Herbert Frere

Back in 1851, Herbert Frere, age 13, was living with his parents, Edward and Elizabeth, in King Street, Great Yarmouth. Edward was a priest “not having cure of souls”, meaning he did not have a parish. Ten years later, having studied at Emmanuel College, Cambridge, Herbert, now 23, was staying with the Vicar of Worstead, Norfolk; his occupation was given as “B.A. Cambridge”. He was ordained Deacon in 1863, and became the curate at St James, Bury St Edmunds. When the incumbent, the Hon and Rev E Pellew, left in 1865, Herbert also left and became the curate at Ditchingham. In 1871, he is living on Ditchingham Dam with a servant, Arthur Grice, aged 14. Ten years’ later, he is at the Priest’s House on the Community site, still as curate, and has two servants, a cook and a gardener. By 1891, he is at the Warden’s Lodge, which I think is the same building as the Priest’s House. Still single, he has two servants and two visitors, although I did not note their names. He is at Ditchingham in 1901 and 1911, on both occasions with one servant. He died there in December 1915.

On the evidence of the Census, Herbert seems to have spent most of his life at Ditchingham, never leaving after he arrived in the 1860s. The reality is more complex, and we do have other evidence. Most of this comes from an article about Herbert published in our Community magazine East and West in Whitsuntide 1916. This says he was born at Ditchingham Rectory in 1837, where his father was assistant curate to the Rector of Hedenham, who acted as Curate for the non-resident Rector of Ditchingham. Although his father left the parish in 1839, Herbert returned as a boy to become a pupil with William Scudamore, who became Rector in 1839. Scudamore was a dedicated priest, who did much for both the village and the Community; he was our first Warden, and a great support to M. Lavinia. When Herbert returned to Ditchingham in 1865, he was Curate to Scudamore, and was in charge of All Hallows Church, Pirnough. To explain this, you need a short lesson in the geography of Ditchingham. The main parish Church, St Mary’s, is situated on the outskirts of the Parish, near Ditchingham Hall and not far from the Community buildings. It is about half an hour’s walk from the village itself, and those on the far side were probably some distance away. I think this is the reason that Scudamore established All Hallows church; it is on the other side of the parish and would have been near Ditchingham Dam, where Herbert was living in 1871. Herbert’s work at this church was thorough and conscientious, according to the East and West article. As a skilled organist, he built up an excellent choir of men and boys there. It goes on to say that he had a deep spiritual life and devotion to his Master. He was inclined to silence and reserve but behind this lay a kind and warm heart, strong understanding and a fund of genuine humour.

In the early 1870s, Herbert accepted the office of Chaplain to our Community, and was released from his parish duties although he continued with the Choir until he left the parish in 1881, after the death of Scudamore. At this point, you may be puzzled: wasn’t he still at Ditchingham in 1891? Well, yes, he was, but he had nine years away, according to this article. This would make sense: if he left in 1881, he would have returned in 1890 or 1891, in time for the next census. According to East and West, he held curacies in London and on the continent. Newspaper reports at the time place him in All Saints, Margaret Street in 1882, and Ascension, Lavender Hill in 1886 [both in London]. When he returned to Ditchingham, he became chaplain and Warden of the Community, as well as manager and treasurer of the village school. In his last few years, increasing infirmity meant his withdrawal from parish life, and death was a messenger of mercy. I do not know the cause of this infirmity or whether it contributed to his death.

There are questions about some of this; I do not note the birthplace in each census, as it is normally the same in each one, but the 1871 census says Herbert was born in Yarmouth, rather than Ditchingham. I haven’t found a birth or baptism record for him (yet), so I cannot confirm either way. But most of this information is supported by evidence we find elsewhere, including those nine years away. Herbert would have been about 25 when he first arrived at Ditchingham and he died aged 78, so gave over 40 years of his life to both the village and the Community. While much of what he did may have been lost in history, we know enough to honour his dedication to God, and to Ditchingham: to honour how he served God in a small village on the edge of England for most of his life; to honour his life, whose effects I suspect still echo today; to honour the God he served, and to dedicate ourselves afresh to our service of God in whichever situation we may be called to.

[Picture: Convent Chapel, as Herbert would have known it]