For Sale: "A History of Coggeshall" by George Fredrick Beaumont
by Pete & Sandy Coggeshall
I have been contacted by Fiona Bonner Ross who is selling this 1890 book
about the area around Coggeshall, Essex, England.
If you are interested, see the e-mail messages we exchanged, below.
If you want to consider purchase of this book, contact Fiona directly by
e-mail.
PETE Coggeshall
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
Dear Fiona,
Thank you for the offer of the book that my father always referred to as
"Beaumont's Coggeshall" or just "Beaumont" when he was doing all of his
genealogy research preparing the text of his book that became "Ancestors
and Kin," printed in 1988. I have my father's copy of Beaumont, so
don't need another copy of that book. My father's copy is apparently in
better shape than you copy. There is a notation inside of the front
cover of this book that he only paid 3 Pounds for this copy -- I suspect
about 1970 or so. I suspect the value is much higher today. The
original owner of this book had pasted inside of the front cover a note
that he received from Mr Beaumont dated 22 Dec, 1889 The script on this
note is difficult to read, and it is only addressed to "My Dear Sir," so
I can't be certain of the name of the original owner.
Although I am not interested in buying the book, I do have access to a
Coggeshall web site and a Coggeshall family interest group and I will
send out this offer and post your offer to sell your copy of Beaumont on
that site and you may hear a reply from this posting.
I believe that I met your grandfather (or else your father). When my
father, my brother, my wife and I traveled to England in 1976, we went
to Coggeshall Hall and met Derek Bonner (who I assume was either your
grandfather or your father). This is what my father wrote in his book
"Ancestors and Kin" about Coggeshall Hall and Derek Bonner {with my
added explanations in these brackets}.
"Coggeshall Hall, Kelvedon, Essex
The Manor of Coggeshall Hall was held by the senior line {of the
Coggeshall family} until the death of Sir William de Coggeshall circa
1425, when it passed to John Doreward, Speaker of the House of Commons,
through his wife Blanch Coggeshall, oldest daughter of Sir William.
The demesne and seigniory of Coggeshall Hall were bought and
reunited by the Bonner family in 1936; and it was until 1987 the home of
Mr and Mrs Derek Bonner, who farmed the demesne. When we visited them
in 1976 Mr Bonner assured me that he had never used the droit du
seigneur on any local brides {this, in effect, allowed the 'owner' of
the seigniory to -- before their husband -- 'deflower' all brides --
coming from tenants on that land}."
My father also corrected an error that appeared in the original printing
in 1930 of book "The Coggeshalls in America" where Coggeshall Hall was
incorrectly identified as Codham Hall, Wethersfield, Essex. My father
worked with a clean copy he had of the original 1930 book to reproduce
it in 1982 for the Coggeshall Historical Association, with the
publishing of this reprint being done by The Reprint Company,
Publishers. In that reprinting, the 1920 photo of Coggeshall Hall is
shown, now correctly captioned, along with a 1976 picture of Coggeshall
Hall (taken by me).
I have a number of slide pictures that I took of Coggeshall Hall in 1976
that I hope to eventually digitize.
I hope this will be of some help in finding a buyer for your copy of
Beaumont.
Sincerely,
Peter C Coggeshall
Colorado Springs, CO
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
fiona ross wrote: Hello,
I found you on the Internet, and thought I would send you a note.
I used to live in Coggeshall Hall, Essex. UK. My grandfather bought it
in, I think the 1920's or so. My father and siblings grew up there, and
when Grandfather died we moved in. I had my wedding reception there,
and our 3 children had their Christening do's there also
My father has since died, but sold it some years ago. The couple who
bought it have restored it beautifully, something which my parents could
never afford to do.
The purpose of this letter is to say I have a book I do not really want,
but you might - or you may know someone who does. It is the 1890
version of 'A History of Coggeshall' by George Fred. Beaumont, published
by Marshall Brothers, London.
The front blurb says ' with an account of its church, abbey, manors,
ancient houses etc, and biographical sketches of its most distinguished
men and ancient families, including the family of Coggeshall from 1149,
to the re-union at Rhode Island, U.S.A. in 1884'
It is signed by a Thomas Doubleday, 1923, and someone else - I cannot
make out. My mother also wrote her name in it. The spine has a few
tears in it and the red cloth of the hardback is a tad stained, and it
is a little worn. However, for its age it's not bad. By the way, my
Grandfather bought the Manorial rights for the house, which passed to my
uncle, and then onto my cousin, who, sadly lives in Boston (MASS)
Would you be interested?
Very best wishes
Fiona (Ross, nee Bonner)
fionaross21(a)hotmail.com