Tyler Morpeth (My Grandson)
My name is Maureen Morpeth (nee Framp) and I was born in Bournemouth, England in 1939. My father was Leonard Wilfred Framp, born in the Isle of Wight (1912-1970). My mother is Lilace Joan Framp (nee Hopkins) of Bournemouth, England (1914 - ). My siblings are Michael Hedley Framp (1936-1989)Margaret Anthea McDonald (nee Framp) (1949 - ) and John Leonard Framp (1952 - ). In 1954, when I was 15, our family emigrated to New Zealand and we have lived here ever since.
My oldest brother, Michael, has two sons, Kerry and Regan and my youngest brother, John, has a son Adam. So far Kerry is the only Framp male to produce a son, Lee Framp,born 1989 so it seems that the name of Framp will continue.
Why I started my research:
When my father died at a the age of 58 in 1970 he left us with very little information about our families origins. I have always been interested in finding out where the rather unusual surname came from and on my travels I scan the local telephone directories in the hope of finding other Framps. Now, with the internet, there has been a great upsurge in interest and access to records so I am slowly piecing together what I can.
The only information we had on our family history was a booklet written about my 2x great grandfather, James Framp (1787 � 1864) from Milbourne Port, Somerset, England. This booklet tells of his adventures of going to New Foundland in what is now Canada, with his older brother William. It appears that he left England in 1803, at the age of 16 to seek his fortune on the whaling and fishing boats of Newman and Son but unfortunately in the first year or so he was stranded on an ice flow for 5 days and consequently lost both his legs to frost bite. Disabled, he was returned to England where, although fitted with wooden limbs, he managed to live a fairly full life. He married Lydia Bull in Milborne Port, Somerset, England on 25th December 1821 at age 34. They produced 7 children and he went on to gain a fine reputation as a Master Tailor.
With these few facts to hand, I have endeavoured to trace the family history.
My research has put me in touch with some Framp Family members in England and they have been able to assist me with information. Up until I started my research, I had never met another Framp, so I was delighted to be able to make contact. We are not a large family so I am fairly sure that all Framps in England are related. The only other instance of the Framp name that I have come across in the U.S.A, but their origins are German and they are not related.
I have found that we were originally named Frampton, probably coming from Dorset, England. It appears that circa 1840 - 45 the name was changed to Framp, by James, son of Thomas Frampton. According to Charlie Framp of Ashby, Scunthorpe, North Lincolnshire, England the following story was passed down to him by an uncle, Leonard Framp. Apparently this was due an incident called the Tolpuddle Martyrs.
The story is that in the early months of 1834 a James Frampton of Dorset was the instigator in unjustly charging a group of farm labourers who were legally trying to form a union to better their conditions. James Frampton was a wealthy land owner(from Dorset) and felt threatened by their actions so arranged under unfair legal proceedings to get the men charged and sent to the penal colony of Australia. News soon spread of the injustice of the trial and the conviction was overturned, returning the men to England. Because of this injustice James Frampton was intensely disliked in his community and it is then that my research shows that soon after there was a definite change to the name Framp. It is speculated this was done to distance himself from the Dorset James Frampton although this can not be proved. (For more information on the Tolpuddle Martyrs visit http://homepages.rootsweb.com/~lovelace/tolpuddle.htm )