When We Were English, Part IV

The Turbulent Life of The Rt. Rev. John Holyman, First Installment
by Glenn N. Holliman

The small village of Cuddington, Buckinghamshire, England is approximately 12 miles from Tring, Hertfordshire, the believed homesite of John Holyman (1572 - 1650). Another John Holyman, The Rt. Rev. John Holyman, lived earlier during the eventful times of the Tudor kings and queens. This earlier John played a role in attempting to forestall the Protestant Reformation in England. While we do not know his lineage, time, place and name suggest we American Hollimans carry some of his DNA. A ancestral cousin or uncle? I would say the odds favor such, and perhaps some day we can connect all the dots.

It was while researching Holymans in the Tring Library, I came upon the incredible news that a Holyman farm existed in nearby Cuddington, and that Bishop John Holyman had been born there. Cousin Maxine Wright of Arkansas had emailed a blurb on this John Holyman several months earlier alerting me to the existence of this particular Holliman. Within the hour, my wife and I drove to the village and indeed visited the Holyman farm, met the present owner, and the next day interviewed one of the village historians, Miss Peggy Cattell. We spent several hours with Miss Cattell and her sister, Nancy, collecting information and papers.

What follows is the first portion of a paper presented in 2005 to the local historical by Miss Peggy Cattell (photo below right) which we reproduce with her permission.


"They Lived In Cuddington"

" It was in 1495 that John Holyman was born. Records don't give any further information about his life in Cuddington, other than that he was born here but the family home was probably a manor house in the field near to the present Holyman's Farmhouse."

On the site of this grassy knole on the west side of Cuddington stood the manor house of the Holyman family in the 15, 16 and 17th centuries. Today this field stands fallow on still existing farm land.

"Another and more accurate assumption can be made that he must have been baptised in Cuddington Church, in the font which we still use. The font goes back well before his day. We know that the font was moved into its present position in the south aisle from the north aisle in the later part of the nineteenth century."

The photo above right is the exterior of the Cuddington parish. The above left photo is of the baptismal font which is over 500 years old. Miss Nancy Cattell is on the left, and the author on the right taking notes. Photos by Barbara Holliman.

"We can say for certain that his parents brought him through the present north doorway, and from the list of vicars we can assume that the incumbent of that time - William Burtone, priest from 1494 to 1511 - must have performed the baptism."

In the next post, we continue our study of the turbulent life of Bishop John Holyman....

When We Were English, Part III

A Holyman in the Late Middle Ages
by Glenn N. Holliman

In the local history section of the Tring, Hertfordshire library (photo to the left with patrons in front) there is a book entitled A History of Tring by Sheila Richards, a denizen of the area. Published in 1974 by the Tring Urban Council in Hertfordshire, it contains many stories, family names and records. While recently pursuing this work I found on page 53 the following information that was translated from middle English.

From the Court Rolls of the Manor of Tring - Courts 28 May, 18 June and 9 July 1444 (yes, 1444, not 1944!)

"Plaint Continued: the plaint between William Holyman, defendant, and Richard Brame of Chedyngdon, plaintiff, in a pleas of trespass, is continued by order."

Observations?

1. Holymans had surnames by the 1400s as did most English by this century.

2. Holymans lived in Tring two centuries before American founder, Christopher Holliman, sailed for Virginia in 1650.

3. This complaint of trespass may have involved a stray animal or William planting a crop on Brame's leasehold. Everyone leased from the Lord of the Manor or shared the common fields surrounding Tring. This lack of personal land is what attracted many of our ancestors to America.

4. As the complaint was continued to another day, perhaps it was settled out of court (just as most legal complaints are today).

There is another mention of William on page 54. He is listed as a juror to decide a leasehold inheritance on shared common town lands known as Goldfield and Bulbourne crofts surrounding Tring.

Observations on this entry?

1. Whatever William's issue in the trespass complaint, it did not keep the judge from appointing him to a jury that summer.

2. Although English common law was in its infancy, the jury system was working, wills were common and so were lawsuits in England by the 1400s.

3. To be appointed to a jury is a compliment indicating some standing in the community. Hats off to our William Holyman. I hope he is one of our great grandfathers. At least he lives in the community which we believe saw the birth to Christopher Holliman, Sr.

Unfortunately, I have found no further records on this William YET. Nothing else in this book on him. Thomas Cromwell, Henry VIII's chancellor, in 1538 required all churches to keep parish records on baptisms, marriages and deaths. Too late for this 15th century William. So where to look? Manorial Court records? Yes. And where are they? Alas, at the Public Record Office in Kew, near London. Did this William have a will? Here is an English government web site to explore: http://www.nationalarchives.gov.uk/.

