THE PARISH CHESTS OF BARNBY DON

THE PARISH CHEST

OF

BARNBY-DON

Posted by Carolyn J. Christensen, great-granddaughter of Edward Charles Wrigley

I wrote the following many years ago, some time after I returned from a six week genealogy trip to England when I was in my early twenties. One of the highlights there was to visit the village where our Wrigley line originated.

“There I was, doing the thing I had dreamed of so long. I was sitting behind the wheel of a Hillman Imp, a tiny English car, speeding along the road that cut through the beautiful countryside. The road sign said Barnby-Don was one mile away and my excitement grew in leaps and bounds. Barnby-Don. I had heard so much about it. My mind quickly flew through the thousands of mental images I had gleaned through the years as I searched for names of my Wrigley ancestors, knowing all the while, the town would be nothing like I imagined. Around the next corner and there it was. The moment overwhelmed me. I stopped the car a moment to compose myself before entering the quiet little village. It was one of England’s many mill towns. There was little left of the old buildings; new uniform apartment type building marked the growth of the village in the last one hundred years.

Later the village minister pointed out the lovely old church, and just down the road, the schoolhouse where my own ancestor had lived and taught school. Soon the minister left me alone in the church, the Parish Chest open before me, and I was free to slip back into the past. There on the pages, in faded, shaking writing was the record, the only record, of long dead ancestors. My happiness knew no bounds as I lovingly copied the information shown on the pages. As the sun slanted through the window, giving a glow to the books I was copying from, I knew I was experiencing a moment I would lock in my heart forever.”

Carolyn Johnson Christensen 1945
> Doris Kirkham Johnson 1923
> Sarah A. Wrigley Kirkham1888
> Edward Charles Wrigley 1864
> Joseph Wrigley 1840
> Thomas Wrigley 1816
> John Wrigley 1774
> John Wrigley 1737
> Jeremiah Wrigley 1709
> Jeremiah Wrigley 1683

 
 
 
 
 
 
 

                                                     The beautiful Barnby-Don Church

The Barnby-Don School