The Bramhill Reunion 2003 was planned by Will Bramhill, Peter Bramhill, John Quanz and Jack Bramhill. We want to express our thanks to Peter for doing most of the detail work booking the hall, putting the huge wall chart together and preparing the pictorial displays. His family all pitched in and helped put everything together at the hall.

Thank you Peter.

 

Peter kept a great pictorial record of the Reunion. Here are some of those pictures.

 

The Bramhill Reunion 2003 consisted of several events linked together. The first event was the meeting of Will, Peter and John. The three of us had been writing emails to each other for about 4 years and finally were able to meet face to face. The day after the Quanzs landed in the UK we all met at a restaurant in Covent Garden.  

 

 

 

Here are some pictures taken around the table that evening

 

 

 

 

 

Will and Liz Bramhill

 

 

 

 

 

 

   

 

 

 

 

 

   

Ruby Quanz (nee Bramhill) and her son John Quanz

 

 

   

 

 

 

 

 

 

   

 

 

 

   

 

Peter and Angela Bramhill

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

   

 

 

 

 

   

 

Ruby’s daughter Joanne Quanz (on the left) and John’s wife Elaine.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

   

 

 

 

 

As a thank you to Will for all his work on the Bramhill history, the Canadians presented Will with a small glass Inukshuk.

 

 

The Inukshuk (pronounced IN-OOK-SHOOK), meaning "in the image of man", are magnificent life-like figures of stone which were erected by the Inuit people. They stand along Canada's most northern shores, and are unique to the Canadian arctic. They also stand as symbols of leadership, encouraging the importance of friendship, and reminding us of our dependence on one another. It is a great symbol of “family”.

 


 

 

 

We had a great time together celebrating the incredible achievement our family has had in gathering so much of our history.

 

 

 

On Friday we met in Epworth and after we settled in for the weekend in our lodging we went to the Church Hall and set up for the Reunion. It didn’t take long for the ten of us to set up the room and the displays and we still had plenty of time to greet cousins who stopped by to say hello and help out. Of course when we finished we went to eat. The Chinese Restaurant in Epworth is wonderful and the family style meal we had certainly stimulated lots of conversation.

 

Going clockwise around the table:

                        John Quanz – center front

                        Joanne Quanz – his sister

                        Ruby Quanz (nee Bramhill) – his mother

                        Angela Bramhill – Peter’s wife

                        Elaine Quanz – John’s wife

                        Peter Bramhill

                        Karen Coombe (nee Bramhill) – Peter’s daughter

                        Bryan Coombe – Karen’s husband

                        Betty Franklin (nee Bramhill)

                        Ross Franklin – Betty’s husband

 

The Franklins and the Quanzs were the Bramhill delegation from Canada. Ross Franklin had served in the air force in Britain during World War II and was pleased to visit many of the locations where he was stationed.

 

 

 

 

 

The reunion was held at the Wesley Memorial Church Hall in Epworth, Lincolnshire, England on August 9, 2003. It was a wonderful time for many of us to finally meet face to face after communicating by email for over 3 years. We celebrated the incredible achievement of gathering our family’s history dating back to the mid-1600s.

 

 

   

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

We started the day with a Walking Tour of Epworth led by Stan Firth, a cousin from the area. He gave us a background briefing and then led us on the tour starting at Bramhill Yard and ending with St. Andrews Church.

 

 

You can see more about the tour by clicking on this link - http://www.bramhill.com/Day3-ReunionWalkaround.htm

 

 

 

   

 

 

 

   

 

 

Bramhill Yard was located back this lane. The yard had a couple of homes where several Bramhill family members lived.

 

The Dutch styled house in the foreground was also owned by the Bramhills and was the location Richard Bramhill used as his Chemist Shop.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

   

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

We then walked to the Epworth Cemetery. Several Bramhill ancestors are buried here.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 


 

 

 

 

 

Stanley showed us the gravesite of Matthew Bramhill located in this area. Unfortunately, there was no gravestone and we learned that the cost of grave plot had never been paid. No, we did not take up a collection to help cover the cost for this ancient Bramhill!

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

   

 

 

This is the grave of John and Eliza Bramhill.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

   

 


 

 

 

   

We finished our tour at St. Andrews Anglican Church. It was built in the early 1300s and has served the town of Epworth for 700 years. Many of our ancestors attended here until the time of John and Charles Wesley. In fact we found the records of the baptisms of many of our ancestors here in St. Andrews.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Karen Coombe (nee Bramhill) sits beside the entrance to St. Andrews Church. It was an awesome experience to visit this church were our great-great-grandfathers were Christened.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

  

This year was the 300th Anniversary of the birth of John Wesley. As part of the celebration of this anniversary the town of Epworth erected this statue in memory of John Wesley and his ministry.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Stan Firth showed us the gravesite of Samuel Wesley, a past rector of St. Andrews Church. As John Wesley developed and promoted Methodism, the Church of England forbade him to preach inside the church. He would often stand on his father’s grave and preach to the people of Epworth who would gather outside the church. Since John Bramhill, born 1698, was a contemporary of John and Charles Wesley they would have played together and attended church together in their childhood years. Bramhills helped with the first Methodist Church in Epworth so surely they stood here listening to John preach.

 

 

 

 

 

 

After the walking tour we had a lunch provided by the parishioners of the Wesley Memorial Church. Here we see Andrew Woodhead on the left with his grandparents across the table and Joanne Quanz standing at the end.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 


 

 

 

 

 

Peter had prepared several display panels with pictures and information about the Bramhill Family in general and the John and Eliza Bramhill branch of the family in particular.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

   

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Learning about their ancestors.