The Middle Ages were Ending

What was happening in our England of 1444 when this possible Holyman ancestor was having legal troubles?

A weak king, Henry VI (photo below) occupied the throne from the first year of his life 1422 until deposed in 1461. He would have made an excellent monk, but was a poor king. He is the only English sovereign to have been crowned in both England and France. His mind was unbalanced and when a protector stepped in to serve the crown, a civil war broke out. The Houses of Lancaster and York began fighting the War of the Roses.

France and England were near the end of their Hundred Years War. Henry's father, Henry V, had conquered a considerable portion of France during his short reign. However, the French reclaimed almost all of their land during Henry VI's time on the throne.

This was the period when the charismatic Joan of Arc (her photo below) revitalized the French army. The English nobles, not at all pleased by such a turn of events, burned her at the stake as a witch. Remember, this was the Middle Ages, and burnings would continue even in the English colony of New York until the 1700s. Nasty way to shuffle off one's mortal coil.

Next post, more adventures with our Holyman ancestors....

When We Were English, Part II

by Glenn N. Holliman

With the exception of the historical painting of Elizabeth I below, the other photos in this blog are of memorials to Hollimans and others in St. Paul's parish, Chipperfield, Hertfordshire, approximately 25 miles northwest of Central London.

August 31, 1997, my wife, Barb, and I assembled for the baptism for our godson, Joseph Jeffries, at St. Paul's Anglican parish in Chipperfield, Hertfordshire, England. What should have been a day of joy, instead was a sad morning. Princess Dianna, formerly Princess of Wales, and her boyfriend, Dody Fahad, had died in the early hours in a Paris car crash.

The priest, a lady of whose gender there were only a few at that time in all the England Church, prayed for the repose of the departed souls as she attempted to turn the congregation’s attention to the welcoming of Joseph into the Christian family. Ironically, Diana’s car had smashed itself to a compressed block of metal, plastic and human flesh in a tunnel just a block from where Barb worked the year before at the capital campaign for the American Cathedral in France.

With these conflicting thoughts tumbling through our heads, we ventured to gaze around the lovely neo-gothic nave. Good grief! The walls were covered with war memorial plaques in memory of Hollimans and other villagers! Had we stumbled on to the ancestral home of the Holliman clan? Much evidence indicates that yes, the English Hollimans (or Holleman, Hollyman, Hollomon, etc.) did establish themselves or at least some of the family in Hertfordshire, England around the villages of Chipperfield and Tring, located 30 or so miles northwest of London proper. Other villages with Hollymans were Berkhamsted, Aldbury, Cholesbury and Cuddington.

Most of our American genealogical trees begin with one John Holyman, born 1572 in Tring, Hertfordshire. This was during the reign (and rule) of that magnificent Tudor queen, Elizabeth I. Anglicanism had replaced the Roman Catholic faith in the land, helped along by several burnings at stakes of recalcitrant Catholics and not a few Spanish Jesuits who sought to return England to the Old Faith. The friction between Spain and England, exacerbated by privateers Drake and Raleigh, eventually led to the sailing of the Spanish Armada of 1588.

This is Robert Peale's painting of Queen Elizabeth being carried by her devoted courtiers.

Elizabeth called out the able bodied men of England to repel the invader if the embryonic English fleet was not able to do so. One wonders if John Holyman and our kinsmen did not muster on a village green with pike in hand?


It is obvious from these memorials that in the last two World Wars, numerous Holliman kinsmen mustered with their English regiments, and sadly all did not return.

More on the English Holliman's in the next posting!

Yes, Christopher Holliman Still Lives In Virginia!

by Christopher S. Holliman

At right is Christopher Holliman (b 1978), a 9th great grandson of Christopher Holliman, Sr. (d 1691) dressed in his Colonial reenactment costume at St. John's Episcopal Church, Richmond, Virginia. Chris gives tours to visitors at this historic site on Saturdays and Sundays during the summer months.

St. John's Church is a National Historic Landmark in recognition of it being the site where Patrick Henry gave his famous "Liberty or Death" speech. With such men as George Washington and Thomas Jefferson in the audience, St. John's Church was, for a few days in March 1775, the center of the American Revolution. Visitors come to reconnect with this historical moment, and I'm lucky to be one of the people that they may meet while they are here.

A typical day here includes giving tours to school groups, walking tourists around the cemetery and church, and generally interpreting history for them. My favorite part of the job is meeting people that come from all over the world and care deeply about history.

