Herrick Family Trip - Leicester, England

September 21-26, 2014 (notes recorded by Michael Herrick)

 

Dr. Turi King – Single source family DNA studies and genetics work on Richard III

• Dr. King’s PhD dissertation was on family Y chromosome studies, in which she used the Herrick surname for one of her family names.
• Her dissertation is now in a book form entitled, “Surname DNA and Family History”
• Her study revealed that nearly all Herricks had the same Y chromosome.
• Herrick surnames in England have similar Y-chromosomes, which means we are all biologically related to each other.
• Since Herrick sounds like “Erik”, it is probable that we have a Scandinavian link.  But we don’t know when that link came in.
• Herrick surname goes back 700 years in the Leicester area.  The first record of Herricks in England go back to 1274.  (that would be Robert Eryrick at Great Stretton where we walked in his moat)
• Dr. King also did the DNA testing of King Richard III, studying the genome of Richard III.
• Richard III was buried at the Grey Friars, a monastery in Leicester.  A century or so later, Robert Herrick (brother of Sir William) build his home over the Grey Friars.  Richard III was found in what was Robert Herrick’s garden.  (pushing up daisies?)

Peter Liddle – Archeologist on Saxon/Viking periods in Leicestershire

• Leicester started as a Roman town around 150 AD.  Originally Romans were pagans, but were Christian before they left England.
• In the early 5th century, the Leicester area breaks away from the Roman Empire.  The Romans were called back to defend Rome. 
• Around 475 AD, evidence of Anglo-Saxons (Germans), is found in artifacts of pottery and coins in high status burial sites. 
• There is no coinage found again until the 7th century.  Because of this, the period between 5th and 7th century is the Dark Ages in Britain. 
• Anglo-Saxons were pagans, but Christianity reappears with Anglo-Saxons in the Mercia period.
• Mercia was the state in England where Leicester is today.  Penda was the last great Anglo-Saxon king of England who died in battle in 655.  Offa was king of Mercia from 757-796 AD. 
• Vikings (Danish) came to Lindisform (north of England) in 793.  Mercia was smashed by the Vikings in 874 and controlled it until 910.  There are many Viking fragments in Leicester.
• Leicester surrendered to King Alfred’s daughter, ending Viking rule (called Danerule).
• The 9th and 10th centuries are considered the Anglo-Scandinavian period.
• 1300 burials were found when the site of former St. Peter’s Church in Leicester was excavated.  The stones from the church were reassembled for the construction of a grammar school in 1573.  That grammar school is now a restaurant called 1573, where we had a great dinner.
• Robert Herrick and his son, Tobias, donated money for the building of the grammar school.

All Saints, St. Nicholas, and St. Peters Church tours

• All Saints church is were Henry and Alice Mobbes were married on September 22, 1622.  It may have been Alice’s family church since the Herricks attended St. Nicholas church.
• All Saints is a Norman (Viking church) built in 1066.  The church tower was built by the Saxons in 900.  It contains both Gothic and Romanesque architecture.
• All Saints is on Highcross street, which was the main street back then.  Down a block on Highcross street is the location of the White Boar Inn, where Richard III spent his last night on August 20th 1483 before going to battle at Botsworth field, (10 miles out of town) to be killed.  His body was returned to Leicester.
• St. Nicholas church is were Henry and Alice’s first son Samuel was baptized.  He was baptized by Rev. Francis Higginson on December 17th 1623.  Higginson led a group of puritans (including Henry) to America in 1629.
• St. Nicholas is the oldest church in Leicester built by the Anglo-Saxons in 880.
• Roman baths and the Jewry Wall (built by the Romans around 150AD) have been excavated next to St. Nicholas.
• St. Peter’s church in Belgrave (just outside of Leicester) is where Henry and Alice’s second son, Thomas, was baptized on June 25, 1626.  Rev. Francis Higginson also baptized Thomas.
• Henry came to America with Thomas in 1629.  There are no birth or baptismal  records in the U.S. on Thomas since they are in England.
• The oldest grave at the church is that of Abstinence Herrick, who died in 1689.
• We could not get into St. Peter’s because it is for sale.  There are very few Christians in Belgrave now – mostly Buddhists and Hindu.

