Argentina. Finally after a few months in London, and on a grey and chilly November Sunday morning we drove up to Car Colston. On arriving we were warmly received by dear Mary (Girlie) Martin, whom I had never met, but whose grandfather William Martin, of Car Colston, was my own gt-gt-grandfather. Girlie still lived in "The Stone House", the old Martin home, on Church Lane, where Albert E. Martin had been born, in 1855. Also called "Martin´s Cottage" or "Marriott´s Cottage", this Grade II Listed House, was inherited by William Martin (Albert´s father) from his uncle and aunt, John Marriott, of Car Colston, and Dorothy Marriott (née Martin), of Temple Normanton (Derbyshire). Temple Normanton & North Wingfield were the places where the Martins farmed, in the late 1700s, although William's parents: Robert Martin, of Temple Normanton, and Sarah Martin (née Marriott), of Car Colston, were the Schoolmaster and Schoolmistress of the Beeston (Notts.) National School. John Marriott (William´s uncle) had also built a Wesleyan Chapel, on Church Lane, Car Colston, in 1835, now called "Wesleyan Cottage". At "The Stone House" we were amazed by the thick walls and narrow stairs, and the porch which was built from parts of a four poster bed! It was nice to see the old piano which we were told was where the Martins learned to play, plus some "family trees" and old photos, which contributed greatly to my future genealogical studies. A very touching experience was also the visit to St. Mary's Church and St. Mary's Churchyard where many Martins, Marriotts, Tongues and Euerbys are buried. Along with "The Stone House" I can still vividly recall "The Green" and some of the other old cottages, like "Marriotts Close" or "Cordwainers", all of which originally belonged to "Marriott´s Farm". Incredibly enough, although I have travelled regularly to the UK, I have nevertheless been unable to visit Car Colston again. That visit of an Argentine Martin to Car Colston in 1972 was the first visit any of Albert's descendants had made in almost 100 years! Now after more than 350 years of close involvement with the village there are no longer any Martins, Marriotts or Tongues living in Car Colston. Girlie Martin who lived more than 80 years at "The Stone House" is not there any more, having passed away in 2000, and her brother, Dennis Martin, of "Field House Farm", is also dead. Many of the Marriott and Martin family branches live in Canada, Australia, the US, Argentina, and other places in the UK. Of the ancient Tongue family of Car Colston, only some 1700´s memorial stones remain at St Mary´s Churchyard; and finally "The Stone House", which was sold after Girlie Martin died, is now called "Orchard House"! But family memories retain their aura and I hope that one day my children or grandchildren will pay tribute to their Car Colston ancestors.
Enrique (Harry) Martin,
Altamira,
Tigre,
Province of Buenos Aires
Argentina

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