The Anvil Inn In Sawdon, Yorkshire On The Land Once Owned By My Edman And Eshelby Ancestors
Many years ago, I visited England on a multi-stop, 10 day whirlwind genealogy tour.
The first of these stops was in Sawdon, Yorkshire.
My Eshelby family had lived there from the 1750s to the 1810s, when they left for Canada. While there, my ancestor William had married Jane, the only child of William Edman.
Armed with a 200 years-old land deed I had located before I left on my trip, I set off to try to locate my family's land.
The deed had one vital clue in it. The land was on Wood Gate Way. Amazingly enough, I found it! The Way was still there and the name unchanged.
Over 200 Years Old And Still Going Strong
The problem was, the deed didn't tell me WHERE on the Way it was, and as I later found out, it's at least 10 miles long!
So, I walked the short distance to the picturesque village of Sawdon.
Sawdon Is Such A Lovely Place
Sawdon is a very tiny village of just a few homes and one water hole, "The Anvil Inn".
So, I went in and ended up chatting with Alex, the landlady.
I let her know why I was visiting and she said that Piers and Dee, the village historians, lived just across the street. She gave them a call and they came right over.
I showed them what I had and Piers said he has a colleague who lived a few parishes south of there that had an old enclosure (property line) map for Sawdon. So, we jumped into his car and off we went.
We got there, and sure enough, he pulled out his HUMUNGOUS four foot long map and unrolled it. I took a quick look and immediately latched onto the name William Edman, Jane's father!
The Enclosure Map For Sawdon
From earlier research, I had learned that William also owned a 26 acre plot just to the northeast and directly across from the Inn. That was a lot of land for a basic yeoman back then!
So Piers and I hopped back into his car and raced back to the Inn and shared our findings with Alex. She was just as excited as I was and then let me know that several of the blacksmith tools at the Inn were actually from the 1700s!
I Wonder Which One Of These Were From The 1700s And Used By William Edman?
Piers then drove me around to the second plot of land William owned. Although you can't see it on the above map, there's a huge gorge in between the properties so we had to drive around it. But then I was rewarded with this.
My Ancestor's Second Piece Of Land
Needless to say, I was thrilled to have been able to find and visit this place and experience this exciting piece of my family history. There's just something about actually being there and standing on the same soil your ancestors cared for. It really "grounds" you! It's surreal on so many levels.
And to top it all off with an incredible, unexpectedly wonderful story! I couldn't have dreamed for more!
If you'd like me to help "unearth" the stories in your family history, I'd love to hear from you!
Drop me a line or give me a call and I'll get started on it as soon as I can.
danny@hallgen.com
(888) 444-3211
Photo Credits:
Anvil Inn - The Anvil Inn, Sawdon - Thank You!
All others - Danny Hall