Great Stretton and Houghton on the Hill tours

• Great Stretton is an area near Leicester on a road (Stretton means street) that once was a Roman road leading to London.  The land was once occupied by the earliest known Herrick in the Leicester area, Eyryk of Stretton, born around 1216.  The earliest actual records of Eyryk’s in England date to 1274. 
• The church on the property is St. Giles church built in the 12th century. 
• Robert Eyryk or Eyricke, born before 1330, built a manor house near the church surrounded by a moat.  He may have had his private chapel in the manor.
• This Robert Eyryk is 7 generations from Eyryk of Stretton.  He was a chaplain to Edward, son of King Edward III and called the Black Prince.  Robert was always with him during his military battles.  The Black Price died before he could become king.
• This area was a village of peasant.  Today, 15 distinct hills or humps indicate where peasant houses once existed. 
• Houghton on the Hill is a village a few miles up the Roman road from Stretton.  St. Catherines at Houghton was built in the 13th century. 
• Tobias Herrick, born 1572, son of Robert Herrick and nephew of Sir William Herrick, became Rector of St. Catherines in 1605.  His patron was his father, Robert.
• Robert Herrick served three times as mayor of Leicester and represented Leicester in Parliament.
• Myron T. Herrick, Governor of Ohio (1904-06) and Ambassador to France (1921-29), donated the alter to St. Catherines.

Richard Buckley – lead archeologist for King Richard III

• He got phone call one day to lead the excavation of a probable burial site of Richard III.
• He said that it would be highly unlikely to find him and he would “eat his hat” if they did.
• The area of the dig was in an old monastery burial ground known as Grey Friars, and was suspected as the likely burial place due only to oral history from the beginning.
• Only 17% of the Grey Friars was available to excavation since it was a parking lot for a social services building.
• They starting digging three trenches, and found Richard in the first trench.
• Richard was found without a coffin or shroud, with his head propped up because the grave was too small, and without his feet.
• The site is the garden of Robert Herrick, brother of Sir William, who build a mansion over the Grey Friars after the monastery was abandoned. 

Woodhouse and St. Mary’s in the Elms church tour

• St. Mary’s in the Elm’s church in Woodhouse is near Beaumanor and is the church attended by Sir William and Lady Joan Herrick.
• William Perry Herrick his sister Mary Ann Herrick, owners of third Beaumanor, also attended the Woodhouse church and were major benefactors.
• William Perry Herrick took on the Perry name from his mother who was a Perry.
• William Perry Herrick gave many gifts to the church, including the pulpit.
• The tomb outside the church contains the remains of William Perry Herrick, his sister Mary Ann Herrick, and his wife Sophia Herrick.
• The church was protestant but it was shared with the Catholics.
• The Bond coat of arms is in the church.  Mary Bond was the mother of Sir William Herrick.
• Sophia Herrick designed the houses with thatched roofs in Woodhouse.
• All Saints with Holy Trinity church at Loughborough, built around 1200, has stained glass windows donated by William Perry and Mary Ann Herrick.

Beaumanor tour

• The earliest documented account of Beaumanor goes back to 1086 when Hugh Lupus owned the land which Beaumanor now sits, and 1277 when a home was owned on this site by the Despenser family.  In 1327 it is forfeited to the Beaumont family (hence the name Beaumanor).  In 1524 it was granted to the Grey family, the Duke and Duchess of Suffolk.  The Duke and his daughter, Lady Jane Grey, were executed by the Crown.  The Duchess continued to live at Beaumanor.
• Current Beaumanor is the third on this site owned by Herricks, built in the 1842 by William Perry Herrick.  The first Beaumanor was built by Sir William Herrick in 1595.  The second Beaumanor was built in 1726 by William Herrick V.
• We were hosted at Beaumanor and given a luncheon by Her Majesty’s Lord-Lieutenant of Leicestershire or Lady Gretton.
• Beaumanor was built by the same architect from Leicesture who designed Nelson’s column at Trafalgar Square.
• The Herrick coat of arms is displayed at Beaumanor and was granted to Sir William.  Anyone can apply for a family coat of arms from the crown.  Before he obtained wealth, Sir William’s family used the Bond coat of arms.
• Mary Ann Herrick, unmarried sister of William Perry Herrick, was the “mistress of Beaumanor.  William married Sophia when he was in his 60s.
• Mary Ann Herrick was the benefactor for Almshouse, a home for the elderly; and St. Marks church in Belgrave.  There is a plaque honoring William Perry and Mary Ann at the church.
• The stained glass at Beaumanor is made by the “pot” method, where the color is in the glass on painted on.  Silver nitrate is basic chemical.
• Large stained glass at top of stair case shows family members in each panel.
• Original Beaumanor had 3,000 acres.  Now it has 34 acres.
• The Herrick chair was used by Sir William to greet guests.  Made from one oak tree.
• During World War II, an out building at Beaumanor was secretly used as a decoding center to break the German code during the blitz.  Decoders worked in the out building and lived in small quarters at Beaumanor.  The decoded messages where sent to Bletchley Park in London.  The Nazi code was broken at Beaumanor, the most famous being the Enigma code.  The Germans never discovered it.  This is made into a movie called The Enigma, staring Kate Winslett.

