The Adventure to Find Our Beginnings!
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HODDER & ASSOCIATED FAMILIES – DORSET & DEVON – PART 1 INDEX 1 Hodder & Associated Families - Dorset & Devon – Part 1 - by The Rev’d. Katherine Hammer, BTheol., BSocSci. H&AF-D&D-P1-R1-14032020 PREFACE I enjoy watching Archaeological shows and I notice that the Archaeologists always begin their ‘digs’ with theories, hypotheses and assumptions based on small pieces of concrete evidence, such as their finds of coins, jewellery and the more intangible evidence of geophysics. Then as they dig away the earth, more and more evidence arises, which forces them to change their theories. Following our ancestors back through time and history, reminds me of the same principles. We make assumptions, have theories and hypotheses of where they came from and who they were and what their story was, but the more we dig through time and our ‘finds’ surface, such as birth records, wills and newspaper accounts, the story changes dimensions and grows. For example, if our ancestor is born in a certain place, we often assume that, that is the whole family’s place of origin and it is not until a bigger picture emerges that one discovers that that assumption was not correct. As each new piece of information emerges, their history, the history of their times and the area that they were living in, I have had to re-write these stories. Then magically at each re-write, the whole story takes on a new shape and what I had previously written is no longer a perception of the whole picture. So, in view of this, this written story will by no means be the end of the story of the above families. As future generations have the capacity to research what I have been unable to locate, then their story will change again. So please be aware that these family’s stories are always evolving and changing as each new piece of information emerges. All the while, we must be mindful, that once one goes back beyond the history of our memories and our grandparent’s memories; our ancestry is no longer 100% certain. A genealogist wrote the following and I think that all who read these stories need to bear this in mind, like archaeology, what is buried in time, we only see a small part of the picture and it is by no means ‘certain’. While I have tried my best to be as accurate as possible, like our own life stories, the stories of our ancestors are a fluid history, depending on which information becomes available and from which perspective one looks at them. So, these stories of our ancestors are not a definitive history, they are very small and cloudy windows that we have been given the opportunity through which, to glimpse a smattering of their lives! And the glimpses are not certainty, only a beginning! “Certainty relates to the probability that the family tree you construct is true. Many things affect certainty – whether there are reliable, documented records attesting to ancestry (e.g. birth certificate naming the parents, mixing up people with similar or the same name, etc.) Some links are very hard, such as people who moved and changed their names. Once you go past the ancestors you personally knew, you start making assumptions, and the probabilities dip below 100%. Even with DNA sequence matches, the probabilities of proving someone a cousin are never 100% … …” So the certainty of Family trees drop with every generation back, and the farthest branches are quite uncertain – and all Family Trees need to be taken with a discrete element of suspicion. This work will be continually evolving and changing and being corrected. So please DO NOT COPY THIS INFORMATON WITHOUT PERMISSION AS IT MAY NOT BE THE LATEST UPDATE. The code on the bottom right of each page will show the latest revision. Photo above of Weymouth taken by Julianne Geldard. Photo of Dartmoor, prev. page taken by Katherine Hammer. 2 Hodder & Associated Families - Dorset & Devon – Part 1 - by The Rev’d. Katherine Hammer, BTheol., BSocSci. H&AF-D&D-P1-R1-14032020 3 Hodder & Associated Families - Dorset & Devon – Part 1 - by The Rev’d. Katherine Hammer, BTheol., BSocSci. H&AF-D&D-P1-R1-14032020 4 Hodder & Associated Families - Dorset & Devon – Part 1 - by The Rev’d. Katherine Hammer, BTheol., BSocSci. H&AF-D&D-P1-R1-14032020 5 Hodder & Associated Families - Dorset & Devon – Part 1 - by The Rev’d. Katherine Hammer, BTheol., BSocSci. H&AF-D&D-P1-R1-14032020 DAY SIX of 55 days – Tuesday 23 May 2017 CH. 1 - SALISBURY – AND A HODDER BRIDE! Well, we are off! The adventure has begun! We left Reading about 9.10am and after some to-ing and fro-ing around various motorways headed towards Salisbury, in the County of