Continuation of the "History of Northumberland: Haltwhistle":

    Glenwhelt is an ancient village, situated on each side of the Tipalt; but now only retaining its name on the left bank of that mountain stream, the hamlet on the right bank having of late years assumed the name of Greenhead, the principal oject in which is its new chapel. For the ease and convenience of which the inhabitants of the townships of Blenkinsop and Thirlwall are mainly indebted to the zeal and exertions of the rev. N. J. Hollingsworth, during his incumbency of Haltwhistle church. It was built, in 1827, on ground given by Colonel Coulson, from designs by Mr. Dobson, and at the expense of about £800; £200 of which was contributed by Mr. Hollingsworth himself, £210 by the Society for Building New Churches, £100 by the Trustees of Lord Crewe's charity, and £50 each by the earl of Carlisle, Col. Coulson, and Drs. Barrington and Van Mildert, bishops of Durham, beside several smaller subscriptions. It is 54 feet by 25, with a tower 8 feet square within, and is lighted by 3 lancet-shaped windows, between buttresses on the east, decorated with the arms of the see of Durham, the earl of Carlisle, and Colonel Coulson, besides other devices "beautifully delineated in stained glass by Mr. Gibson, of Newcastle." The north and south sides have each four lancet shaped windows, also between buttresses.
    Within this manor and township lie interred the remains of the ancient station of Caervorran; and scattered round its suburbs, walls, and interior buildings. Leland speaks of "the great ruins of Caervorein the which be nere Thyrwall:" and Camden visited them in company with his friend sir Robert Cotton, the founder of the Cottonian Library; and says this station stood "on the slope of a hill, a little within the wall, where are to be seen the foundations of a square Roman camp, each side of which is 140 paces long. The foundations of buildings, and tracks of streets still appear here very evident.

     William Camden is said to have spoke the Anglo-Saxon language as well as Latin and middle English. He said in his Britannica that the Blenkinsops lived in the valley since the earliest of time, perhaps going back to the reign of William the Conqueror. He believed from what he learned by talking to the villages of the area that the first instance of the surname was Blencan and not Blenkinsop. It is believed that as the first name was BLENCAN and that the word for 'valley' is HOPE or perhaps SHOPE, thus the name became Blencanshope or Blenkinsop. Some argue that the terminal syllable is SOP, which means 'wheat'. There are three stalks of bundled wheat on the Blenkinsop Coat of Arms, which would tend to imply they trace their roots back to wheat or grain farmers in the area. The other family line that branched off from the Blenkinsops were the Blenkinships, which would similarly lead one to believe they engaged in sheep farming (-SHIP means 'sheep' in both Anglo-Saxon and Norse and is pronounced like the modern word.)

Note about Colonel Coulson's collections

     Greg Colson, a possible distant relative who was born in Wellington, New Zealand, generously shared some of his Colson family history to me. Both his grandfather and great grandfather were born in South Stoneham, Hampshire. His great great grandfather was believed to have been born around 1725 somewhere in northern England. He stated that his father always talked about there being "some sort of royal wealth connection" in the family's past, but he has so far been unable to uncover evidence of it.
     Greg described his grandfather as a 'bit of a colourful character'. Born in 1870, he left England on a sailing ship in 1880 at the age of 9 and survived a shipwreck off the coast of Hobart. His family lost everything they owned but eventually arrived in Auckland, New Zealand. He lived through both world wars and gained a sizeable inheritance from a 'rich aunt', though he purportedly "blew the lot travelling the world and having a good time."

     According to Greg Colson of Wellington, New Zealand, this Colson family crest pin dates back to the early 1800's. As it and the family album are not labled, he said it has proven difficult to ascertain exactly how they fit into his Colson family tree. I was able to find that Alfred Pegler was a prosperous watchmaker and jeweller and a prominent Southampton Liberal. A quick Internet search turned up an Old Sheffield Plate two-handled bowl engraved with his name and the year 1836 on the underside.