Littledean St Ethelbert's, Gloucestershire

Several generations of Burgums of the "GG" family tree and others lived at or near Littledean, in the Forest of Dean.

LITTLEDEAN ST ETHELBERTS is an ancient church building of stone, chiefly in the Perpendicular style, consisting of chancel, nave of four bays, north aisle, south porch and an embattled western tower with spire containing a clock and 6 bells; the chancel arch is Norman; there are tablets to the Pyrke family: the church has sittings for 360 persons. The register dates from the year 1684. The living is a rectory, average tithe rent charge £87, net yearly value £146, with glebe (£5) and residence, in the gift of the trustees of the Church Patronage Society, and held since 1890 by the Rev. George Alexander Papendick Arbuhnot. Here is a Congregational chapel. A cemetery of one-third of an acre was formed in 1881, at a cost of £106 15s. 6d. and is under the control of a burial board of 9 members. The charities are of about £25 yearly value, derived from land and houses, and distributed to the poor in bread and cloth. (The above description is an extract from Kelly's Directory of Little Dean 1894) More about the church - The church dates, in part, to late 1100's. Littledean came to be regarded as a perpetual curacy; that is operated under a curate, rather than a vicar or a rector. This meant he was licenced by the Bishop and would be ordained initially as a deacon and, perhaps after a year, a priest. However he would still be regarded as an "assistant" but without a vicar or rector as his boss. In this case, it was St Barholomew's hospital that paid the rent and then the perpetual curate a stipend of £70 (salary). In 1856 the living, with the benefit of two sermon charities, was £90 per year. In 1866 the hospital governors sold the advowson and rent charge to William Lockett, the curate. A year later the living was further increased was declared a rectory. Kelly's Directory also included a reference to Dorcas Burgum, teacher at the local school. It read - "National School (mixed), built in 1848, for 220 children: average attendance, 131 boys & girls & 60 infants; William R. T. Cullis, master; Miss Dorcas Burgam, infant's mistress." Dorcas was sister to Timothy Burgum who, together with many of his family, left Littledean and emigrated to Australia. Burgum descendants of Timothy continue to live in Queensland, Perth and Sydney, Australia.

The list below shows the baptisms, Marriages and burials that took place at Littledean St Ethelberts.

Name	Date	Residence	BMD	Minister	Notes	FT
James Bergum	04 Mar 1682	Littledean	Baptism			RR
Sara Bergum	10 Jan 1685	Littledean	Baptism	Thomas Babb
Henry Birgum	08 Mar 1689	Littledean	Baptism			RR
Sarah Bergum	25 Sep 1698	Littledean	Burial	Thomas Babb		RR?
Thomas Bergum	23 Jul 1700	Littledean	Baptism
William Byrgum	27 Nov 1700	Littledean	Burial
Joan Byrgum	19 Mar 1706	Littledean	Burial
Sarah Bergum	10 Jan 1709	Littledean	Burial	Charles Moore		RR?
Thomas Burgam	15 Jan 1721	Littledean	Baptism	Richard Hall
Charles Bergum	25 Mar 1730	Littledean	Burial	J. Whinfield (1)		AA?
Elizabeth Burgum	01 May 1743	Littledean	Baptism	Whetham Hill		RR
Sarah Burgum	24 Jul 1743	Littledean	Baptism	Whetham Hill
Thomas Burgum	04 Sep 1747	Littledean	Baptism	Whetham Hill		RR
William Burgum	06 Nov 1757	Littledean	Baptism	Whetham Hill		RR
William Burgum	15 May 1761	Littledean	Baptism	Whetham Hill		RR
Thomas Byrgam	08 Jan 1764	Littledean	Burial	Whetham Hill		RR?
William Burgum	11 Mar 1786	Littledean	Baptism	Thomas Babb
Ann Burgum	14 May 1786	Littledean	Baptism	Benjamin Webb		RR
Thomas Burgum	30 Mar 1788	Littledean	Baptism
William Burgam	03 Jun 1789	Littledean	Baptism	William Fryer
Elizabeth Burgum	08 Jan 1792	Littledean	Baptism	William Fryer		RR
Betty Burgum	19 Nov 1792	Littledean	Burial	William Fryer		RR
Elizabeth Burgum	05 May 1793	Littledean	Burial	William Fryer
Mary Burgum	06 Dec 1793	Littledean	Baptism	William Fryer		RR
Thomas Burgum	02 Jan 1810	Littledean	Burial	Hanbury Jones		RR
Thomas Burgum	25 Mar 1810	Littledean	Burial	Hanbury Jones		RR
George Burgum	26 Sep 1813	Littledean	Baptism	Henry P. Jones	P=George + Sarah	RR
Sarah Burgum	23 Feb 1815	Littledean	Burial	Henry P. Jones		RR
Sophia Burgum	27 Mar 1815	Littledean	Baptism	Henry P. Jones
Sarah Burgum	08 Oct 1815	Littledean	Baptism	Henry P. Jones		RR
Sarah Burgum	09 Feb 1817	Littledean	Burial	J. Newport		RR
Mary Burgum	24 Aug 1817	Littledean	Burial	Henry P. Jones
Mary Burgum	25 Feb 1821	Littledean	Burial	R.M. Mainwaring
Joseph Burgum	10 Nov 1821	Littledean	Burial	R.M. Mainwaring		RR
Eliza Burgum	16 Dec 1821	Littledean	Baptism	R.M. Mainwaring		RR
Elizabeth Burgum	04 Apr 1824	Littledean	Baptism	T.R. Garnsey		RR
Elizabeth Burgum	02 Mar 1825	Littledean	Burial	J.D. Osheban		RR
Anne Burgum	10 Dec 1826	Littledean	Burial	J.D. Oshehan
George Burgum	12 Dec 1827	Littledean	Burial	Edward Jones		RR
Sarah Burgum	09 Jun 1828	Littledean	Baptism	F.W. Franklyn		RR
William Burgum	28 Feb 1836	Littledean	Burial	J. Parsons
Ann Burgum	09 Sep 1851	Littledean Ind.	Baptism	B. Jenkyn		RR
Phoebe Burgum	12 Nov 1853	Littledean Ind.	Baptism	B. Jenkyn		RR
Sophia Burgum	28 Mar 1854	Littledean	Burial	Henry M. Willis (2)
Elizabeth Burgum	12 Nov 1854	Littledean	Burial	Henry M. Willis (2)		RR
Dorcas Burgum	03 Feb 1856	Littledean Ind.	Baptism	M. Layton		RR
Henry Burgum	30 Apr 1857	Littledean	Burial	Henry M. Willis (2)		RR
Samuel Burgum	19 Feb 1858	Littledean	Baptism	John J. Hedges (3)		RR
Alice Burgum	12 Dec 1858	Littledean Ind.	Baptism			RR
Harriet Burgum	21 Sep 1860	Littledean	Burial	John J. Hedges (3)		RR
Charlotte Burgum	12 May 1864	Littledean Ind.	Burial			RR
William Burgum	10 May 1867	Littledean	Burial	William Lockitt (4)		RR
William Burgam	10 Feb 1872	Littledean	Baptism	William Lockitt (4)		RR
William Burgum	17 Feb 1872	Littledean	Burial	William Lockitt (4)		RR
Maria A. Burgum	23 Mar 1873	Littledean	Baptism	William Lockitt (4)		RR
William G. Burgum	02 Aug 1874	Littledean	Baptism	William Lockitt (4)		RR
Alice M. Burgum	01 Oct 1876	Littledean	Baptism	William Lockitt (4)		RR
Alice M. Burgum	11 Jun 1878	Littledean	Burial	William Lockitt (4)		RR
Sarah A. Burgum	02 Mar 1879	Littledean	Baptism	William Lockitt (4)		RR
Sarah A. Burgum	11 Mar 1879	Littledean	Burial	William Lockitt (4)		RR
Lilian M. Burgum	29 Aug 1881	Littledean	Baptism	William Lockitt (4)		RR
Sarah E. Burgum	19 Jan 1883	Littledean	Baptism	William Lockitt (4)		RR
Sarah E. Burgum	23 Jan 1883	Littledean	Burial	William Lockitt (4)		RR
James Burgum	26 May 1885	Littledean	Burial	William Lockitt (4)		RR
Thomas R. Burgum	26 Apr 1886	Littledean	Baptism	William Lockitt (4)		RR
Thomas Burgum	26 Jun 1886	Littledean	Burial	William Lockitt (4)		RR
George Burgum	29 Apr 1886	Littledean	Baptism	William Lockitt (4)		RR
William Burgum	24 Jul 1895	Littledean	Burial	William Tharker		RR
Mary Burgum	05 Feb 1900	Littledean	Burial	Thomas Longstaff		RR
Sarah Burgum	04 Apr 1904	Littledean	Burial	Robert Bruce (5)		RR
Phoebe Burgum	27 May 1908	Littledean	Burial	Robert Bruce (5)		RR
Dorcas Burgum	30 Oct 1934	Littledean	Burial	W. Stanley		RR
Alice Burgum	23 Nov 1944	Littledean	Burial	J.R.J. Mansfield		RR

