The 20th Annual Reunion -
book this date in your diary NOW!
Friday 24th - Saturday 25th September 2010
Ashburnham, near Battle, East Sussex
Friday 24th
Celebration meal at 7pm, with entertainment
Saturday 25th
10.00am - Morning coffee and Annual General Meeting
Followed by catching up on news and family research.
1pm - lunch
approx. 2pm - group photograph, followed by more research and a local visit/activity.
4pm - afternoon tea and anniversary cake.
We would love to see you for all,or part,of the weekend.
A warm welcome awaits you!

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Many members of the Relf Society can trace their family tree back to Sussex, and the villages of Burwash, Brightling and Ashburnham frequently crop up in our research!
      Ashburnham is a small village in East Sussex, mentioned in Domesday Book, only a few miles from the site of 1066 Battle of Hastings, There is not an obvious village centre - it is more a collection of small hamlets (with names such as Brownbread Street, Ponts Green, Cinderhill, The Forge and Slivericks) but, tucked away in the trees, in what was once a thriving iron industry area, you can find a small 16th Century Manor House at Penhurst, an old country home called Court Lodge, with the remains of the last brickyard in Sussex and also Ashburnham Place - a large estate that is now a conference centre. 
      We are planning to base our 20th Annual Meeting in and around the village of Ashburnham and the grounds of Ashburnham Place. If you have any places (homes, churches, shops/pub etc) that you would like to see in or near Ashburnham, please let me know and I will try to incorporate these in our plans. 
Tina French, #049 (01424 - 892580)  jf@cornerstonesussex..co.uk

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Another Sussex / London Link
Information taken from A2A website, ref ASH/4501/790
4 Mar 1662 - Document held at East Sussex Record Office.
Articles of Agreement
Between John RELFE of St Martin’s in the Fields, co Middlesex, gent, son and heir of John RELFE late of Ashburnham dec’d and Anthony May of Ashburnham, gent, for the transfer of a mortgage of £1,000 granted by the said John Relfe to Katherine Thomas of Fowington of a messuage and farm called The Lodge and of all outhouses, buildings, land etc. belonging, containing 160ac and coppices and wood ground containing 70ac – All in Ashburnham; of which premises the said Anthony May had a lease for 21 years from the said John Relfe.

Signature – Antho. May and Seal
Witness – Davis Leader, Owen Haning, Tho. Hall, Tho. Pownsett.
Chris Relf, #029

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Richard Relf - Baby Farming
One of the more distasteful aspects of Victorian England was the practice of taking in unwanted babies, and, in return for a commercial fee, either over-crowding them, or killing them.   It was known as baby farming.
Sergeant Richard Relf became the first Metropolitan Police investigator semi-officially recognised for his expertise in relation to a specific type of crime.   Relf's investigation into 18 dead infants found in Brixton over a short period of time led to baby farmer Margaret Walters being executed for the murders.   Relf then became an advisor for other similar enquiries until his retirement.
In an age when the intervention of social workers is sometimes resented, it is worth remembering the practices, which led to social reformers to introduce regulations into childcare and adoption.

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From -
Welcome to History by the Yard                     

We specialise in the history of policing in London.   We offer expert assistance to people making TV and radio programmes, and to authors writing books.  We also supply images.  We undertake family history enquiries and provide career details of ancestors who served as police officers in London. Our website also provides historical information about Scotland Yard and the Metropolitan Police, including famous cases.
<www.historybytheyard.co.uk>     
Peter Relf, #090

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Page last revised February 2010. © International Relf Society .