Some families living in East Meon today can trace their ancestry to Norman times; their names appear in the Winchester Pipe Rolls. In many cases, descendants of East Meon families who now live abroad or in other parts of the UK have contacted the History Group and asked for help in tracing their ancestors.Several of these accounts come from the parish magazine, Meon Matters. (To access the reports use the links menu on the left.)
William Taylor Tregear was the second Head of East Meon National School
Next to Jeremiah Christmas, on the left, is Stanley Searle, nicknamed Curly
Jeremiah Christmas, on the left, was great grandfather to a NASA spaceman.
Frank Collyer, First World War Hero
Millie Christmas, one of the sisters who went to America and married three brothers.
Herbie Goddard, the “Mayor” of East Meon
Elsie Butler’s Wedding – one of two East Meon brides whose weddings are revisited in this Meon Matters article
Margery Lambert as a young nurse. She was described by the Vicar in his funeral address as ‘the nearest thing to a saint’.
Kath Adams waving to a neighbour
Peter Brook, East Meon villager who headed up BBC TV’s team of continuity announcers.
The life story of Frances Childs, from Meon Matters
Right to left, John, Nobby and Ian Whitear, part of one of East Meon’s largest resident families.
Currently, the History Group is embarking on a campaign to conduct interviews with today’s residents with memories of their families reaching back into the first half of the last century. These Oral Histories provide a graphic picture of life in the village when there were over twenty shops and tradesmen, as opposed to one shop and two pubs today.
We invite anyone who wishes to learn about their East Meon ancestors to to contact us from the home page of the site.
The wife and daughters of Jeremiah Christmas. Two of the sisters, May and Milly, married three Canadian brothers, two of whom were in Britain as soldiers during the First World War. The third, Dolly, sailed out later in to see if there were ‘any more at home like you’ and did indeed find herself another brother to marry.
