One of the great benefits I have derived from volunteering
as the Online Parish Clerk (OPC) for
Cornwood and other Devon parishes was in meeting Marilyn Sharp, the
Churchwarden for St. Michaels and All Angels Church in Cornwood.
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St. Michaels and All
Angels Church in Cornwood, Devon, England (photo by Wayne Shepheard, 2004)
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From the first time I made contact with her, she has been totally
supportive of my goal to learn everything I could find out about the parish
where my Shepheard ancestors originated. She willingly shared data she had
accumulated about the burials in the church cemetery along with other
information about the community and its residents. In my assisting of others
researching their families in the area, she has often been able to pass along
tidbits about the people and places where they had lived.
In 2004, my wife, Linda, and I had a chance to visit the
area. Marilyn, her husband, Bas, and friends, Brenda and Graham Gregory, took a
great deal of time out to show us all around the parish, as well as direct us
to sites of interest in the surrounding area. I had a chance to see all of the
places I had only read about, mostly online, and, most importantly, discover the
former homes of many members of my Shepheard ancestors. Many of the residences
dated back to the 17th century. Marilyn’s kind attention made the
visit most memorable.
One amusing story happened when we drove out to the original
Shepheard estate, called East Rooke. It highlights one aspect of meeting people
and doing things on the Internet.
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Left: the main house
at Rooke, the ancestral home of the Shepheard family in Cornwood, Devon,
England; right: Wayne in one of the typical parish lanes; both photos taken in
September 2004
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In early 2003, just after I became an OPC, I had an email
from a school-girl in the area who had found my website. She was looking for information about the
population of Cornwood in the 1800s for a class assignment. I was able to provide her with the totals
from the various censuses between 1841 and 1901 for her report. Anyway, it turned out that she and her family
rented East Rooke, the farm that used to belong to the Shepheard family. Small world!
When we went to see the place in the fall of 2004, Marilyn,
who was very anxious to give us a proper and friendly introduction to the
current resident, approached the girl’s mother and introduced me as “the man who has been talking with your
daughter on the internet!” As you
might imagine, Mom was bit taken aback to start with but warmed up once she
heard the whole story.
On several occasions, Marilyn has carried messages back and
forth between me and the current Vicar. I think, because of her involvement, I
have been able to obtain significantly more information about the parish than
an OPC might normally get. Many times, as well, she has been able to provide me
with some historical perspective on the parish and area families.
We were able to partly return the favour by entertaining
Marilyn, Bas, Brenda and Graham for a few days in 2008 – showing them places
around Calgary, Alberta, Canada that were very different from the pretty little
villages and countryside of Southwest Devon, England.
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Left: Graham, Brenda, Bas, Linda, Marilyn and Wayne at the
Hoodoos near Drumheller, Alberta, Canada;
Right: Bas, Marilyn, Brenda and Graham at Moraine Lake,
Banff National Park, Alberta, Canada; both photos taken in September 2008
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We have become very good friends with Marilyn and Bas over
the past decade. We regularly exchange messages, and the inevitable email
jokes, and try to keep up with the happenings of our two families.
It is very valuable for family historians to get to know
people who live in the areas where their ancestors lived, to get first-hand
observations about, and some insight into the history of the locations.
In our case we have been truly blessed with meeting and
getting to know the Churchwarden of Cornwood.
Thank you Marilyn, for all your help and for just being you!
