Ips Misc - Miscellaneous References to Ipswich from Around the World - part 2
- Luke Pantelidou
- Jul 4
- 54 min read
Order of contents on this page: (Click on the links below)
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No longer existing (USA):
As you can see, several of the English pubs were situated in Ipswich, & no reason for their naming is therefore required. The reasons for the naming of many of those elsewhere, however, has been slightly more difficult to ascertain. The most likely explanation, it seems, is that they were established by someone originally from Ipswich; the actual name of the person in question having long been forgotten. Much of what follows is, therefore, speculation.
Seven of the pubs outside Ipswich were in East Anglia (all within a 50 mile radius of Ipswich); one in Suffolk, one in Norfolk & five in Essex. Of those in Essex, only the Ipswich Arms at Chelmsford, on the main route from Ipswich to London, could be classed as a coaching inn. Coaching inns were usually large hostelries that had to have stables as well as accommodation, & as such none of the other four in Essex, at Halstead, East Donyland, Ingatestone & Colchester, fit this description, as all were smaller establishments & none were on the main coaching routes.
The Ipswich Arms in Bury St Edmunds, first recorded in 1857, is also unlikely to have been a coaching inn, as by this date the railway had superseded the horse, & the days of coach travel were in decline.
The Ipswich Arms/Tavern in Norwich was tucked away down a back courtyard off Westlegate near to St Stephens Plain, which also makes it an unlikely coaching inn. Whether there was any connection with the Suffolk Arms, close by on Market Place, is also unknown. The Ipswich Arms was originally called the City of Norwich, & it may be that the name change of 1864 came about to avoid confusion with another, newer tavern called the Norwich Arms, close at hand on the corner of Hewitt’s Yard on Ber Street. The Ipswich Road is, of course, just south of St Stephens Plain, so this may have some bearing on the matter.
Of the five Ipswich Arms pubs in Greater London, the one in Cullum Street, EC3 is the only one for which a reason can be found for the name; as mentioned above, this was the terminus for the Ipswich Carrier, the postal service to Ipswich.
Another Ipswich Arms for which we are forced to speculate regarding the derivation of the name is the one on Mann Island in Liverpool. Mann Island was an artificial island between George’s Dock and Canning Dock. Formed in 1771 with the opening of George’s Dock, it was originally known as Mersey Island. It is first recorded as “Mann Island” in Gore’s Directory of Liverpool in 1774, named after an oilstone dealer called John Mann (died there in 1784) who is believed to have been instrumental in the building of five houses in a row along this stretch of road. The sale of these properties was advertised in 1757 and in 1765 the directory shows that all five were occupied by “victuallers” (publicans). This gives some indication of the major leisure preoccupation of the sailors and dock workers at that time. John Mann was listed as a “victualler” at 3 Mann Island, which became known as The Odd Fellow’s Arms.
The address of the Ipswich Arms was 2 Mann Island, and the earliest reference by this name is in an 1819 Trades Directory of Liverpool when it was being run by an Elizabeth Hind. From 1800 to 1815 the “victualler” was John Hind (or Hinde) whom we can assume to be the deceased husband of Elizabeth Hind, so it is likely that she continued the existing name of the public house. We can trace 2 Mann Island as a public house back to the 1765 directory. Unfortunately, the names of the public houses are not given in the early directories so we do not know when it was given the name Ipswich Arms. The last reference to the name Ipswich Arms is in a directory dating from 1829 when a William Wilkinson was the publican. We know that Edward Davis took over the establishment that year and named it ‘The Tuns’. He used the building as “vaults” since he was more of a beer and spirits retailer with another public house elsewhere in Liverpool; “vaults” being the industry term for a liquor warehouse. In 1864 it passed to another “victualler” who operated it mainly as a public house again. It is not known what name it had until the 1900 directory gives it as ‘The Old House’, run by a Francis Gore.
In 1903 concern was expressed over the sanitation and poor state of repair of the licensed premises that were still operating on Mann Island. After a visitation by the Justices, it was concluded in 1907 that the “dilapidated and insanitary conditions were such that the premises were unsuitable for their present purposes and that their licences to operate as public houses should not be renewed”, except for nos. 1 and 3 Mann Island. Thus, No.2 ceased to be a public house in 1907.
George’s Dock was too shallow for the larger vessels of the later 19th century, so it was sold off and infilled in 1899; the famous Liverpool landmark, the Liver Building, being built on the site. Thus the island no longer exists, but the name has been retained. The buildings where the Ipswich Arms was located are still shown on maps in 1908, but had gone by 1927. The name Mann is fairly common, & although there was a prominent family by that name in Ipswich, it has so far been impossible to make any connection between them & John Mann in Liverpool.
It would be nice to think that the whaler Ipswich, which operated out of Liverpool from 1802 to 1823 (see Ipswich (Whaler) 1786 section on Ships Named Ipswich page), may have had something to do with the naming of this hostelry. Although the dates roughly coincide with the existence of the pub, the whaler operated out of Queens Dock, which is further to the south of Mann Island, & no direct connection between the two can be made. However, it should be noted that Mann Island was called Nova Scotia in the 18th century and a road by this name continued to exist in Mann Island until 1920. The Whaling Station that existed from 1786 to 1793 at the town of Ipswich was also at a location known as Nova Scotia. Is this similarity of names just a coincidence, or was the Ipswich Arms deliberately named by a mariner connected with the whaling ship?
The Duke Ipswich has a long history but this present name is very recent. It is first recorded when a freemason’s meeting was held at its present location at 212 Woodbridge Road, Ipswich, in 1805 and it was then known as the Duke of York. The best known Duke of York in previous centuries was Frederick Augustus (1763-1827), the second son of George III and brother to the Prince Regent, who was commander-in-chief of the British Army during the Napoleonic Wars. It was this Duke of York after whom the nursery rhyme was supposed to have originated and also, legend has it, that this pub was named after him because he would frequent it on his way up the hill to inspect his troops and again on his way back down the hill. There are other locations and pubs named the Duke of York which also lay claim to be the source of this nursery rhyme, but this Ipswich pub probably has a better claim than most.
Horatio Nelson had advised that Suffolk would be the most likely place that the French would choose to land an invading army. Thus, the Duke of York arrived in Ipswich in November 1797 with the British army units. Soon there was a very large army camp at the top of Woodbridge Road near to Rushmere Heath where military exercises took place. The headquarter barracks where the senior officers would stay was in Ipswich itself.
Woodbridge Road is one of the steepest hills in Ipswich. Half way up (or down) where the pub is situated is a flat piece of land where the troops can rest. This could easily have given rise to the lyrics in the rhyme, particularly as there would always be a large contingent accompanying the senior officers, they would be “halfway up the hill, neither up nor down”. The Duke of York is recorded staying in Ipswich to inspect the troops in 1803, 1805, 1806 and 1807. In October 1811 the Duke of York with the Prince Regent and the other two royal brothers came to Ipswich to review about ten thousand troops on Rushmere Heath. There was a great military procession that marched out from Ipswich up the Woodbridge Road hill, followed by thousands of spectators. Afterwards they marched back to Ipswich down Woodbridge Road to the headquarter barracks.
The pub remained the Duke of York up until 1995 when the owner, Adnams Brewery, changed it to The Grand Old Duke of York, emphasising its legendary link with the nursery rhyme. Adnams sold the pub in 2008 and in 2012 it reverted to its original name of Duke of York. By now both names were in use although colloquially this popular pub was simply known as “The Duke”. It experienced two periods of closure on exchange of ownership from July to September 2017 and May to November 2019. In November 2019 the present manager took over and stated that he “wanted a complete change from the past so it will be called The Duke Ipswich, but since it was still the same pub and he loved the way it looks, the pub can also be known as both The Grand Old Duke of York, which is the name over its door, and the Duke of York, which is on the sign at its side” (see photographs below).
