There is something satisfying when you find famous relatives in your family tree. Not that mine are neccesarily instantly recognised by most people but they do qualify for listings in wikipedia and a search for their names will produce a number of results.
First Robert Bloomfield 1766-1823, my fourth great granduncle. In his time a well known poet with several books of verse published the most well known being "The Farmers Boy". Not that Robert had a good or successfull life. His writing began in a garet in Bell Alley, London and he died in poverty.
Below are the opening phrases of the Farmers Boy. The complete book can be downloaded from the Gutenberg Press
Now, ere sweet summer bids its long adieu,
And winds blow keen where late the blossom grew,
The bustling day and jovial night must come,
No blood-stained victory, in story bright,
Can give the philosophic mind delight;
No triumph please, whilst rage and death destroy:
Reflection sickens at the monstrous joy.
And where the joy, if rightly understood,
Like cheerful praise for universal good?
Second, Charles James Blomfield 1786-1857, Bishop of London 1828- 1857. Relationship to me is second cousin six times removed. Full details of his history can be found on Wikipedia so I will not go into too much detail here but there is a memorial to him in St Pauls Cathedral.
Bishop Blomfield had many children. One of these Sir Artur Blomfield also had fame as an architect who designed many buildings including the Royal College of Music. Another child of some fame was Lucy Elizabeth Bather nee Blomfield who was author of "Biographies for Young People" which can still be purchased from Amazon.
It seems that all my famous relatives have the Blomfield/Bloomfield name. All the other surnames in my tree seem to have just been workers with a variety of jobs. I continued this trend with a long but un-distinguished career in the Civil Service. Ah well perhaps I will send off for my National Service medal, don't know when I would wear it, pehaps I could put it on when watching the Remberance Day parade on TV. And I could always wear it to my funeral, not that I am planning this for a good while yet!