 

 

 

 

 


 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

The centrepiece of the displays was a huge Family Tree banner showing the genealogy from the first Bramhills in Epworth to the current day. You can see it on the left in this picture.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

   

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

During the afternoon we had a more formal session with Peter and John doing presentations from Will, Jack, Peter and John about their family branches. We also had a special thank you presentation to Annie Cundall (nee Bramhill) for giving us the link that has connected so many of our family lines.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

  

 

 

 

 

 

 


 

 

 

We also had several prize draws through which we gave away Bramhill History Books, CD-ROMs with the various history chapters and family trees in electronic form, Maple Syrup from Canada, a Bramhill Seeds hat and t-shirts from Bramhill truck Centre. Here Annie Cundall draws a winner’s ticket from the basket.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

We took the opportunity to gather more information about various cousins and update the database so we can connect more family members to the Epworth and Liverpool Bramhill family lines.

 

 

 

 

 

   

 

 

 

 

 

 


A local newspaper photographer from the Axholme Herald came to cover the reunion and took the following pictures:

 

 

 

Stanley Johnson of Epworth, North Lincolnshire, U.K. recently wrote this article concerning the BRAMHILL Reunion at Epworth (in August 2003) for inclusion in the 'Islonian', the Journal of the Isle of Axholme Family History Society.

 

Bramhill Family Reunion 2003

By Stanley Johnson

 

Epworth in the Isle of Axholme, on the hottest weekend of the year, (9th/l0th August), was the venue for the first-ever reunion of the BRAMHILL family to be held in the U.K.

 

The event was very professionally organised by John Quanz of Ontario, Canada, and Peter Stanley Bramhill of Crawley, West Sussex. It was attended by family members from both Canada and the U.S.A. and from various parts of the U.K. including the Liverpool area.

 

The reunion took place at the Wesley Memorial Methodist Church where visitors assembled at 10 a.m. on the Saturday morning, before setting off on a tour of the town, which included visits to properties where earlier generations of the Bramhills were known to have lived. The most prominent of these was the Epworth Post Office where Richard Bramhill, a chemist and druggist, lived and carried on his business. This was originally alongside a cluster of cottages known as Bramhill’s Yard in the High Street. These cottages were demolished many years ago and it is now the site of the Doctor’s Surgery.

 

Richard died on the 7th of February 1900, aged 73 years, and his wife Elizabeth died a few days later on the 18th of February, aged 72 years. They had one daughter, Elizabeth, who married William HILL of Misterton. Many prominent Epworth families are descended from this couple.

 

After a buffet lunch kindly provided by the ladies of the church, what better way is there to relax and get together than in the lovely grounds of the church, with its manicured lawns, rose gardens and shady trees.

 

The main event of the day, however, followed at 2 p.m. when the church hall was filled with visitors. After registration and introductions had taken place, talks were given by John and Peter with slides showing old photographs of the family members, and the homes in Canada where they had lived. Everyone had been given a raffle ticket and numerous prizes were presented at intervals throughout the afternoon. These included several books on Family History with family trees, and some interesting old photographs, CDROMs, jars of maple syrup, and other Bramhill mementoes. Also included were several 25 kg Freight Shipping bags bearing the name Bramhill Seeds Ltd., Palmerston - Ontario, one of which was won by the writer.

 

An enormous family tree stretching along almost the whole length of the hall was a source of great interest, with its hundreds of names of different branches of the family. The tree had been recently taken back a couple of generations, now commencing with a William Bramhill of Owston Ferry, (1675-1733), who married Elizabeth BRAMWELL. Towards the end of the proceedings visitors had a further opportunity of mingling and introducing themselves to one another, inspecting family trees and photographs, which many of the visitors had brought with them. A great deal of valuable help and information was exchanged and at least one long outstanding puzzle concerning a member of one branch of the family was solved. John was kept very busy answering questions and taking down information on his lap­top computer for subsequent entry into the family tree. His e-mail address for anyone who wants to contact him is johnquanz@rogers.com

 

On Sunday morning many family members attended the morning service at the Wesley Memorial Methodist Church, along with the regular congregation, which also included a coach-load of American tourists. The service was conducted and the sermon preached by Peter Stanley Bramhill, which helped to give the occasion a really special family feel.

 

It was a wonderful weekend which will be long remembered.

 

Stanley Johnson,

‘Ogle Lodge’,

Castle Drive,

Epworth,

DN9 ISL.

 

Special Thanks

 

While all of you contributed to the gathering of our history, there are several people we want to thank for their special contribution to the documentation of our history and to the success of the Reunion.

 

Annie Bramhill Firth Cundall for responding to Will and giving us the chart that provided the core information of our genealogy. Where would we be today in this effort if she had not responded to Will’s request to meet him?

 

Stanley Firth for leading our “Walking Tour”. His knowledge of Epworth and the local colour information he provided made the tour a special treat.

 

Stanley Johnson who did so much of the early research and used that to create the chart that Annie gave us. He has been an incredible source of information to help fill in the gaps.

 

Barrie Bramhill who helped update the database.

 

Marjorie Dickerson who came to the Reunion and filled in many of the gaps in our information.

 

Geoff and Tammie Bramhill and their whole family for treating many of us distant travellers to a relaxing visit at Boltgate Farm the evening after the Reunion.

 

Peter and Marjorie Bramhill who treated the Quanzs so royally at Rose Cottage.

 

Thank you everyone who attended the Reunion.

 

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