Ipswich Custom in the USA falls into a different category from the others in that it was what is known in America as a “pop-up”. “Pop-up” restaurants are temporary restaurants. These restaurants often operate from a former factory or similar space that is vacant, waiting for a retail occupier. Another side to this concept is to have “roving pop-ups” where an established kitchen will allow chefs or different cuisines to operate on part of their premises for six-month periods in rotation. The idea is to test public reaction and interest in a new culinary theme or type of cuisine before launching out on a permanent basis. This allows new, little-known chefs to utilise underused kitchen facilities and “experiment without the risk of bankruptcy”. Pop-up restaurants have become known in Britain and Australia since the 2000s, but have never really caught on in the same way as in the USA.
The corner location of 1 Appleton Street and Tremont Street in Boston has been used for this purpose. After the previous restaurant and bar closed in June 2015, having operated for just over a year, butcher Jake Elmets opened Ipswich Custom in October 2015 as a “meat-focussed” restaurant. He said that the name was “in homage to Ipswich, the home of Appleton Farms”. This is America’s oldest continuously operating farm (see Ipswich, Massachusetts page). The street on which the restaurant was located is named after Samuel Appleton. Unfortunately, the concept of Jake Elmets was not successful and the restaurant closed after one month. The site has continued to be used by pop-ups, so still exists as a food outlet.
Ipswich Ale Brewer’s Table in Ipswich, Massachusetts, is the restaurant and bar of the Ipswich Ale Brewery. This opened in January 2016 and is located inside the brewery. It is a 120 seat restaurant and has 15 of its brews on tap, including several beers that are only available at the brewery. It is what is known as a “brewpub”. This combines the words brewery and public house, and is a pub or restaurant that brews beer on the premises. The antecedents of the bar go back to an earlier licensed bar attached to the Mercury Brewing Company and the Ipswich Ale Brewery at 23 Hayward Street, Ipswich. This was known as The Ipswich Ale House and continued to exist until a new brewery was built, and all operations were finally re-located to the new site in January 2016. A bar was opened at the new brewery in February 2015 and this became the Ipswich Ale Brewer’s Table when the restaurant facilities opened. Further history and a list of the brews produced by Ipswich Ale Brewery are given below in the Beers Named ‘Ipswich’ section.
The Ipswitch, San Francisco (more often referred to as The Ipswich) a genuine speakeasy in San Francisco. While Prohibition was lifted in 1933, the city of San Francisco is still littered with secret basements, some of which are still in operation. For those not familiar with some American expressions, a “speakeasy” was an illicit establishment that sold alcohol during the Prohibition era in the USA (1920 - 1933). Speakeasies were so called because rowdy customers were urged to “speak easy” so as not to alert the police or neighbours who could bring the place to the attention of the authorities. The port city of San Francisco enjoyed alcohol smuggled in from all over the world and it was full of secret bars. The very fabric of the city embraced this concept of secret bars, and from about 2000 there was a revival in the way alcohol was consumed during Prohibition. As very few of the originals still existed, many establishments were converted into reproductions of the 1920s speakeasies.
While working in New York City, Doug Dalton from Virginia discovered an interest for the New York nightlife. He took this newfound interest to San Francisco and improved upon it by developing a different type of nightlife culture that revolved around “concept bars” and really good drinks. Doug teamed up with Brian Sheehy and Dahi Donnelly to create Futurebars, a parent company for many of these establishments. They secured a space at 501 Jones St, the former site of the 501 Club. The previous tenant warned the Future Bars crew not to go into the basement, saying it was haunted. They went down through a trapdoor in the floor to investigate and found a wood-panelled room with a marble staircase, a Tuscan-style canvas painting and a bar. This turned out to be a bona fide speakeasy, the Frank Ipswitch Beverage Parlor, still intact from the 1920s. Frank Ipswitch actually spelt his surname with a ‘t’ and that is the proper name for the bar, but the familiarity of the spelling of the place-name is such that it does not matter. (See Ipswitch & Ipswich as Surnames below.)
The Ipswitch, a tiny, two-seat bar beneath a private room (Russell’s Room) within another exclusive bar (Bourbon & Branch) is the ultimate secret hideaway. A reservation has to be made above and, with luck, they will grant you access to the secret hideout below. It is difficult to get into, even with a reservation. The entry way is a trap door in the floor. The decor has been left largely the same as it was in the 1920s.
The main bar, Bourbon & Branch at 501 Jones St, opened in August 2006. It was a return to the 1920s speakeasy…..but with a different concept. All visitors have to know a password which is given when making a reservation. There is a no reservations bar known as The Library (but you still have to know the password which is “books”). “House rules” forbid the use of cell phones and loud voices, a nod in the direction of Prohibition. For the reservations-only main bar, the party has to show up at a specified time at an unmarked door on Jones Street and give the password. A private room (Russell’s Room) can be reserved where the drinks are served in teapots, again a nod to Prohibition. And if you ask really nicely, they might let you into The Ipswich through the trap door in the floor.
Ipswich Hotel & Ipswich Tavern - In Ipswich, Australia, there are a number of hotels, motels and guest houses that contain the place-name in their title (see the section below showing those that are “all still in existence”). As should be expected, the place-name Ipswich Hotel was used early by a house of refreshment in that city. As was customary at the time (and still is today), these watering-holes were also places where a decent meal could be found and a place to rest one’s head overnight, hence the “hotel” tag.
This establishment was on the corner of Waghorn Street and Brisbane Street. The first reference we can find to the Ipswich Hotel is on 15 January 1863 when Pierce Goold (sic) Copley applied to transfer his licence for the Ipswich Hotel to his relative, James Real (reported in the Ipswich Herald). It is recorded in February 1860 (in the Ipswich & General Advertiser) that Pierce Gould Copley was an innkeeper. Although it does not say what the name of the inn was, we may assume it to be the Ipswich Hotel. An article written in 1914 implies that the hotel was built between 1856 and 1860. The article headed “Old Identities” was in the Queensland Times on 1 August 1914 and was recorded by Stephen Marsh, who arrived as a young boy with his family as one of the earliest inhabitants of Ipswich: “His father’s first milking-yards (Thomas Marsh at Ipswich in 1856) were situated in Brisbane Street, on property then occupied by the late Mr. ‘Red Joe’ Gibson, and subsequently becoming the site of the Ipswich Hotel, under the proprietary of the late Mr. James Real, the brick building being still in existence to the west of Mr. B. Duggan’s fruit and vegetable mart, on the corner of Waghorn and Brisbane Streets.” The last reference we have found to the Ipswich Hotel is on 17 June 1910 when it was sold to a Mrs Ellen Quinn (Queensland Times).
The first licensed hotel in Ipswich from 1849 was the Queen’s Arms on the northwest corner of East Street and Brisbane Street, owned by the prominent Ipswich merchant and pioneer George Thorn, known as “the Father of Ipswich” (see his biography on the Ipswich, Queensland page). On the opposite southwest corner, the Thorn family’s own elaborate private residence was built in 1859. Following George Thorn’s death in 1876 the residence was sold in 1879 and converted into a licensed hotel under the name Palais Royal Hotel. It was destroyed by fire in the early 1970s and was then demolished to make room for the Ipswich Tavern which continued the use of the site as licensed premises. However, the old name was too familiar to discard and by 1978 it was known as the Palais Royal Tavern. It is recorded under that name in 2013, although the owners (Ceridale Pty Ltd) still had it trading under its legal name of “Ipswich Tavern”. It was the subject of a test case in the Australian courts as to whether it could employ performers without paying for usage of copyright material (in Australian Performing Rights Association Ltd v Ceridale Pty Ltd (1990)). The site was subsequently sold for development and now comprises shops and stores.
