I find the school location fascinating. My 5 X grandfather was the first Le Resche to come to Birmingham, we were in Halifax prior to that. He is in the directories for the late 1770's 5 times, at 2 he is living at 8 New Street, and the other 3, 15, Colmore Row. Charles Le Resche. Schoolmaster. So, he ran a school, Maybe it is one of the 3 Pauline mentions. I would love to know. Sadly that so far is all we know about him, except he had 2 sons, 1,the older returned to Halifax, and the other stayed here, (we believe must have been born about 174-50's ? where, as he has 2 sons we know of, born in the 1770's and possibly a 3rd who I found in a trade directory working as a Jappenneer in the 1820's.) The grandson born in Halifax in 1775, came to Birmingham who is my 3 X grandfather. We think he came back quite young, and may have been raised by the other son who has no children we have been able to find after a licence marriage in 1796 at St. Martins. (The family was non conformist prior to that, not making record hunting in Halifax easy or indeed non conformist records here.) But he became a attender at St Martins as we think we have found the baptism of him as an older child there, Henry , he and then went into the then family profession of teaching. Or as the men put school masters. He certainly married twice there by banns. After that they attended St. Philips. And when Key Hill opened Pauline has found 3 graves of our family so far there. Does anyone know where non conformists got buried before municipal cemeteries? I know many met in rooms and houses and meeting rooms and may not have had an attached graveyard? There were 2 Wesleyian meeting places very close to both my Charles's addresses so we do not know which Charles attended. Off topic but.... Having originally always been told we were conquering Norman's, 1066 and all that, we now are starting to believe we were Huguenot's, because of the non conformist links, they were non Catholics in France, converted by John Calvin, who were greatly persecuted for their faith and many died, but over 400,000 left France for other countries in the late 1600's and early 1700's.. About 200,000 came here. Half came via Suffolk and the rest via Devon . Skilled workers and nobility in many cases. One case I read of a family so desperate to leave being found in barrels coming off a ship in Devon. (There was a massive massacre of them in France one St Bartholomew's Day, a saint they followed and so were sitting targets as they celebrated.) And they mostly anglicised quickly with name changes of say Le Blanc to White ,Le Noir to Black etc..... another good one L'Oiseau to Bird-!! Might have the French spelling wrong!!! Michele

On 25 Nov, Michele Le Resche <michele.leresche@btinternet.com> wrote: > And they mostly anglicised quickly with name changes of say Le Blanc > to White ,Le Noir to Black etc..... > another good one L'Oiseau to Bird-!! Might have the French spelling > wrong!!! There is a school of thought that says that my WHEWAY ancestors should be pronounced HUET (hugh-way) as they were Huguenots. However, we have managed to trace them back to the mid 1500s in Nuneaton, which I think discounts the Huguenot theory. -- Chris Pampling researching: BARRATT, DANCER, FELLOWS, GOODES, HOLDING, ROBINSON, TUCKLEY, WHEWAY, MAHER all in and around Birmingham/Smethwick, 1850 to present day PAMPLING Cambridgeshire - Sheffield, 1800 to present VARNDELL Wokingham - Birmingham, 1800 to present

Hi Michele 8 New Street is probably near the Town Hall end, by where the old RBSA was, but maybe that was his dwelling and not necessarily the school's location? New Street in the early days was THE place to live in Birmingham - there were gates between the road up from the Bull Ring and New Street, so that the residents were kept away from the market riff-raff, presumably. William Hutton lived in New Street. At that time there were only a few schools, the Bluecoat School would have been there (you know the buildings that are at right angles to Colmore Row, and go right up to the back of Rackhams?) The school was Colmore Row end - I have a photograph somewhere, but I have looked and looked today, but cannot locate which book it is in. I doubt if the Early Morning Schools were around at that time - one was in Severn Street, but I shall have to see if I can find out when King Edwards School was founded - he could have taught there. There were several burial grounds for non-conformists, there was one in front of what became the Gt Western Railway, which was dug up when the railway arrived (there is a wonderful poem about that), however, I think that may have been Quakers. There was a burial ground attached to the church in Cherry Street (one Wesley himself opened or visited) and that was dug up and bodies removed to Witton around 1882/3 for the cutting through of Corporation Street. I would suggest that is where you look - it was known as Cherry Street Chapel, and I do have photographs if you find it is the one your ancestors attended. This Chapel was approximately at the end of Cherry Street at the junction with Corporation Street, where the Rackhams entrance is. I shall be back when I have looked it up more. Regards Pauline ----- Original Message ----- From: "Michele Le Resche" <michele.leresche@btinternet.com> To: <eng-warks-birmingham@rootsweb.com> Sent: Saturday, November 25, 2006 5:54 PM Subject: Re: [B'ham] Birmingham Boarding School > I find the school location fascinating. > My 5 X grandfather was the first Le Resche to come to Birmingham, we > were in Halifax prior to that. > > He is in the directories for the late 1770's 5 times, at 2 he is > living at 8 New Street, and the other 3, 15, Colmore Row. > Charles Le Resche. Schoolmaster. > So, he ran a school, Maybe it is one of the 3 Pauline mentions. > I would love to know. > > Sadly that so far is all we know about him, except he had 2 sons, > 1,the older returned to Halifax, and the other stayed here, (we > believe must have been born about 174-50's ? where, as he has 2 sons > we know of, born in the 1770's and possibly a 3rd who I found in a > trade directory working as a Jappenneer in the 1820's.) The grandson > born in Halifax in 1775, came to Birmingham who is my 3 X > grandfather. We think he came back quite young, and may have been > raised by the other son who has no children we have been able to find > after a licence marriage in 1796 at St. Martins. (The family was non > conformist prior to that, not making record hunting in Halifax easy > or indeed non conformist records here.) But he became a attender at > St Martins as we think we have found the baptism of him as an older > child there, Henry , he and then went into the then family profession > of teaching. Or as the men put school masters. He certainly married > twice there by banns. > After that they attended St. Philips. > > And when Key Hill opened Pauline has found 3 graves of our family so > far there. > > Does anyone know where non conformists got buried before municipal > cemeteries? > I know many met in rooms and houses and meeting rooms and may not > have had an attached graveyard? > > There were 2 Wesleyian meeting places very close to both my Charles's > addresses so we do not know which Charles attended. > > Off topic but.... > Having originally always been told we were conquering Norman's, 1066 > and all that, we now are starting to believe we were Huguenot's, > because of the non conformist links, they were non Catholics in > France, converted by John Calvin, who were greatly persecuted for > their faith and many died, but over 400,000 left France for other > countries in the late 1600's and early 1700's.. About 200,000 came > here. Half came via Suffolk and the rest via Devon . > Skilled workers and nobility in many cases. > One case I read of a family so desperate to leave being found in > barrels coming off a ship in Devon. > (There was a massive massacre of them in France one St Bartholomew's > Day, a saint they followed and so were sitting targets as they > celebrated.) > And they mostly anglicised quickly with name changes of say Le Blanc > to White ,Le Noir to Black etc..... > another good one L'Oiseau to Bird-!! Might have the French spelling > wrong!!! > > > Michele > >