James Edwards ...

St. Mary's Church, Hemyock

Our last day of our southern England "holiday" (I love having holidays again) we spent in Devonshire. We had stayed the night in Taunton and early in the morning drove to Hemyock, which is very close. My great grandparents James and Helen (Ellen, Halland) Broomfield were married at St. Mary's Church in Hemyock and many generation of Broomfields and Coles lived in or near Hemyock. There is not much in Hemyock, except a pub/restaurant. I believe there was a general store there the last time I was in Hemyock about 20 years go. I have always wondered why I could not find any family headstones in Hemyock, but so many of the stones are weathered that I probably would

Sarah Wood Broomfield Burial Record

not have found them anyways. I called the minister whose name was on the sign and he told me that he did not have any old records and that I would need to go to Exeter for the records. I had ordered records from Exeter before, but had never been to the records office before. We had a few hours, but needed to be back in East Grinsted/London area by that night and new we had about a three and a half hour drive. Off to Exeter. I searched the indexes for records and some microfiche. Boom! On the microfiche I found many Broomfield names, including William and Sarah Wood, parents of Sarah Wood Broomfield.

William Broomfield, my gggrandfaher burial record

Hemyock was listed as a residence but below Hemyock it said Culm Davy Chapel. That was it! They lived in Hemyock but their chapel was Culm Davy and that is where they were buried. Where was Culm Davy? That was it. They lived in/near Hemyock but there chapel was Culm Davy and that is where they were buried. Where was Culm Davy? We went back to Hemyock to try and get our bearings and I found a man in the street who told me, "Go down that road and when the houses begin to thin, take the road on the right." Not very exact for a non-local, but down the road we went. We passed one road and I thought it had to be the one, so we turned around in the next lane, which said Tedburrow on it. Tedburrow that was the place that the Broomfields lived according to the death register. We found the tiny, tiny road and began the decent. Maybe a mile or two down the road we came to the chapel ... on a curve, on a very narrow road with NO parking. There was a farmer's house across the street that had a small blacktop parking pad, so I h ad Steve pull in there and intended to get permission from the owner. Steve stayed in the car and I started reading headstones ... NO Broomfield, or Cole, or Wood. Where were they? I had caught a glimpse of the house owner so I went in search of him again. Yes, he had keys to the church, he had been a warden of the church and used to mow the lawns and YES he knew exactly where the Broomfield headstone was, at least one of them. His name was James Edwards and he looked liked a doctor/farmer. He put on his boots and took us over to the chapel and let us in, then he showed us the headstone, which was in front of the church and although very worn I could

distinguish the ....FIELD and the name if Emma Rowland on the bottom, which was the name of William's daughter that I also found in the records. What a find! If we had been an hour or two later or earlier, if James had not been home we would never have found it. Just a few hours of searching and I am now connected to Tedburrow and Culm Davy Chapel. James and I sat on the pews that are in an alcove just outside the church door and talked about the church and family history. The church is a 1500 church and he said there was probably a church on the spot before that. It is a working church associated with the parish church in Hemyock and when the river flooded people would go to this church as they couldn't cross the river.  He has become quite interested in family history and I shared with him a few websites and we exchanged email addresses. He also has a cousin interested in Irish research and I told him I would try and help, although Irish research is difficult as many of the records were destroyed. James Edwards was my miracle today!