Commissioned by George Thorn in 1864, a small terrace was built which housed three two storey shops on the northeast corner of East and Brisbane Streets. After the death of George Thorn, the shops were sold and in 1910 they were converted to a hotel named The Grand Hotel. Further improvements were made between 1925 and 1927 and the hotel was renamed “Hotel Grande” and became very popular amongst the Ipswich community with functions being held in its large dining and lounge rooms. In 1984 the Hotel Grande was sold and demolished to make way for a new shopping plaza to be built. It was named in honour of the old Hotel: the Ipswich Grande Plaza (see photograph, right). The Ipswich Grande Plaza retail and commercial complex was sold at auction in September 1992 for A$1.08 million. It still exists in 2020 under this name.
Hotels, Motels, Guest Houses etc (all still in existence):
No longer in existence:
Ipswitch Inc.
Founded in 1991 by Roger Greene, Ipswitch Inc. is a rapidly growing company that develops & markets software for small & medium sized businesses throughout the world. It is estimated that more than 100 million people worldwide use Ipswitch software. Products include:
The network management & monitoring software Ipswitch WhatsUp®Gold.
The file transfer software Ipswitch WS_FTP® & Ipswitch MOVEit®.
The messaging & collaboration service Ipswitch IMail.
Roger Greene is a native of Massachusetts and his work locations have remained in that state. He was born at Somerville in Greater Boston, and started work with FTP Software at Cambridge, leaving it in 1991 when he was vice president to establish his own company from his home in Reading. The operation subsequently moved to Wakefield, then to Lexington in 1998 where it remains today. Roger Greene recalls the derivation of the company name as coming from one of his programmers who saw a road sign for Ipswich and said that would be “a nice pun”, using the IP of the town name to stand for Internet Protocol, which was the business of the company, and by adding a ‘t’ to the ending it would become “switch” to indicate the transfer of communication, the whole providing the name of a town in the state of Massachusetts where the company was located.
Since 2008 much of its growth has been by acquisitions of complementary businesses: In 2008, Ipswitch acquired the Wisconsin-based software producer, Standard Networks Inc. and its product, MOVEit; in 2009 the Hourglass Technologies company in Utah; in 2010 the compliance system and system log analysis software producer, Dorian Software, and in December 2012, Ipswitch acquired the German-based performance testing company iOpus, known for its product, iMacros, a web-browser extension.
With its head office located in Lexington, Massachusetts, Ipswitch Inc. also has U.S. offices in Alpharetta, Georgia; Augusta, Georgia; Madison, Wisconsin; Livonia, Michigan & Lehi, Utah; together with their European operation in Amsterdam under the name Ipswitch BV. In March 2016 Ipswitch opened a support and operations centre in Galway, Ireland.
In 2010, Ipswitch Inc was placed in the top five ‘Best Places to Work’ in Massachusetts, in a survey carried out by the Boston Business Journal.
Ipswitch has been recognised repeatedly for its commitment to give five percent of profits to charity through its iCare program. It does this partly by matching employees’ own donations and by giving each employee $500 for charitable gifts.
On 1 May 2019 it was announced that the Progress Software Corporation had completed its acquisition of Ipswitch, Inc., for $225 million. As part of Progress, Ipswitch will bolster the core base of Progress with regard to small and medium-sized businesses and enterprises, enabling those businesses to respond faster to business-critical demands and to improve productivity.
Progress Software Corporation is an American publicly held company with its headquarters in Bedford, Massachusetts. It was co-founded by several MIT graduates, including Joseph W. Alsop, in 1981. Initially called Data Language Corporation (DLC), the company changed its name in 1987 to match that of its flagship product, Progress. It grew to become the leading provider of application development and digital experience by a number of acquisitions over the years (see Wikipedia for article on the company). Progress posted revenues of $397.6 million (USD) in the fiscal year 2017. The company employs approximately 1500 employees, and maintains offices in 16 countries.
Ipswitch Networks Limited (IPswiTch Group)
Not to be confused with the company in the section above, Ipswitch Networks Limited was originally based in Ipswich, Suffolk, and also uses a ‘t’ in the name as an allusion to ‘switching’. It uses as a logo IPswiTch Group, emphasising the IPT. This abbreviation stands for ‘Internet Protocol Telephony’, a general term for the technologies that use the Internet to transfer information that has traditionally been carried over the connections of the public telephone network. The company was founded by Charles Lamb as Progressive Networks Ltd in August 1996, based in Norwich Road, Ipswich. This was dissolved voluntarily in 2011 after Ipswitch Networks Ltd was incorporated in December 2010. The company moved to Abbeygate Street in Bury St Edmunds in March 2014 where it is still active. The company has its roots in network design, which has led it to launch a series of IT design and infrastructure related services. Its owner Charles Lamb also offers consultancy & management services.
Candis Tyson Ipswitch, Inc. (formerly Tyson & Ipswitch), California, USA
Tyson & Ipswitch were a law firm based at 301 East Colorado Blvd, Suite 526, Pasadena, CA 91101 USA. The name came from the father and daughter attorneys Richard Tyson & Candis Tyson Ipswitch. Sadly, Richard died in 2016. His daughter continues the firm at the same address as Candis Tyson Ipswitch, Inc.
(See also Ipswitch & Ipswich as Surnames, below)
Ipswich Bay Company
Ipswich Bay Company was a private “closed company” (an American term where there are less than five shareholders and more than 50% is owned by one person or family). It was based in Houston Texas. It provided financial and investment advice to middle market companies in the Southwest of the USA from 1989. The founder was Donald E. Gilbert Jr (1942-2015). Born in Ipswich, Massachusetts, he attended Boston University School of Law and the Harvard University Business School Executive Seminar. After embarking on a corporate banking career in New York City, where he became an executive vice president at Chemical Bank (now JPMorgan Chase), he moved to Texas. He held a similar position with the Republic Bank in Texas before establishing the Ipswich Bay Company in 1989. In his own words:
“I’m a values driven kind of guy and I think those values that were so important to a “historic” 20th Century New England, are more prevalent in Texas today than they are where I have come from.
When I left the corporate life, respectful of that very heritage and the special place Ipswich, the bay, the salt marshes and Cape Ann mean in my life, I chartered my IB firm using the name.”
Following the death of its founder, the Ipswich Bay Company became an associate business of Robinson Brown Investments LLC.
William Johnson - "Ipswichus"
Although born in London around the year 1610, William Johnson’s parents were originally from Suffolk. He became a fellow of Queens’ College, Cambridge & was ordained in 1640. Around 1635 he wrote the play Valetudinarium; a Latin comedy in five acts, which was performed at Emmanuel College, Cambridge in 1637 & at Queens’ College the following year.
The play is anti-Puritan & paints satiric portraits of the two central Puritan characters ‘Ipswichus’ & his wife ‘Lynna’ ; the names being taken from Ipswich & King’s Lynn, which were both staunchly Puritan towns at the time.
During the English Civil War (1642-51) Johnson went into exile, returning after the Restoration. He died in 1667 & was buried in Westminster Abbey.
