One of my favorite castles is Raby Castle in County Durham, England. Raby is a reinforced manor house from the 13th Century. It was the ancestral home of the Neville family, to whom I have relations through my Conyers line.
I’ve been reading a book on the design and technology of castles, and I wondered if Raby had every been under siege. Naturally, the first place I looked was Google.
I found references to a siege at Raby in 1648, …
As I’ve posted before, I am descended from the Conyers of Durham, a mid-level Norman family that settled in Country Durham some time after 1066. While they weren’t a major House on their own, they did a great job of marrying up, and my ancestral lines connect to most of the major Houses of England (Neville, Marshal, Percy, among others) and even to the Royal House of Plantagenet through Edward III.
The other day, Patrick Cracroft-Brennan posted on the …
Our third morning in the United Kingdom, we took the train from London Kings Cross Station to Durham, England.
This is where the extra we spent for the first class BritRail Pass paid off. The standard class cars were packed and seemed to be standing room only, while the first class had plenty of room.
And free coffee. Delivered to my big, comfy seat.
I’m referring to my chair. My posterior is neither big nor comfy. And I rarely have …
The origins of All Saints Church in Sockburn stretch back to antiquity. Higbald was crowned Bishop of Lindisfarne in here in 780 or 781, and Eanbald was made Archbishop of York here in 796.
The majority of what was the church is now in ruins. The still standing portion, called Conyers Chapel, is considerably younger. It is named after John Conyers, who lived in the 13th century, and is my 27G Grandfather.
His stone effigy can be found in the …
I’ve always been interested in genealogy. Both sides of my family have done considerable research, and have documented lines going back to about 1600. Not too shabby.
A few years back, when speaking to my maternal grandmother about her family tree, she told me she knew there was something notable about her ancestors, but didn’t know (or remember) what it was. She was the baby of the family by several years, and by the time she and I discussed it, …
