Two generations further on, our line of the family tree almost came to a close. The wife of one of George’s grandsons, John, passed away after 14 years of marriage, leaving him childless. Although John remarried to a Sarah Smith, most of their five children perished as infants. Their youngest child, Thomas, born in 1675, became an orphan at just eight years of age and was their only child to reach adulthood and have children of his own. It was the youngest son of this Thomas, Peter, born in 1710, who carried our line forward.
During the 1600‘s-1700‘s in Gloucestershire, the hills of the Cotswolds inspired some curiously amusing and unusual traditions for the locals which still continue today. From a dairying community, the Great Cheese Rolling Race in Gloucester involved hurling a large round of Double Gloucester cheese down a hill for the locals to chase after. The first person over the finish line at the bottom of the hill was the winner - the prize was the cheese! Competitors would often be nursing an array of broken, dislocated or badly sprained collarbones, arms, knees, ankles - all manner of injuries after the event.
Video - Coopers Hill Cheese Rolling RaceVideo - Wool Sack Race of Tetbury
... and from a country of wool growers sprang the Wool Sack Race of Tetbury. Participants race up and down the hills carrying a 30 kg sack of wool on their back! This tradition began with young drovers and yeoman wanting to show off to their girlfriends.