Descendant: Chronicles of the Ipswich Witch - A Novel by Miranda Bachman
Published in June 2010, Descendant is the first novel in the Chronicle of the Ipswich Witch series by author Miranda Bachman who lives in Northern California. Miranda’s great grandmother grew up in Ipswich, Massachusetts.
Here is Miranda’s synopsis of her first novel:
“Some people love life so much that they refuse to leave it even in death. Cleona Conant (The Ipswich Witch), who died in 1721, has refused to give up the ghost. She has been body swapping ever since her death to remain here in the mortal realm. In 1780, she devised an elaborate plan to cross the paths of her future granddaughter Raven (twenty generations down her line), with an ancient vampire named Alasdair. Aided by the use of spells, incantations and Uber-shadowing, her plan moved into motion in 1983, when Alasdair discovered Raven and set his heart on making her his companion. Through a span of nearly seventy years, he guarded her, all throughout her mortal life. However, once he gave her his eternal kiss he ultimately, and without his knowing, led their lives down a path which neither of them had the ability or knowledge to escape from what lay ahead. Does good always conquer evil, or does evil win once in awhile?
\
Find out in DESCENDANT: Chronicles of the Ipswich Witch.”
According to Miranda’s website, book 2 in the Chronicles of the Ipswich Witch series was to be called Retribution, whilst the third in the series was to be named Demise. As at 2013, however, these books do not seem to have been published.
For more details, including where to buy this book, visit Miranda’s website through the Links page.
Scott Was Here - Book by Elaine Ipswitch
Scott Was Here is the title of a book, published in 1979, by Elaine Ipswitch. The Scott in question is Elaine & Ronnie Ipswitch’s son Scott Douglas Ipswitch (13/1/61 – 16/4/76) who passed away from advanced Hodgkin’s Disease. The Ipswitch family are from the city of Fillmore, California. The book is described as “a ‘tear-jerker’ as a mother movingly recounts her son’s long fight against Hodgkin’s Disease along with the trials of perseverance the family had to push through”.
The book has also been translated into Spanish (Scott Estuvo Aqui) & German (Scott. Aber Die Hoffnung Bleibt).
A Memorial to Scott Ipswitch can be found in front of Fillmore High School.
(See also Ipswitch & Ipswich as Surnames section, below)
Ipswich in The Fourth Protocol - A Novel by Frederick Forsyth
Ipswich, England is featured heavily in Frederick Forsyth’s spy thriller novel The Fourth Protocol. Forsyth (born 1938) is an English author whose other books include The Day of the Jackal (1971), The Odessa File (1972), The Dogs of War (1974) & The Cobra (2010).
The book’s title derives from the Nuclear Non-Proliferation Treaty of 1968, signed by the three nuclear powers of that time, Great Britain, USA & USSR. In signing the treaty, these nations pledged to refrain from passing on nuclear technology or materials to any other nation. According to the novel, as well as this main agreement, four other secret protocols were also included, each of which was concerned with specific threats from future developments of nuclear capabilities. By signing, each nation agreed not to contravene these protocols. The first three were, by the 1980s, considered as either impossible to achieve or obsolete due to the hazard having been nullified. The Fourth Protocol banned the use of any simplified or miniature, & therefore easily transported or assembled, nuclear weapons that might be developed in the future.
Although the novel was published in 1984, the story takes place three years in the future, 1987, in the run up to a British general election. This was during the Cold War era, & at a time when US Air Force bases with nuclear missiles were still spread widely throughout Britain, with the threat of nuclear war still a strong possibility. The eighties were, however, a period which had seen the rise of a sizeable anti-nuclear campaign dedicated to unilateral disarmament.
The story revolves around a plot hatched at the very highest level in the Kremlin, codenamed Plan Aurora, in which the Soviet leader (who is never named) & an elite group including spy & defector Kim Philby, send an undercover agent, named Valeri Petrofsky, into Britain. Once there he will receive various items, including uranium & plastic explosives, smuggled into the country by couriers for the purposes of creating a small, compact nuclear weapon, which would be detonated outside a US Air Force base. In other words, Plan Aurora was in direct contravention of the Fourth Protocol.
The Soviet Union had, for some time, been infiltrating the Hard Left of the British Labour Party, & the time was now thought of as right for this extreme wing to take over the party. With the election imminent, the thinking went, any nuclear explosion close to a base where missiles were known to have been housed, would, in the minds of the British public, appear to be an accident caused by the US Air Force, & sway a significant number of people to vote for a Labour, & therefore unilateralist, government. Once in power, the Hard Left had plans to take over the party, creating a state run along the lines favoured by the Communist Party in Moscow.
The base chosen for the ‘accident’ is RAF Bentwaters, near Woodbridge, Suffolk & around 15 miles by road from Ipswich. Petrofsky, who is living in Britain under the assumed name of James Duncan Ross, hires a house in Ipswich as his base, in which he stores all the component parts for the bomb as they are delivered to him by the couriers, where it is then assembled & made ready for detonation by another Soviet agent.
The plan is discovered, however, by MI5 agent John Preston, who manages to track down the Russian. The trail leads to a house in Chesterfield, Derbyshire, where Petrofsky has gone to send an encoded message back to Moscow informing his masters that Plan Aurora is all set to be put into action. Preston & his team follow Petrofsky back to Ipswich &, with a troop from the SAS, the house is stormed & the tragedy averted. Petrofsky is killed in the process.
When Petrofsky/Ross first arrives in Ipswich, he stays at first at the Great White Horse Hotel in Tavern Street. The following day he goes in to Oxborrow’s estate agents to rent a house. The house he chooses is described as “a small, neat brick house in a small, neat brick road in a small, neat brick private-sector housing estate off the Belstead Road.” This is the estate known as ‘The Hayes’, which lies between Belstead Road & Prince of Wales Drive. Brackenhayes, Gorsehayes, Heatherhayes & Almondhayes are all named in the book & all exist. The location of the house that Petrofsky rents however, in Cherryhayes Close, is fictitious. The garden of 12 Cherryhayes Close, we learn later in the book, backs onto a garden in Brackenhayes (in reality, the properties in Brackenhayes border Gorsehayes, Heatherhayes, Laurelhayes or Belstead Road).
Preston trails Petrofsky, at a distance, back from Chesterfield via Thetford into Suffolk. The Soviet agent, unaware that he is being followed, takes the A1088 through Ixworth, then heads onto what was then the A45 (now the A14) back to Ipswich. When he arrives back in town, Whitton, Chevalier Street, Handford Bridge, the River Orwell & Ranelagh Road are all mentioned on his route back to Belstead Road & his house in Cherryhayes Close.
A film adaption of The Fourth Protocol was released in 1987, although this is only loosely based on the book. Starring Michael Caine as John Preston & Pierce Brosnan as Valeri Petrofsky, it also features Ned Beatty, Joanna Cassidy, Michael Gough & Julian Glover. It was directed by John Mackenzie & produced by Timothy Burrill. Much of the film was shot in Milton Keynes, Buckinghamshire, with the car chase that is supposed to take place in Ipswich actually being filmed in Chelmsford, Essex. RAF Bentwaters is changed in the film to the fictional RAF Bayswater; the scenes of this being shot at RAF Upper Heyford in Oxfordshire. The Orwell Bridge, however, does appear in the film, in a scene where two helicopters fly beneath it.
Ipswich as a Surname in Three Little Girls Dressed in Blue - A Trilogy of Novels by Marcia Lynn McClure
The Bewitching of Amoretta Ipswich is the title of a novel by Marcia Lynn McClure. Described as a Western Historical Romance, it was published in September 2012 & is the first part of a three book series collectively entitled Three Little Girls Dressed in Blue; the girls in question being Amoretta, Calliope & Evangeline Ipswich.
