West Stow Branch
Family Tree (separate page)
Below
Samuel 1814, George 1819, William 1821
(Benjamin James) Victor 1898 Wandsworth
Information from Margaret Dorling (letter), Wendy Mason (about the brothers who went to Australia), and Eric Dorling (about the descendants of Frank A Dorling & Jesse Angus Pearce)
Letter from Margaret Dorling born 13 Oct 1896, probably at Culford, Suffolk, written in 1984.
“...I was interested you met someone of our own name. Its fairly uncommon in some parts. Belongs mostly I think to the Eastern Counties, or perhaps it used to. In the old days there were large families. I won’t pretend to try and fill in the paper you sent. So many of the Dorling family. I didn’t meet ...some of the younger ones. I know well. My father Esau Dorling (1865 West Stow) was the youngest of 9 as you may already know, and his mother, Margaret was left a widow when he was, I think about two years or so. She lived on North Stow Heath, which is very out of the way, I remember going there once. The cottages stood in the midst of heath land, a fine place, I would think, for rabbits! not many trees, as I remember it. Of course there are plenty of trees at Culford. I suspect you will hardly remember Culford, and it has altered lately, since the Estate was sold in 1935, and the East Anglian School bought it, they have lately made other chanhes at the Hall, pulling down kitchen and ...etc and building a large Assembly Hall to hold about 1000 + also the girls school is now at Culford. These schools used to be at Bury St Edmunds. Well, the only Dorlings I know, are busy working people, interested in tilling the Soil and cultivating Gardens, wherever they are & so they are I think, by nature Countymen. Grandfather, my Father, was very busy with his garden and allotment in his spare time. HIs work was hard & meant often a long walk to and fro (oh, my poor feet), no byke and seldom a ride I think except, he sometimes was on the Engine which was used on the Estate for different things., to take the elevator & drum, for thrashing, the stacks, corn etc, no combined harvestors then. + yet he could make a beautiful bouquet of flowers for the flower show, + 1st prize. I remember he said when making it, its for 1st prize, & it was. The only members of his family * 5boys and 4 girls I .... knew where the younger one Uncle Jim & Aunt Betsy brothre ? at Bury and sister in Culford & Cary at Thetford, & I met Aunt Margaret once when she came to Culford also some of her? children. Her married name was Ashley & she lived at one time at Bletchingley in Surrey. I have been there, but its a large village. & of course she will have passed on long ago, & her daughters probably changed their names so there was no tracing them. Uncle Walter came I think, but I don’t remember him. He was ,I think, a kind of estate agent & there was a family - I don’t know how many. I didn’t know them. The last cousin I made contact with was Bessie, Aunt Polly’s daughter. She married a farmer called Sydney Bryant. She was his second wife, & he had a grown up family, the daughter was very good to Bessie. She got on well with his family. I used to visit her when I was living at Culford last, alos of course, I knew Uncle Jim’s family in Bury & Aunt Betsy’s family at Culford. She moved away some time ago to near London. The last I heard from Dolly (She was Margaret really) but they called her Dolly, she was in an old people’s home, near Rayliegh Essex & had only one brother left, out of a family of 7. So, you see I can’t tell you of your Great Grandfather as I don’t remember either of my Grandparents. I’m afraid this is not any help to your paper I will send it back for you to fill in, but will enclose the names of Grandmother Dorlings family. Children of Robert & Margaret Dorling of North Stow, Robert batchelor, Walter married, Elijah married, James married, Esau married, Polly (probably Mary Ann) married, Margaret married, Caroline married, Elizabeth married. with families all except Robert."
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Drift Cottage at Culford home of Esau Dorling (photo provided by Wendy Mason) |
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Part of a letter (written in 1984) from Wendy Mason of Culford, who has supplied a lot of information on the West Stow Dorlings and been in touch with, and visited, some of the Australian branches
"Jim (Dorling of Nightcliffe, Australia) said it is thought all three brothers (Samuel 1814, George 1819, William 1821) played in a quite well know dance band in Adelaide. He wanted to know if the brothers were musical - I can confirm this with the help of Aunt Evelyn, she told me that Thomas their father was musical and he taught them to play a kind of pipe. Each day they were given a few bars to learn while they kept watch over the Lord of the Manor's sheep. It was a job given to the boys of the village on leaving school. There is a man living only a few yards from my home who did this job on leaving school at age 10 years in 1914.
Getting back to the brothers they were educated first by their mother Ann and then their father (Thomas 1787) paid for them to go to school which was a privilege in those days, they went to school in Culford.
| Cottage at West Stow where Thomas and Ann lived
Photo provided by Wendy Mason |
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When they could play their musical instruments well they were allowed to play the hymns for the services in West Stow church (no organ in those days). Their musical instruments are at this present time in the hands of the rector of West Stow. They were until a few years ago in Aunt Evelyns's possession. She passed them to her brother Edward who since has died. His wife gave them to the rector. I have seen them and they are in good condition. After Sam, Geo and Wm went to Australia some of James's children when old enough played them, my Grandfather Herbert didn't, he was not musical. One thing that all their generations of Dorlings have done is learn to ring the church bells even I had a go when a teenager.
Jim says his family is athletic and wondered what physical types his ancestors were. All I can find out is that they were a very strong healthy family with plenty of go and still have a very strong will."