Wiltshire but not after a stop in a beautiful village called Stockport, but I think that all villages are beautiful, everywhere you look there are beautiful and quaint little houses and exquisite picture book villages. Stockport was the first quaint village out of just so many that we discovered. But it was only a preview of the most exquisite places we were to see on our journey. SALISBURY. Salisbury! Salisbury Cathedral is truly magnificent. The story of Salisbury Cathedral actually originates in Old Sarum several miles away, where shortly after the Conquest, the Norman conquerors built a castle within the protective earthen banks of an Iron Age enclosure. For those who watch Time Team, you’ll know exactly what I mean! In 1075, a Cathedral was built close to the Castle but sadly the monks and the castle garrison did not get on! So, in 1220 the Bishop of Salisbury decided to build another Cathedral away from the sphere of the Castle’s influence. So, the story goes that the Bishop of Salisbury stood on the castle mound and shot an arrow into the air and determined that where it landed would be where he would build his new cathedral. The general opinion is that he must have been a wonderful archer as the new site was several miles from the castle mound ( Salisbury Cathedral top right i). The existing building was completed in 1258 and has remained virtually intact. Upon entering the Cathedral, one’s eyes are immediately drawn to these awe- inspiring arches and vaulted ceilings. The ceilings are spectacular, with superb arches, they made me feel breathless with their soaring magnificence, one can understand the symbolism behind them that they are meant to represent the arches of heaven (picture above rightii). 6 Hodder & Associated Families - Dorset & Devon – Part 1 - by The Rev’d. Katherine Hammer, BTheol., BSocSci. H&AF-D&D-P1-R1-14032020 However, one has barely time to recover their breath before their eyes are drawn to this amazing Baptismal Font. The water looks just like a mirror and at each side of the vault of water was a favourite quotation of mine from Isaiah, “I have called you by name, you are mine, when you pass through the waters I will be with you, and through the rivers they shall not overwhelm you, do not fear for I have redeemed you.” (photos prev page). Designed by William Pye and consecrated in 2008, water continually moves through the font, overflowing at each corner. For the ancient Jews, the divine was found in moving water, not in stilliii. William Pye’s website describes it thus, “Water is the predominant feature of this work, its surface reflecting and extending the surrounding architecture, while four smooth filaments of water pass through spouts at each of the four corners of a bronze vessel and disappear through a bronze grating set into the floor.” YouTube has videos of it in action, plus there is a video on William Pye’s websiteiv. It is exquisite! In 1613, we find evidence of Hodders here at Salisbury Cathedral. In 1613, King James I had been on the throne, since 1603. He was the first Stuart (Scottish) King of England. He believed in the ‘divine right of kings’, whereby kings only answer to God & he refused to share his power with Parliament. This undermined the strong government put in WHAT IT MEANS TO BE A MARRIED WOMAN in the place by Queen Elizabeth I. James also 1600’s. Most men from that age would shake their heads in angered the people by raising taxes & disbelief at the idea of equality of the sexes. Men are born to attempting to marry his son, Charles to the different states, some rich, some poor, some the elder brother, daughter of the Catholic King of Spain & some the younger brother and they are not treated equal, so Spain was the super power of that era. Less why should women be treated as equal to a man. God created women inequal to men in strength and size and a London than a hundred years before, in 1517 the physician makes a list of 70 diseases that women get, which Protestant Reformation challenged the indicates the punishment of Eve upon them. Up until she is Catholic faith. In 1605, a group of Catholics married a woman is the property of her father, and once she in the Gunpowder Plot attempted to blow up is married, she becomes the property of her husband. The the king, as they wanted a Catholic husband is the head of the household and is the ultimate authority and any females, whether wife or daughters monarch, yet on the other side of the automatically fall under his authority. All property is owned by spectrum in 1620, 100 Puritans set sail on him, so a wife’s possessions are legally her husband’s the ship the ‘Mayflower’ to America, property, not her own.