Thursday marked the 147 anniversary of the birth of the most interesting relative I’ve met — the Rev. Canon Edward Claude Essex (1876 – 1963). “Cousin Claude,” as he liked to be called, was born in Cirencester (pronounced ‘sister’) in Gloucestershire, England, and died while living on England’s east coast. I’ve written about him before, but he is etched so deeply in my memories that I can’t resist revisiting them.
He was, shall we say, ‘portly’, (as I am now myself). And he had the bushiest eyebrows I have ever seen. (Which for some reason inspired me to have bushy ones also.) As you’ve already seen,, he was a “man of the cloth”. And, as you haven’t seen a bachelor, altho of course Anglican priests are free to marry.
He was a canon (or “bigshot”) at Ely Cathedral, one of the most impressive cathedrals in England. It stands out, because it’s in the middle of the Fenlands, a marshy area of some 1,500 sq. mi. — not many trees or shrubs, but lots of sedges, reeds and rushes. The 11th century cathedral, a Romanesque & Gothic marvel of Middle Ages engineering, is built on a hillock, and therefore can be seen for many miles. It has the longest nave of any church in England. I didn’t actually visit the cathedral, but I did take a train through Ely in order to see it fairly close. I was on my way to Cambridge, some 17 miles from Ely.
The Canon (that was how we always referred to him in his absence) was vicar of a church in Cambridge and lectured and taught at Kings College, Cambridge U. (If you click on the link for Cambridge you will see part of Kings College and someone punting on the River Cam. I rented a punt just by myself and took it past the very spot in the photo. I had done a lot of polling my canoe up the Susquehanna, and had always wanted to try handling a punt.(I did pretty well.) The punt was bigger and heavier than I expected, and the pole was much longer, fatter, and heavier than I expected. It was very gratifying — kind of a bucket list experience.) I also discovered that you can’t use a pole when under one of Cambridge’s many, low bridges. If going upstream, you have to apply enough umph before the bridge to take you through.
He was my 2nd cousin three times removed. His grandmother was Mary CLINCH Essex, youngest sister of Thomas Clinch, first husband of Sarah LUGG Clinch Blackwell Campbell. The Canon’s father was Peter Clinch Essex, a cabinet maker.
Mary CLINCH Esex contacted her Pennsylvania cousins when she ran into a slip of paper containing the address of her niece, Ann CLINCH Campbell. Mary’s letter arrived not long after Ann’s death. Ann’s family replied and the two families remained in touch for the many decades.
