September 2006 – Edition 17

Ray brings the Jerrems Saga to current times with this
edition. There may be a few additional names that
were overlooked. Let us know.

William George 1V (Jerry) (son of William
George lll) b1926. Children set out later.Donald Edwin lll (son of Donald Edwin ll)
b1942 mSharon Wright June 15 1970. No issue.

Alec Nicholl (son of Donald Edwin ll) b1942
mDarlene c1960. No issue.

William Scott (Scott) (son of Donald Edwin
ll) b1947 mVirginia Lay (Jenny) c1970, d1999. No
issue.

Susan Nicolette (daughter of Donald Edwin
ll) bAugust 18 1952 mDidier Begat c1985. Daughter
Vanessa b1987.

Warren Kirk (son of Donald Edwin ll)
bNovember 23 1952 mMia Snapp (bMay 7 1959)
c1988. Daughters Jacqueline bNovember 31 1990,
Olivia bNovember 3 1991.

Brian David (son of Alexander Stapler and
Eva) bc1960, mVictoria Lee. No issue.

Charles (“Chick”) (son of Sydney Ann and
Charles Keller) bNovember 5 1946 mCarol Iddings
(bSeptember 16 1948). Three children Jennifer Leigh
b1975, Andrew Scott b1978 and Charles Christopher
b1983.

Hugh (“Jerry”) (son of Sydney Ann and
Charles Keller) bJul 22, 1950.

William Alan (son of Sydney Ann and Charles
Keller) bNov 4, 1960.

Helen Elizabeth (Betty) (daughter of
Marjorie). Born 1919 Ohio d2004 Cherokee Village.
Married (1)Rizzo and (2) Martin Meisenheimer (dec’d).
Children Nancy Byford Rizzo (m James Maguire, dau
Remmy) and Richard Jerrems Rizzo. Source-obituary.
Virginia (Ginny) (daughter of Marjorie). Born c1923,
mDavid Skowlund.

Mary, daughter of Arthur Wallace Jr by first
marriage, born in mid 1920s in Chicago, grew up in
Barrington, Chicago. Nothing further known.

Marquette Ambrose (Mark) and Vincent (Vince)
Healy (sons of Vincent and Pat Healy). Born in
CA in 1944 and 1948 resp.
Let us know if we missed any Jerrems.

In an earlier Newsletter there was an article
on “Jerrems Spur” in Australia. We have now located
a Jerrems Hill near Mottisfont, in Hampshire, in
southern England.The website of Test Valley Borough Council shows
the address of the chairman of Mottisfont’s
Parish
Council (Mr John Millns) as “Hillside Cottage”, Jerrems
Hill, Mottisfont, Romsey.

Our forbears came from Lincolnshire, in northern
England. I thought that it would therefore be very
unlikely that the hill would have been named after
one of them, but who was it named after?

I would like to be able to say that Jerrems Hill was
the site of a famous battle led by Sir Raymond
Jerrems and Sir Donald Jerrems, the champions of
Good Queen Bess, defending her honour against the
dastardly outlaw Marmaduke Fotheringham. But, alas,
this would not be true.

I wrote to John Millns and he replied as follows:

“The name ‘Jerrems’ has always puzzled us,
particularly as we have noted that it appears on
some Ordnance Survey maps, but not others. I
enclose two maps (dated 1946 and 1967) showing it.
The enclosed photo shows our cottage (known
as ‘Hillside View’ in 1946) in the foreground and what
we think used to be called Jerrems Hill Cottage, in
the background (now Hope Cottage).

Jerrems Hill Cottage was originally a toll keepers
cottage and I have contacted the previous
owner who owned it from 1964 to 1997. He thinks
the name “Jerrems” could well be that of the first toll
keeper, but that is not certain.

There is an official roadside nameplate bearing the
name “Jerrems Hill”, also.”

A toll keeper would have been employed to collect
tolls from users of the main road passing over
Jerrems Hill.

Subsequently John found an 1871 map which
shows “Jerrems Hill TP” (Jerrems Hill Toll Place),
confirming that the cottage was used for collecting
tolls.

John estimates that Jerrems Hill Cottage and his
cottage were both built in the early 1700s (believe it
or not, he sent me a copy of the 1737 insurance
policy for his cottage!). The cottages were smaller
when they were originally built.

The fact that Jerrems Hill Cottage was built on an
unusually small block of land for a rural area and it
was unusually close to the road may indicate that it
was built specifically for the tollkeeper. If the
cottage was built in the early 1700s and Jerrems was
the first tollkeeper then we have a person born
slightly earlier than our earliest established ancestor,
William Jerom (born about 1720).

The Hill is about 3 kilometres north west of
Mottisfont. Mottisfont is on the River Test,
which
flows into the English Channel at Southampton, and
it boasts such famous neighbours as Dunbridge,
Kimbridge, Awbridge, Kings Somborne and
Michelmersh (just joking). Seriously, it has a famous
13th century Abbey which is owned by the National
Trust. Well worth a visit. And don’t forget to drive up
Jerrems Hill and thank John for the time and trouble
he went to in doing the research for us.

So it seems that the mysterious person after whom
the Hill was named may have simply been the toll
keeper, not a Sixteenth Century Sir Raymond Jerrems
or Sir Donald Jerrems or any other such heroic notion.
Photo (TwoCottages above) This photo shows John
Millns’ house in the foreground and Jerrems Hill
Cottage in the background. John’s house has pink
roof tiles because they were made from pink clay.

Photo (SURVEYMAP). This photo
shows location of Jerrems Hill.

If you remember Sydney-girl Nicole Kidman
married
Keith Urban at Manley Point in June. (Manley
Point
was mentioned in our July issue; it is where Great
Uncle Charles lived out his last days in the early
1900’s.)At the Manley Point wedding ceremony, the
paparazzi were in full form taking thousands of
pictures. The picture below was taken as Nicole was
leaving the ceremony.

And who, prey tell, is escorting her? It is that Old
Rascal Ray, who for 200 years has been
haunting the shores of Manley Point and other parts
of Australia.

Where will Old Ray show up next?