Diana Musgrave: Non-conformists beliefs at the time of Henry and his departure to Salem.

• Henry sailed to Salem with Rev. Francis Higginson in 1629.  Both were Puritans.
• The Herricks were generally non-conformists since Henry’s uncle had a Geneva Bible, the Bible of the Puritans, when he died.
• Queen Elizabeth (1558-1603) was a protestant  Her father, Henry VIII, separated from the Catholic church.  She introduced a new English prayer book.  Puritans were considered a “hoter” form of protestant – more radical. 
• King James I (1603-1625) was more liked by Puritans because he was Scottish.
• Charles I (1625-1649) was unpopular and eventually beheaded.
• Leicestershire was the center of non-conformity and dissent, and a pattern of persecutions began around 1620’s.
• Francis Higginson was a strong dissenter and attracted people to his congregation.  In 1613 several of his parishioners were excommunicated for refusing to kneel for communion.  In 1615, Francis become Vicar at Claybrooke.
• Francis became more radicalized and influenced by Rev. Arthur Hildersham, was persecuted for refusing to wear a surplice or conform to the Book of Common Prayer.
• In 1619-20, Francis was accused of Puritan offences.  Specifically, not using the sign of the cross when baptizing at St. Nicholas (where Henry’s Samuel was baptized in 1623) and celebrating marriages without rings.
• All Saints, where Henry and Alice Mobbes were married by Rev. Higginson in 1622, was a neighborhood church with St. Nicholas and Higginson served both churches.
• In 1618-22, All Saints parishioners were accused of “separating yourselves from others people of God” and charged “you are inconformable and refactoring”.
• Higginson also baptized Henry’s son Thomas at St. Peter in Belgrave in 1626.
• In 1627, Higginson “deprived of curacy” (fired) but still preached in Leicester and Belgrave.
• From 1623-28, John Herrick (don’t know which one) entertained puritan preachers in Leicester.
• Sir William Herrick appointed Bryan (pupil of Rev. Higginson) as curate at Woodhouse chapel.  Bryan’s wife is related to Herricks.
• In 1625, Bryan accused of giving communion to people sitting.
• In 1628, Lady Joan Herrick (Sir William’s wife) was embroiled in long running disputes with the church.  On July 6, 1639, Lady Joan Herrick was accused for not standing up for the gospel reading.
• In March 1628, Henry was offered to join Higginson in the Massachusetts Bay Colony.  At this same time Higginson was involved in proceedings in the Court of High Commission of the church.
• Also in March of 1628, Henry was excommunicated for “not kneeling for communion received and taken for last visitation on Easter day last and next Sunday”.  (This quote is from original church records following the bishop’s visitation.
• Henry’s second appearance in church records says that he didn’t appear in court and fined 7 schillings for not showing up.  At this time, Henry was given the additional charge of “inhibition”, which meant that he couldn’t conduct trade with other church members.
• On May 18, 1629, Henry set sail for Salem.
• On June 2, 1629, the church said that it would absolve Henry if he would repent.  Henry was already at sea heading to Salem with his son Thomas.
• Once in Salem, Higginson is quoted as saying, “ We have here the true religion and holy ordinance of Almighty God”.

Leicester Cathedral (also known as St. Martin’s Cathedral) tour and church service

• Norman’s (Vikings) built the church in 1100’s. 
• There are Roman columns under the foundation.  Martin was a Roman solder and churches on Roman sites were named for a Roman saint.
• It was a parish church called St. Martin’s until 1927 when it became a cathedral. It is the most prominent church in Leicester.
• The monastery and Grey Friars is next to the cathedral and was dissolved by Henry VIII in 1500.  After this time, Robert Herrick built his mansion on the site.
• King Richard III will be reburied in the cathedral in March, 2015.  Construction for his internment is going on now.
• St. Katherine’s chapel is next to the Richard III site in the cathedral.  It is also known as the Herrick chapel because Sir William Herrick gave the stain glass windows and alter to the church.  Sir William is buried under the floor of the chapel.  Visitors to the King Richard III tomb will pass through the Herrick chapel on their way out.
• A church service called Choral Evensong was song for the members of the Herrick family in America at the Cathedral.

Guild Hall Tour

• Built in the 13th century with timber frame construction as a meeting hall.
• Sir William and Robert Herrick attended many meetings here.  Sir William was a city Alderman and Robert was a three time mayor of Leicester.
• John Herrick (Henry’s grandfather) and Nicholas Herrick (Henry’s great grandfather) were also city officials who attended meetings here.  Nicholas was also mayor of Leicester.
• These meetings would have been in the Mayor’s Parlor.
• The Great Hall is a large meeting room and sometimes used to hold plays for William Shakespeare.