Photos from past events (old website).
The Goondocks (Hanging Baskets) on the Isle of Wight 2005
Karon’s trip to Bletchley park
Links
My Facebook page – just the usual twaddle from a silver surfer
My Deviant Art site – most of what I have done is here
The Bending surname is a little unusual. When I was serving in the Artillery, a young Richard Bending was sent to my unit because they thought we were brothers, and there was a policy of keeping kin together. As it was, Richard was not related – not directly anyway – he came from the Midlands and my family has been in Devon since the name was first recorded.
Another Bending, John, originally from Hackney researched the name and its origins extensively and created a very comprehensive website at www.jbending.org.uk, using census information and other sources. John died in 2016 at the rather grand age of 94 but his son Michael has kept the website up and running. It’s interesting to note that the Bending surname – or my branch of it can be traced back to 1530, with probable links to the Norman conquest.
John Bending’s family history website
More about the Bending of old
From John Bending’s website (see link above):
The first reference to Bendings in Devon is in the Crown Pleas of the Devon Eyre, 1238, Axmouth Hundred where Robert de Bendone is outlawed for killing Robert de Bolonge. The fugitive’s lord is named as Philip de Bendone, and there are references to Axmouth and Bindon tithing. The de Bendone probably refers to Bindon, and although Robert and Philip share this description, it is unlikely that they were of the same family. It is probable that the name Bending is derived from Bindon.
The next mention, in 1290, of a surname close to Bending is Sir Robert Bendyn, who had property in Devon. (see the biography by Arthur Bending). No connections have been found to later Bendings, although it is possible that Bendyn is derived from Bindon.
The modern Bendings first appear in the 16thC where there are references to seven probable Bendings. The Devon Subsidy Rolls of 1543/5 have references to John and Thomas Bendon of Payhembury and John Bendyng of Honiton. Payhembury is about 15 miles from Bindon and Honiton 10 miles.
The 1569 Devonshire Muster Rolls have references to John Bennynge, archer of Payhembury,
Robert Bennynge, billman of Payhembury and Walter Bendinge, pikeman of Honiton; we also know that Robert Bennynge, (aka Bendinge, Bending), leased land at Awliscombe. Over 80% of Bendings are descended from Robert Bending born about 1530 at Payhembury, Devon.
Robert, billman of Payhembury, appears to be the progenitor of the main line of Devon Bendings – and therefore, most likely, the ancestor of the Bending’s in the USA (see below).
Robert’s other son with descendants, Martin, married in Clyst Hydon in 1608, and Bendings were present in that village until about the end of the 17thC. The main line descends from Martin’s son Robert who married Dinah Clark at Fen Ottery in 1652 and moved to Ottery St Mary about that time. This move was significant as Ottery and its surrounds were to be the main centre of Bendings for the next two hundred years.