John Beale 1811-1873 Farmer of Biddenden and Beckley and my great great grandfather. Rich Richard Beale, 18th century dog doodler and Twitter sensation, had eleven children. The second youngest was my great great grandfather, John. I have been lucky enough to receive some copies of letters once in the possession of my 3rd great … Continue reading John Beale: letters from the grey sheep of the family
My fourth cousin Geoff and I had reached different conclusions as to the identity of our 6th great grandmother, as discussed in this post. A quick summary is that in 1705, there lived three Richard Beales - our ancestor (Tombstone Richard), his cousin (Other Richard) and some random Richard in Wadhurst (Wadhurst Richard). One of … Continue reading Elizabeth Beale: Mystery SOLVED
It appears that my great great great grandfather has gone viral, nearly 200 years after his death. The Museum of English Rural Life, in Reading, has acquired various bits of Beale memorabilia - mainly farming diaries and account books. But one little book caught their eye more than others: the school maths book of 13 … Continue reading Rich Richard and the Trousered Chicken
Last year, I visited Ypres and the surrounding area for the Passchendaele 100th anniversary commemorations. There was more to see and do than I could fit into that weekend, so a year later I returned to tick off the missing items: The 6km "Canadian Road to Passchendaele" signposted walk, Essex Farm cemetery and dressing station, … Continue reading Revisiting The Western Front
Elizabeth, wife of Richard Beale (1663-1757) Clothiers of Biddenden, Kent and my 6th great grandparents There's been quite a few posts on this blog about unidentified fathers, but this is my first unidentified mother! I was very pleased to get an email from my Beale cousin, Geoff West, the other day. Geoff was one of … Continue reading Who Was Elizabeth Beale?
Seaman Cooke Beale, 1742-1789. Wharfinger of London, and my 4th great grandfather. It's the ancestors closest to home that get neglected. After all, I've lived in London all my life. I am very familiar with London Bridge - I used to live a short walk away. I've walked past Southwark Cathedral a million times. There … Continue reading Seaman Cooke Beale: A London Wharfinger
Last time I wrote about the Beales of Biddenden. My Beale ancestor was not a Richard, but John Beale, the ninth of Rich Richard's ten children. Though not as wayward as his brother Crusty Richard, John also provided his share of headaches to the Beales. John's mother's (Frances Beale, nee Witherden) letters are kept by the Biddenden History Society, and according to a Beale cousin who has seen them, she was in frequent dismay at John's behaviour, which included gambling and sending his washing back to River Hall. Frances also expressed disapproval at John's choice of wife, Elizabeth Hope, so much so that she apparently forbade the marriage. John seems to have paid lip service only to her wishes and had four children with Elizabeth out of wedlock, giving them the surname "Beale Hope", before finally marrying her in 1850, four years before his mother's death but long after his father's. They went on to have another ten children after the wedding! Why did the Beales disapprove of Elizabeth so much?
Rich Richard came from a long line of successful Beales in Biddenden. They owned a beautiful country house called River Hall, which is still in existence now. Built in the 1400s and refurbished in the 1700s. It is now a listed building, probably worth several million pounds. River Hall was not only the Beales' home but the seat of their cloth-making business. It had been passed down through nine generations of Beales before this story begins. Said Beales had massive altar tombs in the churchyard at All Saints Church, Biddenden, and plaques in their memory within the church. They were clearly very rich and highly respected. How did they come to end up with nothing?
Frank Thomas Beale, 1889-1916 Waggoner and Soldier of Beckley, Sussex, and my great uncle. My great grandfather, Frederick, survived the war. Several of my other relatives were not so lucky. Frank Thomas Beale was my great uncle, my father's mother's brother. He was the oldest child, and only son, of Percy and Phoebe Beale, who … Continue reading Frank Thomas Beale: A Fallen War Hero
