Amys & Harrison - Windus & Yarington
AMYS:
We knew nothing about the Amys connection, other than it was one of my mother’s fore-names. In the late 1990’s, however, a handwritten scrap of paper was found in an old wooden box and it referenced what looked like ‘Bickinghall’. The local record office had recently re-opened and had set up an archive programme on their computers. I typed in ‘Amys, Bickinghall’ and up popped Rickinghall. This was news to us all! It is one of a pair of villages in Suffolk – Inferior & Superior – close to the Norfolk border. Subsequently, some relatives were able to call by and found several Amys gravestones in the Churchyard. It seems the Amys family stretch back over many generations, spread across both Suffolk and Norfolk.
Fast forward to 2017, by which time I had gathered enough detail to put together an Amys family tree but not enough evidence. By good fortune, I then met someone involved with the History of Rickinghall and this resulted in a wealth of background information being made available.
Adelaide’s father was John Dunham Amys. He was baptised in Parham Suffolk and was the eldest of six children (John, Anna, Frances, Ellen, Philip & Arthur). His grandfather, John Amys, was a Gentleman farmer in Rickinghall Inferior. It is thought that this particular John was orphaned and brought up by an Uncle & Aunt (John & Laetitia Quince). He married Frances Fawden in Brompton in 1783 (London Metropolitan Archives) and had 3 daughters (Frances, Elizabeth & Mary) along with two sons (John Howlett & James). They lived in Snape Hill House (now a farmhouse).
When John’s estate was sold, it consisted of 422 acres of fertile pasture and shooting drives, buildings and ‘a family residence built with celebrated white Suffolk brick’. (Times 30.06.1837)
Snape Hill House featured in an 1841 auction catalogue
| Amys | Married | ||
|---|---|---|---|
| John | 1752-1833 | Frances Fawden | c1766-1845 |
| John Howlett | 1790-1851 | Anne Harrison | 1799-1852 |
| John Dunham | 1826-1873 | Adelaide Windus | 1832-1912 |
HARRISON:
Anne Harrison was John Dunham Amys mother. The Harrisons were a large family based in Palgrave, not far from Rickinghall. As luck would have it, back in the late ‘noughties’, I met a member of the Palgrave Society at a lunch held in North Barningham (North Norfolk) where the small church is full of Palgrave memorials. We were in correspondence afterwards and I received a bunch of useful information about the Harrisons. A key clue was the fact that the surname of John D’s grandmother was Dunham. I kept the Harrison material in abeyance, however, until I had worked out the Amys family tree.
Maria Dunham was Anne Harrison’s mother and was one of seven siblings. Her eldest brother, Charles (1794-1873) married one of John H Amys’ sisters, also called Maria (1792-1845).
Maria D was brought up in Bridgham, a small village near East Harling, Norfolk. In 1793, she married Philip Joseph Harrison at St Mary’s Church, Bridgham. Philip was the youngest of seven children – four boys and three girls. Their parents were Charles Harrison and Ann Moore of Kentwell Hall near Long Melford. Sadly, Ann died in 1762, either in childbirth, or soon after Philip was born. Her father, John Mould, was born in Lincolnshire and succeeded his Moore cousin, who had no children. In so doing, John inherited Kentwell and changed his surname to Moore. (see Burke’s Peerage)
| Harrison | Married | ||
|---|---|---|---|
| Charles | 1721-1804 | Ann Moore | 1721-1762 |
| Philip Joseph | 1762-1830 | Maria Dunham | 1772-1837 |
| Anne | 1799-1852 | John Howlett Amys | 1790-1851 |
Kentwell Hall in 1818 by landscape engraver Thomas Higham,
during Richard Moore’s occupancy (Wikipedia, Dec 2023)
WINDUS:
Not much is known about the Windus family. They had large families and lived variously in London (including Chancery Lane), Ware in Hertfordshire and Epping. Many of them were in the legal profession.
| Windus | Married | Birth | ||
|---|---|---|---|---|
| James | 1620-1691 | Anne Walpole | 1621-1644/63 | |
| Arthur | 1650-1705 | Margaret Parnell (2) | 1660-1691 | |
| James | 1681-1763 | Sarah Plumer | 1686- ? | |
| William | 1710-1785/88 | Millicent Ann Hunt | 1712-1799 | |
| John | 1741-1826 | Ann Uffindale | 1741-1794 | |
| James | 1769-1846 | Rebecca Parker (2) | 1770- ? | |
| John Wm | 1798-1848 | Jane Yarington | 1799-1869 | |
| Adelaide | 1832-1912 | John Dunham Amys | 1826-1873 | |
Adelaide’s Siblings were:
| Windus | Born | Died | ||
|---|---|---|---|---|
| John William | 1825-1898 | Swaffham | Epping | |
| Jane Isabella | 1826-1849 | “ | “ | |
| Louisa Mary | 1829–1903 | Epping | Croydon | |
| Edward Ernest | 1834–1908 | “ | Epsom | |
| Gertrude Emily | 1835–1924 | “ | Kensington | |
| Beatrice Emma | 1837–1908 | “ | Epping | |
| Edith Rose | 1840–1917 | “ | “ | |
| Campbell Lionel | 1843–1871 | “ | “ | |
Adelaide’s eldest brother, John William continued the male line. He married Emma Evans (1843-1931). John was Clerk to the Union House Board of Governors, Clerk of the Epping & Ongar Turnpike Trust and Clerk of Epping Free Church. Several of his descendants moved to Canada.
YARINGTON:
Even less is known about the Yaringtons. William (1760-1839) lived in Market Place, Swaffham. He was married in December 1797 to Mary Ingoldsby (1771-post 1841). William was a Solicitor on London Road and acted for, amongst others, the nearby Narborough estate (see Norfolk Record Office). His practice was an Agent for Holtaway in the City of London.
Adelaide’s father, John Wm Windus (1798-1848), was sent from Epping to Swaffham, to train (presumably) as an articled clerk. He married ‘the boss’s daughter’- Jane Mary Yarington, in Swaffham Church in 1823. Jane (1799-1869) had a much younger sister called Elizabeth (1810-1878). Her Will was proved by Adelaide’s sister, Louisa Mary Windus, being sole executrice. A memorial window in Swaffham Parish Church was dedicated to Elizabeth (south side of the transept).