Introduction

Introduction

…Comben and Stone they came alone, Fancy, Flann, Flew were the next of the crew…

So runs an ancient Portland rhyme about the first families who settled there. When it was rhymed we do not know but it was a very long time ago.

On the Isle of Portland the documented Flann family line stems from before 1640. It starts with the John Flann who died in 1701 and Elizabeth his wife in 1690. That for the Combens goes back to before 1641, and to date the Lowmans from 1744. It follows naturally that the family origins then lie at the least in the reign of Elizabeth I (1533- 1603) and probably earlier still. Be that as it may the facts are the recorded family history starts in the reign of James II (1633-1701); that is Jacobean England; the time of the writing of the King James Bible; Shakespeare and Milton; Johnson and Bacon; of the Gunpowder Plot; the worst outbreak of plague England had ever seen; Arcadian landscapes (of mainland Dorset); murderous toxic slums in the cities and religious Protestant zeal.

Too whilst much of this account is a bare statement of births, deaths and marriages gleaned by long and patient research in Record Offices, it does include other information to add context. Some too we gained verbally from older members of the family. Also we have included some reminiscence of childhood holidays spent on Portland when that fascination with our relatives and the Island began.

But in essence what this narrative is about is, of course, individuals, who lived, worked hard on land and at sea, loved, married and had children, lived their lives through all its difficulties, joy and heartbreak, and died all those years long ago. It should be remembered also that although we document these forebears separately they all lived on Portland at about the same time, and no doubt through common interests very likely met, and were aware of each other before the families were closer joined by marriage. It is a human story. Add to it imagination, some knowledge and appreciation of history through the years, and whatever way you look at it, their lives such as we can make of them today, make a fascinating tale.

We can but sketch an outline. The rest we must leave to the awareness, understanding and curiosity of the reader.