The second book in the series is The Secret Bliss of Calliope Ipswich, with the third & final book in the trilogy entitled The Romancing of Evangeline Ipswich, both published in 2014.
Marcia Lynn McClure was born in Albuquerque, New Mexico. Her novels have been described as “weaving captivating stories of western, medieval, regency, and contemporary amour void of brusque intimacy”. Her writing has earned her the title “The Queen of Kissing”. Her first novel was The Heavenly Surrender, which appeared in 2001. She has since become a prolific writer, averaging more than four books annually since 2007. Other titles include Shackles of Honor (2002), The Highwayman of Tanglewood (2008), A Crimson Frost (2009), The Haunting of Autumn Lake (2011) & Untethered (2012). She is also the author of the non-fiction book How to Determine a Good One: An Essay on Kissing (2011). She now lives in Rio Rancho, New Mexico.
In exclusive correspondence with Planet Ipswich, Marcia revealed that her paternal family line can be traced back to Ipswich, Massachusetts...& possibly back to Ipswich in England.
In Marcia’s own words:
“The word/name Ipswich has always intrigued me - from the moment I first heard it many years and years and years ago. I just love it! I always tell people that for some reason, “Ipswich” is one of my top 5 favorite words! In fact, it holds the #1 spot of my favorite words to actually say! Not sure why, I just love it! I find it phonetically pleasing - not to mention just plain intriguing to hear.
Therefore, being that I've always loved the word/name Ipswich, and that I have family history stretching back to at least Ipswich, Mass - well, if you know many author’s - that's usually all it takes to spark an entire story line!”
Regarding the characters with the surname Ipswich, Marcia revealed that:
“The Bewitching of Amoretta Ipswich, takes place in the old west. Judge Lawson Ipswich has moved his daughters, Amoretta, Calliope and Evangeline, west, wanting to escape the hustle and bustle of Boston. Judge Ipswich was born in Massachusetts, though his parents were immigrants from Ipswich, Suffolk, England. Though the story is about Amoretta, Judge Ipswich does end up marrying a young woman with a daughter - therefore Kizzy and her daughter, Shay - also have the surname Ipswich by the end of the book.”
The Postmaster of Ipswich. William Stevenson Fitch Antiquary and Thief - Janet Ing Freeman
This book published by The Book Collector, 1997, is the true story of this notable antiquary, who has been revealed as a persistent thief by the detailed study made by the author.
William Stevenson Fitch was by profession a chemist in Ipswich who in 1837 became the town’s postmaster, a position he held for 21 years until his death in 1859. He devoted his leisure time to studying the antiquities of Suffolk and amassed a collection of original manuscripts relating to the history of the county. When he fell on hard times he sold his collection in four auctions between 1853 and 1859. The West Suffolk Archaeological Association, of which he was a founder, purchased many of the drawings and engravings which were deposited in the museum of the society at Bury St. Edmunds. Among his collection were 156 charters bound together relating to Dodnash Priory, known as the “Dodnash Cartulary”, that he undoubtedly obtained by dubious means from the library of the Tollemache family at Helmingham Hall.
Drawing on a wide range of archival sources the author shows that Fitch was a persistent thief of books, pamphlets and manuscripts, principally from the libraries of the Tollemache family at Ham House and Helmingham Hall, and also from the Corporation chest of Ipswich itself from which came the manuscript of John Bale’s play “Kynge Johan”. Not only that, Fitch also stole many of the finest manuscripts that ended up in the collection of his friend and fellow antiquary Dawson Turner of Norfolk, who could not have been unaware of the original source of the material.
In his own right, Fitch did publish “A Catalogue of Suffolk Memorial Registers, Royal Grants, &c”, 1843, and “Ipswich and its Early Mints” 1848. He was also a regular contributor to the “Journal of the British Archaeological Association” and the “Proceedings of the East Suffolk Archaeological Society”. He also has an entry in the Dictionary of National Biography.
Gippovicensis as part of a literary title
Well into the 20th century, it was normal for learned books to put their title in Latin as this was considered to be the language known by the better educated person. The fact that the contents of the book itself would be written in English was, of course, immaterial, the fiction of a certain superiority had already been established by the title. The old name for Ipswich was used in the title of two such books as “Gippovicensis”, the Latin for “of Gippeswick”.
‘Hortus Botanicus Gippovicensis, or a systematical enumeration of the Plants cultivated in Dr Coyte’s Botanic Garden at Ipswich’ by William Beeston Coyte, was first published in 1796 at Ipswich. The title just means “Botanic Garden of Ipswich”. A facsimile edition was published in 1984. This is a list of the plants in the botanical garden at Ipswich maintained by Dr Coyte (1740-1810), who practised medicine in the town, and had an interest in botany. He was Ipswich born, and graduated at Queens’ College, Cambridge, in 1763. He was a fellow of the Linnean Society, the world’s premier organisation for the study and dissemination of natural history.
His name is remembered today in Coytes Gardens, a short ‘L’ shaped street connecting Princes Street with Friars Street. It is the only street in Ipswich to retain its cobblestone surface & central guttering. A memorial to Dr Coyte can be found in St Nicholas’ church.
‘Pharmacopoeia Valetudinarii Gippovicensis, medicamenta simplicia et composita exhibens, in usum aegrorum servanda’ by William Henry Williams, was published by the Ipswich Public Dispensary, 1814. The title means “A Pharmacopoeia of Ipswich Hospital, showing simple and compound drugs, observed in the use of patients.” A pharmacopoeia (literally ‘drug-making’) is a reference work containing directions for the identification of compound medicines. William Henry Williams (1771-1841) was born in Gloucestershire. He received his medical education at the Bristol Infirmary and at St. Thomas’s and Guy’s hospitals. He became a surgeon to the East Norfolk militia. About 1797 he designed a tourniquet of such simplicity and efficiency, that it was at once adopted by the authorities, and named “Williams’ Field Tourniquet” by the Army Medical Board. It was ordered to be employed in every regiment both at home and abroad, and enabled non-commissioned officers to apply a tourniquet to stem loss of blood from sword, bayonet or gun-shot wounds. Before this, only the surgeon and assistant-surgeons were competent to apply a tourniquet. Some years before 1803 Dr Williams had settled at Ipswich, and in 1810 was appointed in charge of the South Military hospital close by the town. Dr Williams was admitted to the College of Physicians in 1816. He continued to reside at Ipswich until shortly before his death in 1841. He was the author of several medical treatises including the above.
Ipswitch, Pennsylvania, in Pie - A Children’s Book by Sarah Weeks
Ipswitch, with a ‘t’, is a very small town in Pennsylvania in this children’s book by the award-winning author, Sarah Weeks. Pie is a story about family, friendship and, naturally, pies. It was published in October 2011 by Scholastic Press.
In 1941 Polly Portman opened a shop called “Pie”, located in downtown Ipswitch, Pa., which has a population of 162, on the corner of Windham and Main. Polly has a gift for making pies and as soon as she opened up, she was almost instantly famous. It was well known that Polly had a secret recipe for her crust, a recipe so good that her pies won the national pie award 13 years running. Her pies were so popular that people from all over the world came to try them, which brought tourist revenue to the small town.
In 1945 her niece Alice Anderson was born. Alice helped Polly bake pies, and spent a lot of time with her in the pie shop. Alice loved her aunt very much. So in 1955 when Aunt Polly, the Pie Queen of Ipswitch, died unexpectedly, Alice was devastated. Even more so after she hears that her Aunt Polly has left her world-famous pie crust recipe to her enormously fat and disagreeable cat, Lardo, who was to be left in the care of Alice. Then Lardo disappeared, and Alice feared he had been catnapped. The little tourist industry that had grown up around Polly’s famous pies was losing business since Polly had passed away. Now just about everyone wanted to be the next big pie-contest winner, and it makes the women of Ipswitch pie-crazy.
