Fens and family

Here you can find stories and photographs about the history, places and families around Upwell parish in the fens of Norfolk and Cambridgeshire. These pages include links to my family history of Brighton, Burton, , Carnson, Copeman, Mott, Watson and many other families that came from that area – it includes Welsh, Australian, Irish, US and Canadian cousins.

If you are looking for something specific, try the search box. If you pick a tag, this will list everything that has that keyword. Otherwise, please click on the the site map at the top of the page to find a list of articles.

One of my main reasons for putting this site together was to share many of the stories and photographs that people have given me, rather than have them mouldering in a cupboard! I will also be adding links to anything I find useful for finding more information.

Feel free to add any comments, or any stories about the area, in the comments boxes. Please enjoy; I would love to hear from you.

I started building my first website after my Mum Audrey Carnson and her friend Rita Cuss organised four talks and a display on the local history of Three Holes. This was for a Millennium Year 2000 project for the local Acorn Club. In a rash moment, I volunteered to write it up (I imagined a page or two) if someone felt like taking notes. Somehow, this was translated as: “Anne is writing a book on Three Holes.”

The idea spread, and documents, photographs and amazing historical bits and pieces appeared for what turned out to be an event called Three Holes: portrait of a village. Over 100 people visited the displays in the afternoon and the same number in the evening. The Fens list on the internet brought in family historians from Wales, California and Australia. The couple of pages I was expecting turned out to be several large boxes, including tapes of the talks.

The village has no architecturally important buildings, no church, graveyard, village square or cinema. It has a bridge and a weed-infested dyke – all that remains of the Old Croft River – the original drainage channel through the swamp and a lively community with a strong feeling for the land. The number of households on the electoral role in 1999 was 81.

These pages now include links to our family history as well as families that came from that area – it includes Welsh, Australian, Irish, US and Canadian cousins, with more appearing daily!