The large windmill at Shipley in West Sussex is not only the best preserved smockmill in the county, but also has a memorial over the door. It reads,” Let this be a memorial to Hilaire Belloc, who garnered a harvest of wisdom and sympathy for young and old.”
Okay, so we have a Frenchman with a memorial in England but Belloc, who was born today 27th July in 1870, had a mother who was Anglo-Irish. She upped sticks from France after her husband died and moved the family to Slindon in Sussex.
Belloc married an Irish-American girl (Elodie Hogan) and became a naturalised Englishman in 1902. In 1905 the couple moved into the house “Kings Land” and with it came the mill cottage, the windmill and 5 acres of land. Sadly, Elodie died in 1914 but Hilaire continued to live there until his death nearly 40 years later in 1953.
By the way, if anyone remembers the television programme “Jonathan Creek”, this was where it was filmed.
Okay, so we have a Frenchman with a memorial in England but Belloc, who was born today 27th July in 1870, had a mother who was Anglo-Irish. She upped sticks from France after her husband died and moved the family to Slindon in Sussex.
Belloc married an Irish-American girl (Elodie Hogan) and became a naturalised Englishman in 1902. In 1905 the couple moved into the house “Kings Land” and with it came the mill cottage, the windmill and 5 acres of land. Sadly, Elodie died in 1914 but Hilaire continued to live there until his death nearly 40 years later in 1953.
By the way, if anyone remembers the television programme “Jonathan Creek”, this was where it was filmed.