This mystery moves along fairly quickly, and the book is filled with interesting characters like the bodybuilding spinster principal of Alice’s school, the publicity-driven mayor, and Charlie, Alice’s inquisitive friend who wants to help her find Aunt Polly’s secret pie crust recipe. Each of the fourteen chapters starts with a pie recipe, everything from fruit and custard pies to a green tomato pie, a low-fat buttermilk pie, and even a peanut butter raspberry cream pie! But be advised that the pie crust recipe is NOT included.
Sarah Weeks is a singer, songwriter, and children’s book author. She has been writing and performing in New York for more than twenty years and has numerous theatre and recording credits, as well as writing more than thirty books and novels. Sarah enjoys visiting schools and libraries throughout the country, where she reads from her books, sings her songs, and talks to children about writing. She currently lives in New York City with her two sons.
Tilly Ipswitch in Tilly Witch - A Children’s Book by Don Freeman
Tilly Witch is a children’s picture book by author and illustrator Don Freeman, first published in 1969 by Viking Press. It was republished in 1978 by Puffin Books.
The story is about Tilly Ipswitch (spelt with a “t”), an evil witch and Queen of Halloween. Like children play at being evil witches on Halloween, Tilly Ipswitch decides to try playing at being happy and good. Unfortunately, she forgot how to be mean. So she hops on a surfboard and flies to the island of Wahoo where a witch doctor, Dr Weegee, advises her to return to her old finishing school for witches to re learn the trickery of the trade. The lessons fail to address her problem and she remains cheerful until she is sent to a corner to wear a dunce’s hat. This makes Tilly angry and she leaps from her stool and stomps on the dunce’s cap. Her anger makes Tilly return to her old self. She flies back home and takes joy in frightening her cat, and then sets out on her broomstick to scare children the world over.
A follow up entitled Space Witch was published by Picture Puffin books in 1979.Don Freeman was born in San Diego, California, in 1908. He came to New York to study art and gradually earned a living sketching impressions of Broadway shows for The New York Times and The Herald Tribune. He was introduced to the world of children’s literature when he was asked to illustrate several books. Soon after, he began to write and illustrate his own books, a career he settled into comfortably and happily. Don Freeman died in 1978, after a long and successful career as the author and illustrator of many popular books for children.
The Good Green Witch from Ipswitch by Garnett Tremain Bond
Another book about a witch using the place-name with a ‘t’. We cannot tell you much about the plot, other than it is a story of a good witch who safeguards the planet from pollution. The environmental angle is obvious. It is only 16 pages aimed at the pre-school market, published by Dageford Publishing, USA in 1997 (no longer in business since 2004). The American author seems to specialise in children’s books, among his other titles are “Tickley Tiger” and “The Inventions of Mr Tinkers-A-Lot”.
The Ipswich Witch by David L Jones
This book tells the horrifying tale of cruelty and injustice in 17th Century East Anglia. The book focuses on witchcraft in Ipswich and the most extreme punishment ever given to an English witch. This is the case of Mary Lackland, the so-called Ipswich Witch. Her case is unusual in that it was one of the few instances in England of a witch being burned alive, as opposed to the more usual method of hanging. She was put to death on Rushmere Heath in September 1645.
In this book David L Jones explores the case against Mary Lackland, and provides a thorough investigation into this miscarriage of justice. He provides a new look at the social causes of the Suffolk witch-hunts through his own research of contemporary 17th Century sources. (This topic is briefly covered under Matthew Hopkins – Witchfinder General on the Suffolk, England page of www.planetsuffolk.com).
The author, who lives in Ipswich, is a writer and researcher who works for the Ipswich Museum. The Ipswich Witch: Mary Lackland and the Suffolk Witch Hunts by David L Jones, is published by The History Press (2015).
Last Voyage from Ipswich – A Novel by Peter Foster
Published in 1996, Last Voyage from Ipswich is a novel by Peter Foster. The book is basically a series of modern seafarers’ tales and adventures, interwoven into a novel about a group of Merchant Navy seamen who are hired by the owner of the Marie-Claire to take on her final voyage across the Atlantic from Ipswich in England, across to Jamaica. Both the first and last chapters are entitled ‘Ipswich’ and take place in the town. The other chapters are named after stages of the journey across the Atlantic (Azores, Mid-Atlantic, Bahama Atolls etc.). The book was published privately by the author.
The Artisan of Ipswich by Robert Tarule
Published in 2004 by The John Hopkins University Press, the sub-title is ‘Craftsmanship and Community in Colonial New England’ because the book entails more than the story of one man, and the re-creation of a chest to his design by using the tools that existed when the original chest was made.
Thomas Dennis emigrated to America from England in 1663, settling in Ipswich, Massachusetts. He was a joiner who, during his lifetime, won wide renown as an artisan. Today, connoisseurs judge his elaborately carved furniture as among the best produced in 17th century America. Robert Tarule, historian and accomplished woodworker himself, vividly portrays Thomas Dennis building a chest for a client in his Ipswich shop.
What you quickly learn is that one of the most important things in 17th century America was access to wood for fuel, tanning, fences, construction, barrels and wheels as well as joinery. Wood becomes a sort of currency among the artisans, and the right to cut wood was the source of lawsuits, fines and feuds.
Tarule not only deals with how Thomas Dennis selected the right trees and how he made the wood into an elegant carved oak chest, he shows how the economic wealth of the town of Ipswich depended on its access to wood. Tarule also covers the foundation and early settlement of Ipswich. He depicts the natural and social landscape in which Dennis operated, from the sights, sounds, and smells of colonial Ipswich and its surrounding countryside. In addition, there is an entire chapter devoted to the other artisans in the town like coopers, carpenters, and wheelwrights and the types of wood they needed, and how they impacted on the resources available to the people of Ipswich.
The House on Ipswich Marsh by William Sargent
The sub-title is ‘Exploring the Natural History of New England’, published by the University Press of New England, 2005. William Sargent was formerly director of the Baltimore Aquarium and a research assistant at the Woods Hole Oceanographic Institution. He is a consultant for science series on television and a writer about science and the environment.
In 2003, William Sargent bought a big, pink house in Ipswich, Massachusetts. This is located on the Great Marsh, a patch of wetland shared by Massachusetts and New Hampshire. Sargent received a grant to study some of the rare and endangered ground-nesting birds that inhabit the public land adjacent to his property. ‘The House on Ipswich Marsh’ is primarily about the birdlife throughout a typical year, organised by the seasons. However, there is much else as well in the book, delving into the natural world, ecology, and cultural history: plate tectonics and glaciers; sea level rise and glacial rebound; the 19th century New England ice trade; what a mastodon hunt must have looked like, and much more.
Ipswitch & Ipswich as Surnames
Ipswitch (with a ‘t’) is a surname in use today in the USA. The earliest records that we can find on the US Federal Census, date from 1880, where there seem to be two separate families; one in California, the other in Maryland.
John Ipswitch was born in Austria c 1841. He is listed as living in San Francisco, California in 1880 & his occupation is shown as saloon keeper. His wife, Elizabeth was born c 1852 in California, although her parents are listed as being from England. They have six children, all born in California:
Eugenia - born c 1869
George - born c 1871
Ada - born c 1873
Alexander - born c 1875
John - born c 1877 & an unnamed son born c 1879
There is also a record for John dating from 16th November 1870 from the US Naturalization records for the northern district of California, although this gives very little detail.
