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Day 7

I spent the day trying my best to find out more about my granddad, but it ended up coming to nothing. His name was Henry Charles Frederic Bailey and he was adopted in Singapore in 1908. His adopted Dad, Charles Bailey was the head warder of the jail over there for a few years and brought him back home to his house in Stroud.

The house is still there, itÂ’s called Ivy Cottage and is quite a large detached house.

Martin Evans

I phoned up many different organisations, including the Singapore High Commission and the Citizens Service Centre, but they said that no records would be made public until after a hundred years from his alleged birth, which was April 3rd 1908.

Despite this setback, I thought it would be good to see where he was brought up, and luckily one of my relatives remembered him talking about the house in years gone by, which was close to StroudÂ’s railway station.

The house is still there, itÂ’s called Ivy Cottage and is quite a large detached house. As I was nearby to Kings Stanley, where granddad met my Nan, I decided to retrace the route that he would have taken so made the journey back to Kings Stanley, and visited the churchyard there where my NanÂ’s parents and family are buried.

Day 8

My next fact finding mission took me to the Gloucester Collection, which is based in the main library. ItÂ’s a great resource full of useful information. It has newspapers dating back to the 1700Â’s as well as censuses all the way back to 1841. Electoral rolls, directories and maps are also readily available.

Burnt House Farm

The friendly team there looked at my research notes and advised me to try and get my great great granddads birth certificate, Thomas LW Camm. I knew that Stroud Register Office didnÂ’t have it, so I made an appointment with the Gloucester registrar.

Day 9

From the 1881 census I knew that Thomas LW was born in 1838 in Framilode, so equipped with this information I made my way to the Gloucester Register Office. ItÂ’s a big old building opposite the bowling greens in Spa Road.

The head registrar said that IÂ’d be lucky if it was here as registration only started in 1837, the year before he was born and you had to pay back then, so lots of people didnÂ’t do it, but heÂ’d look anyway.

Whist he was off searching I got chatting to another member of the team, who said that Gloucestershire people and the Gloucestershire Regiment had a lot in common, because once they had got their trench or territory, they couldnÂ’t be budged! I hoped that it was true with my family.

The registrar came back with a bright gleaming smile, proudly proclaiming that heÂ’s found it.

Martin Evans

The registrar came back with a bright gleaming smile, proudly proclaiming that heÂ’s found it. He said that it made their day when they could help someone, especially if it was a hard to find document.

I duly paid my seven pounds and he went off to write it up. It was an amazing find that would hopefully unlock lots of new doors and help me research even further back.

Day 10

It was back to the records office with my newly acquired great great granddads birth certificate. It revealed that his Dad's name was Robert Camm, and his Mum was Jane Camm, formerly Shelton. I'd now found my great great great grandparents!

The view from Burnt House Farm

I asked for some advice as I couldnÂ’t get their birth certificates, as they wouldnÂ’t have had one, and was told to look in the parish registers. A quick look on their computer and within seconds we had found him.

It gave me the serial number of a fiche. This is a small plastic file that contains photocopies of thousands of records. I got the right one and put it under a microfilm reader and started searching.

It took a while but I eventually found him, Robert Cam, born October 8th 1797 toÂ… and this was the real exiting bitÂ… Thomas and Ann Cam, my great great great great grandparents.

I was just about to pack up and celebrate when a really nice lady at the records office suggested that I look back and see if Thomas and Ann had any more children. From this you would find the oldest and be able to deduct roughly when he was born.

I did and was really excited when I found one, and another and another. I established that they had five children, Sarah was the oldest and born in 1790 , which meant that Thomas would have been born sometime between 1760 and 1772

Day 11

I spent the first part of the day at the Gloucester Collection, trying to find out more about Robert Cam. I couldnÂ’t find him on the 1841 census, but we did discover that he was one of the enumerators for the parish of Saul. I then started the laborious task of looking through the Polling District Directory.

“I’ve found him” she excitedly exclaimed.

Martin Evans

One of the ladies from the collection said that she would help me and after a short while she gave a triumphant yelp! “I’ve found him” she excitedly exclaimed.

All of the staff and myself huddled around the book and there he was. The place of abode was Framilode, the nature of qualification was "land as occupier" and, in another exiting turn, owning Burnt House Farm.

We then got a map out from the time and there it was, right next to the Stroud waterways canal. I then did a really quick Google search and it popped up on a ramblers website as a must-see piece of history, and near to the Ship Inn. It was still there, and I had to visit it.

Before I went I paid another visit to the records office to see if Robert Cam had left a will.

He did, and it revealed lots including that he had been married twice, had a son thought to be living in America, that heÂ’d left fifty three acres of land to his children, and his favourite cow called Daisy to his second wife!

Day 12

I made my way to Framilode and stopped at the local garage for directions. They were really friendly and helpful, and told me how to get to Burnt House Farm.

It was like going back in time and I imagined my great great great granddad walking around there over two hundred years before.

Martin Evans

They also said that there were lots of CammÂ’s still living in the area, and as far as they could remember, it was a Camm who built most of the houses in the area.

I followed their instructions and soon found the farm. It had a long driveway and was surrounded by a huge apple orchard. When I got to the house I immediately felt a strange connection. It was totally unspoilt and had original features, despite being over five hundred years old.

I knocked on the door and was greeted by the present owner and farmer, Geoff Martin. He had been researching the history of the building so was as pleased to see me as I was to see him.

The farm's current owner - Geoff Martin

He gave me a tour of the house and explained that the farm was originally the main dairy farm for the area. The cows were milked in the barn, which is still there, and then the churns were stored in the cellar, and then through the cellar door which lead right to the side of the canal. From here they would be put onto a barge and delivered to all the local residents.

Also in the cellar was an original bread oven and stairs leading to the pantry. It was like going back in time and I imagined my great great great granddad walking around there over two hundred years before.

It was really a surreal experience that made the hairs stand up on the back of my neckÂ… What else could I find out about my families pastÂ…

Don't forget the ÃÛÑ¿´«Ã½ GLOUCESTERSHIRE FAMILY HISTORY FESTIVAL at the ÃÛÑ¿´«Ã½ Learning Centre, December 4, 2004

Contact us for more information

Martin Evans traces his family tree

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