THE PEACH/PEACHEY PROJECT
The Electronic Peach Tree
Issue 24
Editor: John Harding Peach Email: Peachroot@aol.com

MARBLEHEAD BOOK and REUNION; GOING TO NORTHAMPTONSHIRE


Since my last newsletter, 15 more people have joined our tour of England and become a part of our OneList plan of communication. We welcome you aboard and hope you stay with us as we complete our journey through England. I want to express my generous appreciation to all of you who have hung with me and this Project. Due to you staying with us, we now have 104 email addresses, which should equal at least 200 who are involved with our Peach/Peachey Project.

We have had quite a lot of activity in emails since my last newsletter three months ago. I have just spent the past two days rereading each and every one of them. They are quite inspiring. A lot of new information has been revealed, and some missing pieces of the puzzles are being found. This has led at least one group of people to find out what branch the group is in and thereby identify from where they descend in England.

MARBLEHEAD BOOK and REUNION

I now have completed writing my latest book, THE PEACH TREE HANDBOOK, Vol. III, The Marblehead Branch. This will be a 400-page cloth-bound book with full 8 1/2 x 11" pages, making it the largest book I have written. The oldest Peach branch in America descends from the quaint, coastal community of Marblehead, Massachusetts. This book goes through 18 generations, from Symondsbury, Dorset through Marblehead and then to all points north and west. My attempt is to identify every descendant by name and relationship through all 14 generations since the beginning of Marblehead in 1629.

You can order a book or books for $69.95/copy. I will need half of this ($35) now, and the other half when the book comes off the press. Planned date of release is January 1, 2000. I have to have 120 paid orders before I can go to press. Although I have noble Peach blood running through my veins, I am actually a pauper. My investment has been untold hours, days, weeks and months working on this book, denying myself a lot of sleep and entertainment. Along with this, there have been many assorted expenses involved. At the end of the writing of the book, I have stretched my finances and credit to its limit.

What I am trying to get across is that without the money from these 120 orders, I have no choice but to leave this unpublished book sit around and collect dust. If you want the book, I need to hear from you A.S.A.P. You can send your down payment to: John H. Peach, 611 Herron Rd., Knoxville, TN 37922

During my trip to Marblehead last month, I was able to begin organizing the EIGHTH NATIONAL PEACH REUNION, to be held in Marblehead, MA on July 8, 2000. We held our first national reunion there in 1984. Now, 16 years later we will return to where it all started. Likewise, this is the first time we have held this reunion in the North in 16 years. Thus, those of you in Canada and New England need to make every effort to be there. This will possibly be the closest it will get to you and may take 16 years or more to get that far North again.

If you think you might want to attend, please let me know. I have a list of the lodging and prices in the Marblehead area that I will send you. Everything in Marblehead itself are Bed and Breakfast homes. In neighboring Salem, there are some hotels. But this is a popular seasonal time for Marblehead and so lodging will be scarce if you don't get reservations A.S.A.P. The town always has a great period of celebration and activities during the Fourth of July. (Oops! I guess I shouldn't say that in the presence of our brethren in England).

GOING TO NORTHAMPTONSHIRE

Since the last Peach Tree, we have traveled from Somersetshire, stopped along the way to behold the mystique of Stonehenge, and then made our way to Oxfordshire. There we stopped in Sarsden, the home of the ancestors of EILEEN WHITE of Australia. She has been one of my main supporters for over 10 years, and I feel so priviledged to have her on board. She descends from WILLIAM PEACHEY, born ca.1735 in Sarsden, who married Mary Prude. She can't locate any Peacheys in this area prior to 1700 - so assumes William's ancestors came from somewhere else in England.

Finally, we have arrived in Northamptonshire. I know MARVIN PEACH of Canada, another long-time supporter of mine, has been chomping at the bit to get to this county. But CHRIS PEACH of New Hampshire (USA) also let us know his immigrant ancestor to America was CHARLES THOMAS PEACH, born 12 Dec. 1862 in Peterborough, Northants (Proper Abbrev. for Northamptonshire, and will be used hereafter).

Charles was son of WILLIAM PEACH, who came from Bromsgrove, Worcestershire. Chris also gave us the siblings of both William and his son, Charles. Has anyone been able to make any connections with his family? I would be interested to know of the port of entry in America for Charles and where his family settled and more about them in the U.S.A. Can Chris or anyone help us with this?

Now that we are in Northants, we need MARTIN PEACH to tell us again about his ancestor, Rev. JOHN SAWFORD PEACH. He was born in 1811 in Woodford, Northants. As a Methodist minister, he came to Newfoundland in 1840, serving at Twillingate, Conception Bay and Carbonear from 1876 through 1882. He was the son of JOHN and JANE (Sawford) PEACH of Wooton, Northants. Rev. Peach married Anna Marie Evans and had 10 children. These can be found on p.359 of my book, THE PEACH/PEACHEY MIGRATIONS, 1066-1990.

If there is anyone else who descends from the Northants area, let us know while we are here. I spent a day in the genealogical library in Northampton in 1989 and tried to get as much info. as I could about those who descend from there. However, I don't recall getting any info. on Martin Peach's Newfoundland Branch.

We have had a concentration of emails from those of the South Carolina, Kentucky and Marblehead Branches that I would like to review in the next issue.

However, the greatest breakthrough in the past three months has come from the PITTSBURGH, Pennsylvania PEACHES. Through their teamwork and concentrated efforts, they have helped me determine they are part of the Southern Maryland Branch. This takes them all the way back to Isle of Wight in England and to as early as 1699 in America.

They are really excited and enthusiastic!!! I hear from them plans to go to the Marblehead Reunion next year and the desire to make a trip to England.

I would be willing to take a tour group to England in 2001 - to visit the Isle of Wight, Dorset and any other place you would desire to see. Let me know if you would be able to go. The imaginary tour is great - but its much greater to be there to see the real thing.

Until next issue, stay on board and let's continue to help each other discover the depths of our precious noble heritage. Your inquiries will help me determine where we will travel next.

Have a Great Trip. John H. Peach




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