Wellum(?) near Lavenham in Suffolk

[kenripper]

My 3xgt grandfather Joseph Hales East was born around 1821 to Samuel East and his wife Harriet (nee Hales). His birthplace is shown in the 1871 (St Leonard's Workhouse, Shoreditch, Middlesex) census as "Welllum, Suffolk". His parents married in 1809 in Lavenham. I've not yet identified any elder siblings than Joseph, who was born 12 years after the marriage! His three younger siblings are Samuel Alexander East (born about 1823 in Lavenham), James East (born about 1826 in Stratford, Essex after teh family had moved away from the Lavenham area), George East (baptised 11Jun1831 in St Mary's Whitechapel.

I have seen the word Wellum or Welham as a surname in the area, indeed it turns up on the war memorial in the church, but not as a place name. Does SKS have any idea where this is?

Thanks

Ken

[Allan F Sparrow]

What was written down on the census is clearly Wellum, but in Shoreditch the officials probably had little or no knowledge of Suffolk, so what was written was what they thought they were told.
There is a Wenham in Suffolk, in fact Great and Little Wenham, but though not very far from Lavenham, they are not very near, either!
Another possibility is the Welnethams, Great and Little, which are a bit nearer to Lavenham. A local pronunciation might sound like Wellum, perhaps, but I'h just guessing, really. My family left Suffolk in the 1860s, and I only know about the area from researching all the Sparrow families I could find - and they were many!

[pippycat]

Here is a link to something that mentions Welholme or "Wellum Woods"

https://books.google.co.uk/books?id=-...0woods&f=false

...bit far back in time, but it is that "Wellum" name

Rebecca

[kenripper]

Thanks for this Allan and pippycat.

Pippycat's link was very interesting. I had a pleasant half hour reading about Stratton manor south of Norwich. I'm not convinced, yet, that this might prove to be the right one. It's a little distant both in time and miles from Lavenham in 1821 but as Joseph's parents, Samuel and Harriet, do tend to travel looking for public houses to keep, I've not ruled it out.

Allan's thoughts on Great Welnetham are interesting, if pronounced locally as Wellum, an idea independently proposed by an archvist at the record office in Bury St Eds. I think Wenham may be a bit too distant, but as I said above, Samuel and Harriet do travel a bit.

It is odd that I've found no children from the time of their marriage in 1809 to the birth of Joseph in 1821ish (based upon census ages). Samuel and Harriet's marriage is one I need to confirm, having been sourced from other people's research. I know that Samuel and Harriet were living in the Lavenham area around 1st May 1822 as the Bury and Norwich Post reports that Harriet appeared before the magistrate for assaulting a police officer who at one point in their altercation "had treated in a most insulting manner both the defendant and her husband, and made a false statement as to their property, which was selling off at the time of the occurence". Joseph's younger brother was born in Lavenham in 1823ish (census dates again).

I'm due to take a trip to the Bury St Edmunds Record Office soon and I'll run these ideas past them as well.

Thanks for your efforts and interest.

[Allan F Sparrow]

Please let us know if you get anything definitive. I would be "tickled pink" if my ramblings turned out to be relevant