On Sunday afternoons in the summer we provide a reenactment of Patrick Henry's speech at the church. Costumed actors perform the various roles of the famous patriots. We pack the church for each performance, and the energy in the room is absolutely electric. It's like watching history come to life.

So, if you are traveling in Virginia this vacation season, stop by Richmond and meet both Patrick Henry and me, Christopher Holliman, a relative of those who read this Weblog. For information on and directions to this Colonial history site, visit http://www.historicstjohnschurch.org/. Hope to see you soon! "

When not providing historical interpretations, Chris is a librarian with the Henrico County Library system. His three-year-old daughter, Camille, is a 10th, possibly 11th generation American (if we count John Holyman, d 1650 as the first generation). Yes, Chris is the brother of Grace Holliman, and son of Glenn Holliman, who prepare this blog.

When We Were English, Part I

Some First Thoughts on Our English Roots
by Glenn N. Holliman

This map is somewhat dated, but in the upper left hand corner is Tring, Hertforshire, England. Just to the east of it is the little village of Aldbury and south is Cholesbury. To the west of Hemel Hempstead is Berkhamsted. Toward the lower right hand corner is the tiny village of Chipperfield. In left center is Wendover, and to the west, but not on this map, is Cuddington. London is off the map to the southeast. There is evidence that Holymans and Hollimans lived in these villages and towns.


I have had the pleasure of traveling to England numerous times in my life. As I have become older, my interest in family history has grown. Recently, my wife and I invested a number of days researching Holliman history in an area approximately 25 to 30 miles from the center of London. These towns and villages were Tring, Aldbury, Cholesbury, Cuddington, Chipperfield and Berkhamstead in both Hertfordshire and Buckinghamshire.

In graduate school, (gasp 40 years ago!) I studied history and know that primary evidence is crucial to any research. There is a popular and evidently well-researched Holliman family tree website that lists John Holyman (1572 - 1650) as the direct line of our family, born in Tring, Hertfordshire and died in Southampton, Virginia. Unfortunately, no one has yet shared with me the hard evidence of this birth and death date or the fact that the gentleman ever existed. This does not mean that facts do not exist somewhere; it is just that I have not seen such or discovered it in my research.

Let me quickly say that hard primary evidence exists for our first American Holliman, one Christopher Holliman, Sr, who died in Isle of Wight County, Virginia in 1691. We have his will and many legal records. Unfortunately his birth place and date are still a matter of conjecture.

You might want to review the map above because in our next post we will explore our English roots. Internet sites suggest this is not the only part of England where Hollimans may have lived in the 17th century, but I'll begin our journey in the Chiltern Hills around Tring. More on this subject soon.


High Street in downtown Tring, Hertfordshire, a town over 1,000 years old.

Our Family's Colonial Era, Part VI

Tobacco, Slavery, Democracy and Our Family
by Glenn N. Holliman

If one analyzes the 17th Century Virginia economy carefully, it makes for disturbing reading. The Christopher Hollimans and, of course, the rest of the colony grew a crop (tobacco) that if used normally shortens the lives of most people.

Even King James I wrote during his reign (1603- 1625) a book , called "A Counter Blast to Tobacco" castigating the use of the Indian weed. He was the first but not the last political leader to urge persons to quit the habit. (This same king gave us the King James Version of the Bible which our ancestors read and cherished.)

Of course, until 1776, the Crown's tobacco tax fattened the coffers of the English throne just as cigarette taxes swell the treasuries of the U.S. and the states today.

King James I of England models the latest in London hat wear fashion in the early 1600s

Generally, before 1700, this crop was often hoed and harvested by indentured servants from England. However, by the early 1700s, more and more newly imported African laborers tended the weed. These new Americans of a darker skin hue, soon found themselves in ever more secure legal chains on land taken by the English-Americans, usually forcefully, from Native Americans. The Virginia House of Burgesses, composed mainly of wealthier planters, passed laws as early as 1660 declaring that both captured Native American and African-Americans as 'property' who could be held in bondage and sold as human chattel.

Did these first Holliman generations hold slaves, even though holding human chattel was still an ill-formed institution in the late 1600's Virginia? The 1691 will of Christopher Sr. mentions nothing of human property, but one of his grandson’s, Thomas Holliman, does record in his will of 1762 the leaving of five slaves to his various sons. One slave, named Peter, was to be sold and the income produced to be divided amongst some family members. Other relatives began to note slaves, although not more than a few African Americans, in their wills by the early and middle 1700s.

