Rule Britannia!

"Rule Britannia! Britannia rules the waves!" Greetings from England! Did you know that "Rule Britannia" is actually the chorus of a song that came from an 18th century masque? The masque was called Alfred and was about Alfred the Great. It was first performed on August 1, 1740 for the commemoration of George II's accession and Princess Augusta's third birthday. I would encourage you to check it out, the full song I mean, although I am sure the masque was nice as well. At the end of the Proms, "Rule Britannia" is always sung in full. I love Sarah Connolly's version, she is a brilliant opera singer! Check it out: http://m.youtube.com/watch?v=rB5Nbp_gmgQ

So, last night we spent the night in Antwerp, Belgium. Nothing of significance occurred except that I can officially say there is only one hotel in between the Dutch border and Antwerp. Moving on, this morning we made our way to Dunkirk, or Dunkerque, to take the ferry to Dover. Naturally, as is our way, we got lost but thanks to roundabouts we turned right and made it to the terminal. To get on the ferry we had to go through the French checkpoint and then the British checkpoint. They looked at our passports and asked the usual questions. However at the British checkpoint, my dad decided to keep the explanation simple and said, "we're searching for our family." The guard looked at us like, "should I be worried?" My dad cleared up the slight miscommunication and we moved on through. I told him from now on we will use the term "genealogy." Anyway, the ferry ride was smooth. As we approached England, we could see the white cliffs of Dover and I have to say, it was pretty majestic. They just loom out of the water and suddenly it's like, bam! England!  

When we got off the ferry my dad noted that now he had to override all of his driving instincts to drive on the left side of the road, and he wanted me to help remind him. He caught on pretty quickly although there were a few, "Dad! You're on the wrong side of the road" Or "Dad! You're going the wrong way (around the roundabout)!" His responses were various forms of "Its okay, it's just for a little bit. It happens" and "soon I will be driving with one foot on the dashboard."  That's not quite what one likes to hear. Tonight we are staying in a little B&B a bit west of Arundel, where the duke of Norfolk resides. For dinner we had what any Briton would eat...fish and chips! 

So, here in England I will be searching for several families, the first being the Grubbs. The Grubbs come from Cornwall. My great grandfather X a bunch, John Grubb, was born in 1652 in Stoke Climsland. His parents were Henry and Wilmot. They were Quakers. At the time, Quakers were being persecuted for their beliefs, which is why William Penn set up a colony in the Americas. Henry was imprisoned several times for being a Quaker. After Henry's death, John and a brother immigrated to America, settling in the Quaker colony of Delaware. They had heard about William Penn's colony and decided life would be better there, so John finished his tanning apprenticeship and left. There, John married Frances and set up a successful tanning business which ran for several generations. John later served in the Pennsylvania Provinical Assembly and as justice of the peace. Grubb's Landing is named after him. His daughter and my ancestor, Charity Grubb, served as a Quaker minister along with her husband, Richard Beeson, and helped found a meeting house in North Carolina. I find her remarkable because she served in a position of authority in the early 1700s, a time that normally saw women in subservient positions.

And so our adventures through misty England begin!

Cheers!

Elizabeth