Hi Team Can anyone tell me where to try next!? My father's side of the family apparently were awarded something called "Freemen of the Thames" after taking food by boat into London during the plague. This, I believe meant such benefits as never paying taxes in England for any future generation as long as you were born "on The Thames". This has been shared with me by my mother - and she's not too sure about it's accuracy of detail. Where can I go to find out more. Any ideas? Cheers Lisa McKimm Hamilton New Zealand --------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Hi Lisa Basically the Freemen of anywhere are a group of people that have been honoured for their work in that particular area.People such as Lightermen and boatmen. The Freemen of the Thames is part of a charity which is still going strong today. Here is an excerpt from the Freemen of Abingdon which is on the Thames. If you go to http://www.google.co.uk and highlight the PAGES FROM UK button enter "Freedom of the Thames" you will get quite a few hits showing you varioius functions etc. Chris and Caroline "The Freemen of England and Wales are an association of Guilds and individual Freemen whose roots go back into antiquity. Prior to the Reform Act of 1835 only those who had obtained the Freedom of the Borough could vote or become Councillors. There were definite responsibilities coupled with these privileges involving the day to day running and even the defence of towns and cities. Failure to meet these obligations met with severe penalties. This system of local government disappeared in 1835, but in many towns the tradition was kept alive by granting honorary freedom to distinguished citizens. The Borough of Abingdon was one such town, a tradition continued today by the Abingdon Town Council. To be made an Honorary Freeman of Abingdon is a very great honour that is rarely bestowed. In the past it has been given to organisations such as the Royal Air Force, Abingdon, and to the Royal Berkshire Regiment in 1955. In 1966 the Borough of Thame, New Zealand, was granted the Freedom, and in 1977 it was bestowed on the Abingdon charity, Christ's Hospital. More recently, the freedom has only been granted to individuals who have given a large part of their lives to voluntary work for the town. One of the historic privileges of Abingdon Freemen is permission to drive their sheep across Abingdon Bridge without charge. This privilege was used by the five individual Honorary Freemen still alive today, early in January 2001." ----- Original Message ----- From: "Lisa McKimm - ParentingWorx" <parentingworx@hnpl.net> To: <HAMPSHIRE-LIFE-L@rootsweb.com> Sent: Saturday, April 26, 2003 6:08 AM Subject: [HantsLife] Help! Hi Team Can anyone tell me where to try next!? My father's side of the family apparently were awarded something called "Freemen of the Thames" after taking food by boat into London during the plague. This, I believe meant such benefits as never paying taxes in England for any future generation as long as you were born "on The Thames". This has been shared with me by my mother - and she's not too sure about it's accuracy of detail. Where can I go to find out more. Any ideas? Cheers Lisa McKimm Hamilton New Zealand ---------------------------------------------------------------------------- ---- ==== HAMPSHIRE-LIFE Mailing List ==== This is YOUR list so please treat it the way you wish yourself treated. Remember: "FAILURE IS NOT AN OPTION" It comes bundled with the software! ============================== To join Ancestry.com and access our 1.2 billion online genealogy records, go to: http://www.ancestry.com/rd/redir.asp?targetid=571&sourceid=1237 --- All of our Outgoing mail is certified Virus Free. And attachments are also scanned before being added. Checked by AVG anti-virus system (http://www.grisoft.com). Version: 6.0.471 / Virus Database: 269 - Release Date: 10/04/2003