When We Were English, Part XVIL

by Glenn N. Holliman

Somerset, England...A Home for Hollymans

In the late Fall 2011, Bob Hollyman-Mawson of Wales arranged a visit for my wife and me to call on Fred Cooper, related by marriage to the Hollyman families of Somerset, England.  For the past few articles, I have been giving a tour of the area and reproducing some photos I took of locations where Hollymans lived.

In the house below lived in the 19th Century a family named Hollyman.  Today, still occupied, the white stucco, thatched roof home in Clevedon is bracketed by roses and protected by a stone fence.

Our genial guide for our tour of Greater Bristol, England was Fred Cooper, a devoted genealogist who has catalogued hundreds of his wife's ancestors.  Below in his Bristol home, Fred shows some of his research to Barbara Holliman.

Below, Fred relaxes in an English pub after a morning of sharing with two Americans his knowledge of Hollymans in  Abbots Leigh and the Gordano Valley, a picturesque part of Somerset where the Bristol Channel serves as a water bridge uniting England and Wales. Thanks to Fred's kindness and an introduction by Bob Hollyman-Mawson, American and British cousins were brought closer together.

Our thanks to both for a greater understanding of our U.K roots.





Next article back to the States for some more amazing Holliman cousins....

When We Were English, Part XVL

by Glenn N. Holliman

Hollymans in the Parish Church Cemetery in Clevedon, Somerset

As those of you,who have been reading the past few articles know, that on a rainy day in the late autumn of 2011, distant cousin Fred Cooper of Bristol, England, kindly gave a day to show my wife and me places where persons by the surname of Hollyman had once lived. After a visit to Abbots Leigh, he guided us into the Gordano Valley along the M-5 to the town of Clevedon, a community of over 21,000 today.

Below an arial view of Clevedon from Wikipedia (the photo is in the public domain) and its 19th Century bathing pier visible jutting into the Bristol Channel.

Various Internet history sites tell of Clevedon being listed in the 11th Century Doomsday Book, and the 12th Century Church of St. Andrew's as being possibly constructed on Saxon era foundations.  Remains of an Iron Age fort can be found on a local hill.

Below, the entrance to the Anglican Parish at Clevedon where for generations Hollymans worshipped and now lie buried.

There are few things more melancholy than an English parish cemetery.  Below arranged on a hillside overlooking the Bristol Channel is the cemetery of St. Andrew's where persons with the last name of Hollyman are resting.  The parish name is from Andrew, one of the disciples who fished, and remains the patron saint of fishermen.