James Ipswitch, born in Poland c 1829, is listed as residing in Baltimore, Maryland in 1880. His occupation is given as a labourer & he is married to Margaret, also born in Poland c 1832. They are listed as having seven children, all born in Poland:
May - born c 1851
John - born c 1853
James Jr - born c 1855
William - born c 1856
Rabie - born c 1862
Mary - born c 1863
Ann - born c 1866
The more recent records show the name Ipswitch as occurring predominantly in California, with just a few scattered across other states, such as Oregon, Colorado & North Dakota.
The surname Ipswich (without the ‘t’) is much rarer, although one or two records for this spelling also occur.
One erroneous record appears on the US Federal Census for 1920. Here is recorded a Frank Ipswich & his family (wife Cora & their three children; Dorothy, Robert & Lennard), at that time resident in San Francisco. Frank is listed as being born in California c 1886 & his occupation is stated as automobile salesman. Most telling about this entry, though, is that his father is listed as being born in Austria, which suggests a link with John Ipswitch & family listed above. These entries seem to simply be a misspelling, however, as in the 1930 census the name is given as the more common Ipswitch. (The recorder did seem to have a bit of a problem with the letters in this hand written document; spelling at least one member of the family ‘Ispwich’) (See also The Ipswich, San Francisco in the Ipswich in the Names of Public Houses, Bars & Inns etc.)
I can find only two other records for the surname Ipswich in the USA. One is in the California Divorce Index, where one Toni L Ipswich is listed as getting divorced from Ronald G Berndt in May 1977 at Los Angeles. The other is for a June Ipswich, who is recorded in the California Birth Index as being born on 25th June 1914 in San Francisco. The mother’s name is simply listed as Miller. Whether these are also misspellings or not is uncertain.
The surnames Epswick and Apswick, can also be found in the USA & are believed to be derived from mispellings of Ipswich; “Epswick, Suffolk” was often written down as “place of origin”. Likewise, the surname Ipswick only appears once - in the 1900 census a Henry Ipswick, born 1878, is recorded in Marion County, Florida. As he does not appear on previous or subsequent censuses, this is most likely to be in error. (Ipswick Circle is the name of a street in Columbus, Ohio. This is also likely to be an original error in spelling that has been perpetuated.)
In the UK, records of people with the surname Ipswich or a variant such as Ipswick are few & far between. The earliest we have found is a Thomas Ipswich who graduated from Cambridge University in 1496. It may be, however, that this Thomas did not have a proper surname, but merely came from Ipswich. This also applies to the many earlier ways of spelling Ipswich as Gipeswic, Gippewic, etc. which we return to below.
The next two records are from the eighteenth century: An Isabella Ipswick was buried in March 1781 at Whitechapel, aged 72, whilst a child named Elizabeth Epswick, was in buried in May 1744 at Cripplegate in the City of London.
A century later, the 1851 Census records a John Ipswick living in Hackney, born 1822 at Walden (probably Saffron Walden in Essex) & described as an agricultural labourer.
Next we have an Ann Ipswich who is also recorded as “Ann Ipswick”. Since the original name is handwritten, it is uncertain which of these is correct. She was buried as “Ann Ipswick” on 28th May 1864 at Croydon St Johns in Surrey.
In the 1911 Census there are records of a Benjamin Geraint Ipswich, aged 30, born in Bangor, Co. Down, Ireland, and his wife Ellen Daisy Ipswich, aged 32, born in Dalhousie, India. They lived in Brockley, London. He was an accountant working for a gold company.
It is noticeable that the records above with “Ipswich” shown as a surname only appear in one particular census year and not preceding or subsequent years, which leads us to suspect that the real surname was different, and the enumerator may have entered it incorrectly.
A record also exists of Viscount Henry Charles Ipswich, born 6th April 1978 at Westminster, London. Nobility & royalty, however, have a habit of using their titles as surnames, & further research has revealed that this was actually Henry Charles FitzRoy, later to become the 12th Duke of Grafton, whose subsidiary title is Viscount Ipswich (see section below).In the Caribbean, a sad but interesting fact is that Ipswich is recorded as a slave name given to Africans (all males) six times between 1817 and 1828. They are recorded in Antigua (owner Sir Christopher Codrington); Nevis (owner Mary Robinson); Jamaica, St Elizabeth Parish (2 different slaves aged 36 and 17 were given this name by their owner Thomas Smith); Jamaica, St Elizabeth Parish (owner Hampstead Pons); Jamaica, St Ann Parish (owner John Watkin Williams).
Gippeswic (and variant spellings) as a surname:-
As mentioned above, the earlier ways of spelling Ipswich were also used as a form of surname. The pipe rolls and other early records have “de Gipewic”, “de Gipeswic”, or other spellings for people who came from the town. Obviously, people who lived at Ipswich or in its proximity are regularly referred to in this way. The earliest reference we have found for a person who lived elsewhere is with Adam de Gepeswic or Adam de Gippeswic (both spellings are used) who was the owner and lived in the property at 11 Honey Lane at All Hallows in the City of London. He is recorded in deeds from 1192 to 1212. It cannot be said to be a true surname at this stage of its development. Only when it is handed down to the children who do not come from that place, can it be considered a proper surname.
The first definite usage of Gippeswic and its other forms as a surname passed down from father to sons appears to be in a will proved in the Archdeaconry Court of Sudbury in 1445. It is the will of Nicholas Yepisswich also referred to by the surname Gypewic. In his will he mentioned his relatives by a variety of names: his father Thomas de Gippewic, his sons William de Gippewic and John Yebyswych, and his grandsons (sons of John) William Gippewic and Nicholas Gipp.
The latter surname (Gipp) is interesting because it is used as evidence for those who maintain that people in the eastern counties who have the surname Gipp or Gipps derive it from Gippeswic, and not as a pet-name for Gilbert or ‘son of Gilbert’ which also gives the surname Gibb or Gibbs. Ipswich, Queensland, is said to owe its name partly to the fact that the governor of New South Wales, at the time, was Sir George Gipps (see Ipswich, Queensland page).
If anyone can shed any further light on the origin of the surnames Ipswich, Ipswitch, Gippeswic or any of its variants, please email details to info@planetipswich.com. I would especially like to hear from anyone with the surname Ipswich or Ipswitch. Does anybody, anywhere else in the world have this surname? Any information at all would be greatly appreciated.
(See also Candis Tyson Ipswitch, Inc. (formerly Tyson & Ipswitch), California, USA & Scott Was Here - Book by Elaine Ipswitch sections)
Viscount Ipswich
Created in 1672, the title Viscount Ipswich is one of three subsidiary titles held by the Duke of Grafton (the other two being Baron Sudbury & Earl of Euston). The family seat since 1685 has been Euston Hall in Suffolk, not far from Thetford on the border with Norfolk & more than 25 miles from Ipswich. It was inherited by the first Duke, Henry FitzRoy; the illegitimate son of King Charles II & the Duchess of Cleveland . The current Duke, Henry FitzRoy (born 1978), is the twelfth. The title Duke of Grafton is taken from the village of Grafton Regis in Northamptonshire.
