| Welcome Welcome (Home) UK Family Origins Introduction In The Beginning Penn Parish Records Manorial Records Stonehouse Watercroft Grove Graves in the UK Sir George Grove Letter Extracts Family Tree Groves in America Introduction to America The American Adventure Groves in Australia Introduction to Australia The Australian Family Acknowledgements Author and Researchers Technical |
For 621 years from 1332 until 1953 generations of Groves are recorded as having lived, worked and undertaken civic duties in Penn, a village in the beautiful English countryside of Buckinghamshire. Following the Norman conquest of 1066 English land was owned by the monarch. This feudal system replaced the earlier Roman system, and lasted until the l6th century. Estates, on payment of rent, were granted by the monarch to his tenants (these could include freemen (1)) for recognised services, usually military service, but sometimes agricultural. Numerous manors (small estates like a parish) were set up to act as the local government. It is believed that the Groves acquired the freehold to Grove's Plat (Stonehouse) when the feudal system started to yield. In the Beginning tells the story in England from as far back as is known, up to 1884 when three adventurous Groves were to change their destiny by emigrating first to lumber camps in Canada and then to the hard life of pioneer farmers in America, where many of the descendants thrive today. It traces the lives of those who were left behind, and the return of one of the brothers to farm in Henley-on-Thames and to found both the English and Australian family lines through two of his daughters. The secrets of the family's success (at first in Penn and then worldwide) seem to have been co-operation - particularly with blood relatives - energy, and tenacity coupled with innovation. The Grove 19th century forebears were not afraid to try something new when the going got tough, as witness fishmongers businesses in London, a school, coffee shops and even a job in the Houses of Parliament (see the American Adventure), while not being afraid to return to their farming roots when expedient. The number of times that the family crossed the Atlantic in the l9th century is remarkable, given the obvious expense and the difficulties of the journey. It would have entailed a horse-drawn coach or train journey from the mid-west of America, a long steamship voyage, and then another journey by train or coach from an English port to their destination usually in Sussex to sort out family matters. The pioneering and resourceful spirit of the Grove ancestors can be seen in many of their descendants today. (1) A freeman is a person who is free and not beholden to any master other than his King. This distinction between the two classes, bonded and free, dates back to ancient Greece and Rome. |