Like many people, Joy Stonehouse decided to investigate her
family history, but unlike most she didn’t stop at a family tree, but developed
her research into a series of historical novels.
Joy’s maternal ancestors were the Jordans, a prominent
family in Reighton, East Yorkshire, from the 1500s. She became engrossed in the
skeletal parish records of the early 1700’s, their births, marriages and
deaths, and imagined what day-to-day life might have been like in a close-knit
and, by modern standards, isolated community.
Parish records gave her names and dates, but many other
sources provided key details of 1700s life in the area. The author Daniel Defoe
documented the Great Storm that hit England in November, 1703, decimating
orchards and wrecking ships. Only six years later came the Great Frost when
villages like Reighton were cut off for months.
Joy found further information and inspiration in the many
records of 18th century beliefs, customs, folklore and the home remedies on
which healthcare of the time was based. When she delved into local court
records, she found plenty of evidence of her ancestors’ various misdemeanours:
one Jordan was a Customs Officer, offering possible links to smuggling that was
rife at the time.
‘These are novels,’ she says, ‘not documentaries. There were
too many gaps, too many anomalies to be able to write an accurate history, but
I hope that I’ve captured the essence of life back in the 1700s with all its
tragedies and triumphs.’
Witch-bottles and
Windlestraws (A Story of Reighton, Yorkshire 1703 to 1709) introduces the
community in which the Jordans were respected yeoman farmers. Joy fleshes out
the births, marriages and deaths of the official records into human stories of
courtship, betrayal, love and death.
New Arrivals in
Reighton (A Story of Reighton, Yorkshire 1709 to 1714) is the second book;
the new arrivals of the title being a beautiful young girl and her brother, a
handsome young ploughman. They are instantly admired by some and distrusted by
others. Their presence has profound and unexpected consequences on the Jordan
family as courtships and rivalries are played out.
Whisper to the Bees (A
Story of Reighton, Yorkshire 1714 to 1720) due out November 2021,
continues the story. The only daughter of William and Mary Jordan continues to
be a challenge, especially when she finds an ally in her younger brother. While
the children are thrilled with the snow and ice of the exceptional winters, a
major death in the family will change everything. Drinking, smuggling and
clashes with the law test the Jordan family to the limit.
Joy is currently working on the fourth book that will take
the Jordan family to 1735, showing a village devoid of the influence of the
former vicar and his household of women, where young men indulge in women and
cruel sports, and smuggling plays a greater part in everyone’s life. This book
will chart shifts in the balance of power in the village, as Joy fleshes out
the scant information in the official records from the courthouse in Beverley.
As before, the weather will play a key role in the fortunes of the Jordans as
they face some of the worst summers on record.
Joy has two children and lives with her partner in Hornsea
on the Yorkshire coast. As well as researching local history, she spends time
with her young grandchildren, often on the beach exploring the rock pools. She
also enjoys swimming in the sea, canoeing on the River Hull/Driffield Canal,
and looks forward to annual holidays on Greek islands.
Learn more about Joy and her writing HERE.