(1) John Winfield accepted the cures of both Littledean and Newnham in 1727, but accepted Churcham vicarage in 1733 and was then dismissed in 1739 for non-attendance!

(2) Henry Mark Willis married Maria Gaye at St Georges, Hanover square, London in May 1846. He came to Littledean in 1847, but was forced to resign ten years later after a disagreement with church warden Joseph Bennett over charity funds.

(3) John J. Hedges also faced opposition from Bennett over the restoration of the church.

(4) William Lockett had been curate of Holy Trinity before becoming curate at Littledean, but in 1866 he bought the advowson and rent charge from the hospital governors. A year later the living was further increased was declared a rectory and William was finally a vicar. He served as rector of Littledean for 25 years. In 1907, at the age 80 years of age while living at Shepscombe, Gloucestershire, William had his Cleric's Licence withdrawn by the Bishop of Gloucetsre. It was due to his persistence in officiating at a Non-Conformist chapel. It was said he was preaching there as a protest against the teachings of Rev. J.H. Amps, who had, he said, observed "the Romish festival of Corpus Christi and had abolished eveing Communion. He also wrote and published a book entitled "The Church of Rome. A standing Testimony to the Truth of Prophecy of God's Word." The Rev. William Lockett died 27th May 1915; he was 87.

(5) Rev. Dr. Robert Bruce was educated at Trinity College, Dublin, and obtainedthe degrees of B.A. (1857), M.A. (1868), Honours B.D. (and D.D. (1882) and Honours D.D., at Oxford, in 1895. He was ordained deacon and priest in 1858 and went to Northern India where he did missionary work for the Church Missionary Society. He was at Julfa from 1869 to 1892. In 1882 he translated the Book of Common Prayer into Persian, and wrote a Bible history in the same language. Returning to England and took up a post as Professor of Persian at University College, London. From 1896 until 1903 he was vicar of St Nicholas, Durham. He also served as Chaplain of Durham County Penitentiary from 1898. He accepted the living at Littledean in 1903 and set to rebuilding the schools there at considerable expense. He was well respected in the community. He died 1n 1915 and was buried in St Ethelbert Church, In Littledean. Miss A. Burgum played the Dean March as the funeral cortege left the church.

Click here for more about Littledean and some of the Burgums and Burghams who lived there.