Family Roots

As some or all of you will be aware, of late I have packed up my bag and continued North from London. Special thanks to Uncle Paul and Karen for putting up with me for the extended period of time that I spent there seeing the sights, visiting prestigious museums, checking out pubs and meeting new people.

My first stop on the road to Scotland was Oxford. Being a small university town, Oxford boasts long streets of shopping facilities, pubs and restaurants all catered for the needs and interests of the local population which predominantly consist of students attending the renowned Oxford University and other smaller institutions. From the moment I arrived it was clear that almost every person on the street was aged somewhere between 18 and 25.

The hostel that I stayed at near the train station had a really good vibe and I am ashamed to admit that I spent a little more time within the hostel than I should've. Nevertheless, I did get the oppertunity to visit a couple of sights which bare great significance within the family. These included: a thatched cottage in Buckland (where Jean Burgess, my grandmother, lived during the early years of her life in England), a Tudor-style lodge where Jean's grandfather, James William Chillingworth lived on Faringdon road and also the sight of his grave in the nearbye town of Pusey. I managed to visit all three of these one day whilst staying Oxford, by catching a bus along the old Faringdon road to Buckland where I spoke with an elderly woman living down the road from the thatched cottage. Mrs. Adams was kind enough to offer me all sorts of information regarding the "Yew Tree Cottage" and it's history.

After talking about the cottage for some time the kind woman sent me in the direction of "Tudor Lodge" where I hoped to speak with the current resident about Mr. Chillingworth's occupation of the dwelling. I was indeed lucky enough to catch the old lady living there whilst she was home. For some random Australian walking into her garden off the street, this lovely lady was incredibly hospitable to me as she sat me down in her paddio to sort through documentation of the home's history of owners. After 20 minutes or so of looking through this collection of papers, it was with much shock and pleasure that we had found a letter from a Roger Chillingworth (also a descendant of James Chillingworth). Within this letter, mention was made of Jean Burgess and her occupation in Australia. This made me certain that I had found the place I was looking for. After perusing the letter, we continued to look through the documents until we discovered a black and white picture of a little girl standing outside the Lodge in a white dress. A comment found within another paper confirmed that that little girl was indeed my grandmother Jean Burgess. I have copies of these documents and intend to bring them home for Jean.

After a cheese sandwich and a stella, prepared by the lovely lady of Tudor lodge, I continued on to see James Chillingworth's grave. I hiked a couple of miles to get there but eventually I arrived in the tiny town of Pusey where I found the grave located within a peaceful church yard littered with flora and fauna. Given the beautiful weather and the mood of the moment I decided to take a seat next to the grave and have a chat to one of the many people responsible for my existance. What a great experience.