Thomas Hollyer of Shinfield, Berks

Yesterday, Kirsty Gray, Chairman of the Guild of One-Name Studies, sent me details of a plaque in Shinfield St Mary's Church:-

In a vault beneath this monument lie the bodies of Mr Thos Hollyer of this parish who died the 28th of April 1748 aged 60
And also of Sarah his wife who died at Chobham Surrey the 6th November 1776 aged 72
Also the remains of Maria Jeffery daughter of Robert and Francis Jeffery who died 17th February 1835 aged 9 months and a descendant of the Hollyer family

The "Shinfield Hollyers" are an important group in the county of Berkshire, but have not been researched thoroughly, mainly because they have no living descendants carrying the Hollyer name. More work needs doing!

"Leaving Woodchurch"

Last Saturday I attended the exhibition at Woodchurch, Kent, called "Leaving Woodchurch", which brought together stories about families from the village that had emigrated. Although I didn't exhibit this time, I had contributed a chapter to the book produced on the same subject. I told the story of George Holyer, last of the line of Holyer butchers in the village itself, who emigrated to the USA in 1854. You can read the story here.