This England: Family History and Fine Wine!

In an earlier post I mentioned that one thing Rick really wanted to do while in England was explore a bit more of his family history. That included investigating a family tree pedigree dating his ancestry back to King Edward I of England.

About five or six generations back, a man named Melville M. Bigelow, who is related to Rick on his dad's side, had his pedigree officially validated by the College of Arms in London. The info Rick had also included written-in lists by someone in Rick's family, continuing the line through his grandparents' generation. We had an appointment at the College of Arms to meet with one of their heralds to see what was involved in getting the pedigree updated to include those "written in" generations and those that followed, including Rick's dad, brothers, and their offspring.

The College of Arms is the official body responsible for matters relating to the flying of flags on land, and it maintains the official registers of flags and other national symbols. It grants new coats of arms and advises on genealogy and pedigrees, which was our reason for visiting.

The building (1670-77) is located right by the Millennium Bridge and St. Paul's Cathedral. We later learned that it survived the Great Fire of London by about a block! We arrived early, in time to walk the Millennium bridge. . . 

And enjoy the views, including that of Tower Bridge, where we'd visited a few days before!

Our appointment was with Tom, one of the heralds, or more specifically, a Pursuviant of Arms in Ordinary. This is his flag (at the top), the Rouge Cross. It's named for St. George's Cross, an English symbol since the Crusades. 

 

Tom pulled out a book we weren't allowed to photograph but included a hand-scribed version of Rick's document (without his family's additions, of course). The book was enormous, I'd guess about two feet tall and 18 inches wide. It was only one of many books found in the beautiful, cabinet-lined room.

Tom took Rick through the details and requirements to update the existing information (basically it boils down to a lot of birth/death/marriage documentation for the five or six later generations, along with a very hefty fee.) The more people you add and document, the better and bigger the pedigree -- and the more expensive!). Now Rick has a homework assignment!

After, we spent some time with Lucy, the receptionist and marvelous guide to the portraits, flags, displays and workings of the College of Arms. It is this organization that is responsible for coronations and many state occasions and one of the displays focused on the coronation of the late Queen Elizabeth. 

Lucy was a fountain of historic knowledge and it was such a satisfying morning. Apart from learning a lot about the process, we also enjoyed looking at the art and artifacts on display that Lucy described so well!

 

Now Rick has to get to work! 

After, we started walking, again admiring St. Paul's . . . 

. . . and this monument across the street honoring the firefighters that kept the magnificent Christopher Wren cathedral safe during the Blitz, along with fighting the many fires that erupted when bombs were dropped during the Blitz.

We thought it would be fun to celebrate after, and made a stop at a wonderful wine bar, Gordon's, near the Charing Cross tube. 

 

While they had outside seating, we were pleased to have chosen to sit inside, which was very cave-like! 

Their website says that it is thought to be London's oldest wine bar, established in 1890 and is a family-owned bar (as opposed to some of pubs, for example, that are owned corporately). 

The wine list had the three "E's" -- excellent, extensive and expensive. We opted for a glass and the cheese plate, which of course we dug into before it was photographed. 

It was a wonderful experience in a fun, interesting spot. I'd return in a heartbeat!

(They also had a very cool looking toilet!)

We had time before checking out of our hotel and moving over to Jenny and T's house for a couple of days. Rick wanted to go back to the guitar store. I wanted to walk about and encountered the National Portrait Gallery. 

More on that next time! Cheers!

Travel Tips:

• If you are planning to do some research into your family history while traveling, come as prepared as possible. That might include names, birth or death dates, places they lived. On an earlier trip I found a good deal of information at the Westminster archives and the national archives at Kew (which we didn't visit) are said to be a treasure trove of information. Many churches have records as well. If you are into your family's genealogy, I can tell you from experience that being places your ancestors walked, knowing about their time, amplifies your personal experience with lives past. I think both Rick and I would agree that those things were worth every minute of our time. 

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