Descendants From Far And Wide At Mann Family Get Together

Published on: 18 Jun, 2014
Updated on: 18 Jun, 2014

Descendants from as far as Canada and the USA have been to Guildford in the footsteps of the Mann family that once occupied several households in St Catherine’s Village and at Wanborough.

People came from far and wide (and nearby) to enjoy the Mann family reunion. Back Row: Victor Searle, Dan Oakley, Ronald Mann, Harold Mann, Nicholas Buxton MBE, Simon Bedford, Jonathan Upperton, Trevor Bedford, Jacqueline Buxton. Third Row: Maureen Oakley, Shirley Mann, Brian Upperton, Melanie (nee Mann), Curtis Mann. Second Row: Sherry Mann, Pam (nee Mann), Patricia Bedford, Pauline Searle, Marilyn Mann, Ronald Mann. Front Row: Jo Keogh, Luke Searle holding William Searle, Natalie Searle, Tony Lewis.

Pam Lewis (nee Mann) from Woking has been researching her family tree and has tracked down descendants from far and wide. But they have not all been from the other side of the Atlantic. About a year ago she met relative Pauline Searle (nee Mann)  for the first time. Pauline is, of course, a Guildford borough and Surrey county councillor, and was Mayor of Guildford in 2009-10.

Pam Lewis at the reunion buffet on Sunday.

Last week family members gathered, travelling from Ottawa and Vancouver in Canada, Illinois in the USA and Wiltshire, Cumbria, and Surrey in the UK.

Ronald Mann (Canada), Pamela (nee Mann ) England, Ronald Mann & Curtis Mann (USA) and Harold Mann (Canada), meeting up with their ancesters in The Mount Cemetery, Guildford. These are the only gravestones of the Mann family still standing in the cemetery; John James Mann 1849-1908 and his wife Elizabeth 1853-1937 (nee Austridge), son of George Mann 1813-1865 and his wife Eliza 1818-1890 (nee Carpenter) and another son Daniel Mann 1859-1923 who all lived in or around Guildford.

Some of them visited a number of locations in Surrey where their forebears once lived and also The Mount Cemetery in Guildford to see the only known headstones of the Mann family still standing there.

Ronald Mann, his wife Marilyn, their son Curtis and daughter Melanie visiting Wanborough Barn. Their ancestors, James Mann 1788-1869 and his son John Mann 1811-1890, emigrated to America. John in 1832 and his father James with his younger children William, Elizabeth, Daniel, Anne and Hester ’Esther’ in 1841 after his wife Ann (nee Burbrick) died. His other children James, George and Mary stayed in England. They emigrated to join James’ brother John Mann who went out there in or before 1820 as one of the early settlers to join George Fowler and Morris Birbeck. These two, both well-to-do Englishmen found the land met their expectations of establishing a colony of their countrymen, a part of which Birbeck named ‘Wanborough’ after his old home in England and Fowler founded Albion, Edwards County, Illinois. There is only a ‘Wanborough’ Cemetery left in Wanborough, where John Mann 1811-1890 is buried. Their decendents, of whom Ronald Mann and his family are one, still farm in the area.

On Sunday, June 15, they met in St Catherine’s Village where The Guildford Dragon NEWS’s David Rose gave them a guided walk and talk on the history of the area.

Afterwards, they enjoyed a buffet lunch at Pam Lewis and her husband Tony’s home in Woking. David Rose was again on hand to show some vintage photos of St Catherine’s while adding further historical details.

They also hooked up via Skype and spoke to Pam and Tony’s son Peter who lives in Australia.

The group on St Catherine’s Hill enjoying David Rose’s history talk.

The Canadian branch of the family – Ronald and Harold together with their wives, and Pam and Tony Lewis from England had a trip to Albion, Illinois in 2011 where there was a reunion of the Mann family in that area. Pam was presented with a book The Manns of Edwards County Illinois by Betty M Mann, which  has also been a great help in sorting out and finding the members of ‘The Mann Family’ as it is today.

Ronald Mann from Canada started Pam’s interest in the Mann family tree by tracing her about nine years ago. Pam says she has found it an interesting, rewarding and sometimes an extremely frustrating journey.

She says that Ron has earned a name for himself by finding other members of the Mann family in the UK.

This led to Pam meeting Maureen Oakley, who had in her possession letters from Daniel Mann (1822-1870), the son of James, who went to America in 1814 with his family.

Ron then found Curtis by seeing an article on the internet about a Curtis Mann opening Wanborough Cemetery (USA).

Pam said this week: “Everyone had a lovely time and getting so many family members together was probably a one-off occasion. Before all this came about, I thought I was the last of my branch of the Mann family in England. I was so surprised to meet Pauline Searle for the first time only about a year ago – and we live in the next town to one another.”

Pauline Searle said: “The get together was wonderful and such an experience. We are the only descendants living in Guildford and the last to be traced by Ron Mann from Canada. He did this by finding out about me on the internet from when I was interviewed by Martin Giles for The St Catherine’s Village website [the forerunner of The Guildford Dragon NEWS] when I became mayor. In that interview I mentioned the name Mann, so that is how I was traced.”

Manns at the Wanborough Cemetery in Illinois, USA.

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