The Christopher Hollimans and their descendants seemed to have been ‘average southerners’, yeoman, land-owning farmers if you will. In 1860 only one out of every four southern heads of households owned slaves. Most of our Alabama Hollimans listed no slaves in census reports of 1860, although kinfolk by marriage did so. Historians report that average number of slaves owned by a southern head of household was four, or roughly that of a family. The gigantic slave plantations of Gone With the Wind are largely fiction, although some such 'human factories' did exist.

Perhaps as with many early Virginians, the first Holliman generation tilled only a small portion of land for tobacco, the cash crop, utilizing the rest for corn, vegetables, wood fuel and range for hogs, poultry and cattle. There were six children who grew to adult hood to assist with the work in this 17th century generation.

For the record, let us note three events in the year 1619 that influenced American history and our family. One, the House of Burgess, a parliament if you will, met for the first time in Jamestown - the first example of representative democracy. Two, that same year a Portuguese transport sold Africans in Virginia who were held as slaves. Three, across the James River, a new settlement was born, the shire, later to be called after a founder's English home, of Isle of Wight County.

So paradoxically democracy and slavery, our nation's birth defect, were introduced the same year in the same colony. To this day our family has been greatly influenced by these events. And across the James River, the shire where Christopher Holliman, Sr. prospered, was founded that same fateful year of 1619!

(For sources used for this article and more information, please refer to Sources and Publications on this blog.)

D-Day Tribute

An American Goes to Normandy

By Grace Holliman

Excerpt from an article published in the Herald-Citizen, Cookeville, Tennessee, on June 6, 2004

(soldiers walking the beach at Normandy, 2004)

“I hear you are going to be in Normandy during the first week of June,” my grandfather, Bishop (Pa-Bish) Holliman wrote to me in an email. “I’m sure I’ve told you where I was on D-Day, 1944. I was on the Barker (a Navy destroyer) and we were coming through the Straits of Gibraltar.”

“I was on watch that morning,” Pa-Bish’s email continued, “in the radio shack and I heard over the BBC that the invasion had occurred. Needless to say, I was glad to be where I was at the time. I realized that it was largely by the luck of the draw, or what letter of the alphabet your name began with, that most of us were where we were at any time during the war. If we made it through the war unscathed, we were just plain lucky.”

Not everyone was as lucky as my grandfather.

It is June 2, 2004 and Allies have once again invaded Normandy. This time it is with cameras, re-enactors, portable pavilions and folding chairs. My husband, father, stepmother and I are just four of the hundreds of people who are watching the military and media from all over the western world prepare for the 60th Anniversary of D-Day.

Today the American Cemetery, located along the coast of Omaha Beach, is full of activity. Gardeners are finishing up last minute weed-eating, mowing and pruning. Cut grass is being collected and loaded into carts pulled by lawn tractors. The 3rd Armor Division is drilling for the ceremonies that will take place in less than four days.

Three young French girls run up to two U.S. soldiers with paper and pen. I watched as the enlisted men sign their names.

“I bet you didn’t plan on being a celebrity,” I say to one of the men.
“Yeah, it is kind of weird,” he said, a bit embarrassed after realizing that I was an American. “But being here sure beats where we are stationed in Germany.”

It appears that the French are pleased to see the Allies return. Flowers and flags, primarily of American, British, and Canadian nationalities, are on poles in window boxes and strung across streets in banners.

Ste-Mere-Eglise, a town that became a drop zone for the 82nd and 101st Airborne Divisions, is brimming with tourists and trucks loaded with grandstand equipment. Locals sit in front of cafes amused with the lighting and sound gear that is being set up on their church lawn.

Pointe-du-Hoc, the dividing cliff between Omaha and Utah beaches, is swarming with men and women dressed in WWII uniforms. Re-enactors of American, British and German origin mingle with civilian-clothed tourists and active duty troops. Occasionally it is difficult to distinguish the re-enactors from the real servicemen.

Before leaving the American Cemetery, my family and I stroll around through the rows and rows of bright white crosses and stars. We can hear the ocean crashing along the coastline with sporadic interruptions from the buzz of weed-eater motors.

A few members of the media are practicing camera angles and interviewing veterans. I watch as military personnel from the U.S., England, and France walk along the path between the graves and the ocean. They are here to commemorate D-Day together.

“You are going to have to give your grandfather a phone call when you get home and tell him about your trip,” my father stated as our group slowly walked back to the memorial entrance.

“Absolutely,” I said as my mind raced ahead to packing bags, plane tickets, and returning to work on Monday. “It has been an amazing trip.”

Glancing back at the rows of white, it occurred to me that the men buried here never had the chance to become grandfathers.

American Cemetery in Normandy, France

Next week, Glenn returns to 17th Century Virginia and continue to uncover that first generation of Hollimans and their challenges in a new land.