Information sent by Eric Dorling about the Children of William Dorling (born 1852 Culford) & Elizabeth Brunsden
From William James Dorling (born 1909) about the descendants of Oliver Dorling born 1846 Culford (brother of William born 1853 Culford above)"Jesse Angus Pearce, born 1887, 4th of 4 children (2 only alive today, one of whom I have been visiting in Vancouver) married 1913 to Frank Arthur Dorling (son of Wm & Elz). Her grandfather Andrew Pottinger was a Shetland Islander and mariner, eventually moving to Liverpool, and was lost at sea with his ship the Circassian in 1877. To aid family finances, Jesse Catherine (his daughter) became a successful dressmaker. After her marriage in Liverpool to Fred Pearce, there were several moves, eventually to a mill in Cirencester, where the 12 (of 13) children grew up. Dressmaking continued as a family pre-occupation and source of pin-money.
Frank Dorling (1888) joined the Royal Marines during the 1st war. At one time his ship was torpedoed and he came close to death. His land base was Gosport and there my parents set up their home, and the first children were born. Frank got Spanish 'flu (1919), went into the naval hospital, from which my mother rescued him before he should die (as did most men in the wards). They then returned to Cirencester. Frank had been an electician but threw that over to become the landlord of "The Forester's Arms", where the remainder of the family were born and grew up. The years of the slump (early 1930s) were a nightmare for the parents, and only re-armament and the approach of was brought financial relief. Despite their difficulties, they had their reward in 11 chldren who grew up fit, happy and, it seems to me, the better for a world in which people had to be self-reliant and were consequently better adjusted.
William Henry (1876) - nothing, but I will speculate. Since you show him married in Edmonton 1898, I assume he was the father of a family which once (mercifully only once) descended upon us in the 1930s.
I have since met two men, who might well be their sons. One served in the Royal Navy aboard Ajax during the HMS Ajax, HMS Achilles, HMNZS Exeter (or was Achilles NZ?) sea battle with the German battleships Graf Spee. I met him after his return. The ship's crews were never happy to be gated and made to march through London - they seemed full of the senseless tradegy of the affair seen from both sides - and I remember being struck by his sombre attitude. It was in sharp contrast to the devil-may-care behaviour of RAF aircrew.
The encounter with the other was amusing. I was I suppose, 16 years old, and was watching a troop of artillery (1940) which had drawn into a lane in Cirencester for the night, en route to who knows where. The men set about tidying up their gun-towing vehicles (known as 'quads' - perhaps they had 4 wheel drive?), and out from one quad stepped an artilleryman with a most un-military-looking dustpan and brush and a Dorling face. I was so astonished to see my father's face on another's shoulders - it seemed almost eery. Before I could get to him he was called away - but later heard from my family that he was a Dorling and had paid a hurried call later that day.
Florence - nothing
Charles Oliver (1881) - 'Uncle Charlie' - worked as a Cirencester foundryman. His son, , followed him. A daughter, of about my age, died of TB in the 1930s, quite suddenly. [TB was an all too prevalent disease in those days, before the introduction of sulphanamides. Those who couldn't afford to enter a sanatorium, died at home. I well remember the faces of a mother and daughter as they wasted away in their bedroom - gazing at us from the sash window.
George J - we had relatives in Andover and this must be the connection. When my sister Jean and I (twins) were born my mother found the burden too much. Somehow the Andover aunt came to believe that we were hers for the taking (she, presumably, was childless) and actually arrived to collect us - but we were not handed over. They (later i suppose) had twin daughters, Joan & Daphne. George was killed in WW2.
Ellen M. Aunt Nell. Nell was run over as a child and lost a leg. For the rest of her long life she had a false leg.
Gertrude K. Aunt Gertie. Grandmother Elizabeth died before I was born, and Nell and Gert carried on the laundry business started by their mother. They managed sufficiently well to be able to buy a new Ford car in about 1938. (In those days a reasonably good car cost £250, but, by stripping everything to the barest essentials, Ford actually got down to the magic £100). Gertie drove whilst Nell sat in the back and complained about her leg. It is a truth universally acknowledges (to quote Jane Austen) that relatives, particularly maiden aunts, can be very trying, and are best not visited. So I found it with Nell and Gert. My sister Grace was ever-patient, however, and kept in close touch until their deaths.
In the early days of the laundry most equipment was made of wood, even the rectangular twin tubs. Grace and her husband (Stow-on-the-Wold) inherited one such, and use it as a flower tub. Who could make a simple wooden tub today to hold several gallons of hot water without leaking?"
"My grandfather (Oliver 1846) was a product of his times and had fixed ideas about things. I well remember him insisting that Gloucester was spelt Gloster and I still tie my shoes in the was he showed me & he insisted it was the only way.
My grandmother was a timid little thing & I am sure she was scared stiff of her husband, although I have no knowledge that he actually mistreated her.
My father (James 1872) was a weak man, no doubt as a result of his upbringing, he used to drink but was not capable of holding his liquor. And when he was drunk he used to insist on talking, which he normally did not do very much.
... at least you have confirmed Nancy Spain's statement that we come from a long line of farm labourers"
Photographs from Jan Burrell, descendant of Oliver Dorling 1865 Culford = Harriet Ridgeon