Richard Spurrett descended from two generations of itinerant travellers, and in his younger years covered a lot of ground across the Lambourne downs and through to London. He was born in Woodstock in Oxfordshire. His mother died in childbirth in 1790 in Putney, when he was just nine years old. He married and had a… Continue reading Understanding 19th Century Surveyors in Bampton
Author: robspurrett
Tracing Ancestral Migration: A Personal Journey
Migration is such an emotive and contentious topic these days, but for millennia people have moved in search of work, or better opportunities for their families, and to evade persecution. Over the last 500 years, my family did the same: moving to find work in the industrial north of England after the enclosure of agricultural… Continue reading Tracing Ancestral Migration: A Personal Journey
Geoffrey (Jack) Spurrett 1934-2021
At the age of 87 years and one day, my father passed away earlier this year. Writing and doing the eulogy was one of the hardest things I’ve had to do. There was an incredible turn-out for the funeral and a few people asked me to share what I said. In one sense, it seems… Continue reading Geoffrey (Jack) Spurrett 1934-2021
Stalking Strangers
Sometimes it is surprising just what can be found on-line, and at other times its pretty frustrating what cannot. For example, try to find a living person of voting age and its pretty easy to find most people’s address from the electoral roll (available on subscription from Find My Past, 192.com, etc.) But try to find their… Continue reading Stalking Strangers
Grandfather’s steps
For the next few days I am in France with my parents and we retracing the steps of my Grandfather in the First World War. He volunteered for the Oxfordshire and Buckinghamshire Light Infantry late in 1915, aged 19. After a short training period on Salisbury plane he was deployed to France and Flanders. Yesterday… Continue reading Grandfather’s steps
Spring shoots
Well its been a busy few weeks in the world of Spurrett-ology. I have been wrestling with a little mystery of a certain Robert Spurrett who was a member of the 30th Cambridge Regiment of Foot and fought in Wellington’s army in the Peninsular Wars in the early 1800’s. The mystery arises because some other… Continue reading Spring shoots
SPURRETT Family History 