(See also Islas Ipswich page)
East of Ipswich - TV drama by Michael Palin
Although, apart from the title, not actually about Ipswich, this TV comedy drama was written by Michael Palin of Monty Python fame. Loosely based on Palin’s own experiences in small English seaside tow ns during the 1950s, the action centres around Richard Burrill, a seventeen year old dragged away on holiday to the Suffolk coast with his parents (he very early on asks whether there actually is anything ‘east of Ipswich’). Bored due to a lack of anything to do except sit all day in a deckchair, admire church architecture & identify passing ships, Richard falls in with a group of teenagers who hang around coffee bars, listen to jazz & skiffle & chase girls (much to his parent’s dismay). This culminates in his sexual initiation at the hands of a promiscuous Dutch girl named Anna.
East of Ipswich was filmed in the Suffolk town of Southwold & starred Edward Rawle-Hicks as Richard, John Nettleton & Pat Heywood as his parents, Pippa Hinchley as Anna & Joan Sanderson as the overbearing landlady Miss Wilbraham. The programme was produced by Innes Lloyd & directed by Tristram Powell. It was first broadcast as part of the BBC’s Screen Two series on 1st February 1987. It was released on DVD in 2009.
Ipswich Man – BBC Documentary
First shown on 6th May 2010 on BBC2, as part of the History Cold Case series, Ipswich Man tells the story of the investigation into the archeological discovery of a skeleton found in Ipswich, England during the 1990s, dating back to medieval times & bearing traits indicating that he was of African origin.
The investigation, led by Sue Black, OBE, head of Anatomy and Forensic Anthropology at the University of Dundee, set out to find out why a man with these characteristics would have been in medieval Ipswich & where he originated from.
Initiall y thought to be of sub-Saharan origin due to the shape of the jaw, anthropological, DNA & stable isotope tests revealed that this individual was more likely to have been from North Africa. Carbon dating revealed that the skeleton originated from the period 1190 – 1300 AD, which was consistent with a medieval belt buckle found close to the body. The man is thought to have been between 40 & 60 years old at the time of his death, around 5 feet 6 inches tall, & robust in stature. He was not undernourished & there was evidence of a healthy, balanced diet. Stable isotope tests on a leg bone also showed that the man had been in a colder climate, such as Suffolk, for at least ten years prior to his death. A facial reconstruction based on a laser scanned 3D model of the skull was also produced (see photo, left).
The skeleton was one of around 150 found in a medieval cemetery discovered in the mid 1990s, when excavation work was being done near Franciscan Way, close to the site of the Greyfriars friary that had been established in the late thirteenth century. Close examination of his vertebrae revealed the man had suffered from a spinal abscess in the mid to lower thoracic area of the vertebral column, which would have effected lower limb mobility & made walking painful. It was thought that this abscess may have been the cause of the man’s death. Other skeletal remains from the same site show most of these individual’s were nearly all middle aged or elderly, some with visible signs of disease or physical disabilities, leading the experts to conclude that the graveyard was probably attached to an infirmary or medieval hospital run by the Greyfriars; the Franciscan friars being known to have been apothecaries & to have practiced medicine on a charitable basis.
During the Roman occupation, people of African origin would have come to Britain as both soldiers & merchants. Once the Romans left, however, during the fifth century AD, there would have been very few people of African origin to be seen in Britain up until the sixteenth century. So how did this man, whose features & darker skin would make him stand out in medieval England, come to be in Ipswich?
The answer may lie with the founder of the Franciscan friary in Ipswich; Sir Robert Tibetot (or Tiptoft) of Nettlestead, who died in 1298. Sir Robert is known to have been on the ninth & final crusade (1271-2), led by Prince Edward (later King Edward I). It is known that en route to the Holy Land, the knights stopped at Tunis on the North African coast. What is also known is that Thomas of Clare, who was on the same crusade as Tibetot, brought four “Saracens” back to England with him, although whether as slaves or free men is unknown; the term Saracen in this context meaning a Muslim. It is possible that Sir Robert Tibetot may have also done likewise. If this is the manner in which the man buried in the Greyfriars cemetery came to Britain, then he must have converted to Christianity at some time to have been buried in a Christian friary. Nor would it seem likely that he was poor at the time of his death, as this would have made it unlikely that he would have been in the infirmary, or buried in a single grave.
The Ipswich Cuckoos - Film
Described as “a low speed comedy set in the fast-paced world of benefits claims investigation” The Ipswich Cuckoos is the first full length film by Optimistic Panic Productions. Written & directed by Pete Moffat & first released in 2010, the film was originally available to watch through the website ‘theipswichcuckoos.co.uk’, but can now be viewed on YouTube. Starring characters calling themselves Pete Mahatma Stalin & Jon Gorogonizer, the ‘plot’ revolves around two investigators working undercover to catch a benefit fraudster.
The film begins with a few images of Ipswich, England (‘Welcome to Ipswich’ sign/Norwich Road Bridge/an Ipswich bus etc.). Thereafter, the ‘action’ takes place almost entirely indoors or in a car, with very little clue as to location.
Be warned that the dialogue consists of a great deal of strong language & sexually explicit banter. I’d like to tell you that its redeeming feature is its humour, but sadly this isn’t the case, & after a few minutes the whole thing gets a bit tedious. If you enjoy listening to two guys talking inane rubbish for an hour & twenty minutes, then this is for you. If not....avoid!
The ‘Sons of Ipswich’ in the film The Covenant
Released in 2006, The Covenant is a supernatural thriller film written by J. S. Cardone, directed by Renny Harlin & produced by Gary Lucchesi & Tom Rosenberg.
The story starts in Ipswich, Massachusetts during the Salem Witch Trials of 1692, where five families, by the names of Danvers, Parry, Garwin, Simms & Putnam, form a covenant of silence to protect their families & their keep their secret powers hidden from the witch-hunters. One family - the Putnams - become obsessed with obtaining more power, which puts the families in great danger, & as a result they are banished from the land & disappear without trace.
Fast forward to the present day: Teenagers Caleb Danvers , Pogue Parry, Reid Garwin & Tyler Simms are all students at the prestigious Spenser Academy. Descended from the five families, they are the ‘Sons of Ipswich’, & all are warlocks with supernatural & mystical powers including psychokinesis, pyrokinesis, levitation, astral projection, shapeshifting, teleportation & clairvoyance. The downside of these powers is that excessive use causes a drain on their life force.
When the son of the long lost fifth family, Chase Collins, suddenly appears, he threatens to kill their loved ones unless they “will” their powers to him. The four ‘Sons of Ipswich’ realise that they must stop him from stealing their powers, & they have a battle on their hands to ensure the safety of the covenant.
The five main characters are played by Steven Strait, Taylor Kitsch, Toby Hemingway, Chace Crawford & Sebastian Stan. The film also stars Laura Ramsey, Jessica Lucas & Kyle Schmid.
The movie was a critical failure, with the film review website Rotten Tomatoes stating “The Covenant plays out like a teen soap opera, full of pretty faces, wooden acting, laughable dialogue, and little suspense.”
The Covenant was released on DVD and Blu-ray in 2007.
There is some evidence that a sequel, The Covenant II: The Ipswich Curse, was at one stage being considered. This, however, doesn’t seem to have ever come to fruition.
“Lord Clive Montdrako of Ipswich” and references to Ipswich in an episode of Bewitched
An episode in of the popular 1960s American fantasy situation comedy show Bewitched features several references to Ipswich, including a character called Lord Clive Montdrako of Ipswich.
Created by screenwriter Sol Saks (1910-2011), Bewitched, originally broadcast between 1964 and 1972, is about a young witch named Samantha (played by Elizabeth Montgomery, see photo, right) who marries an ordinary mortal man called Darrin (Dick York) and tries to lead the life of a typical suburban housewife. Many of Samantha’s relatives, all with magical powers, also feature in the shows, most notably Samantha’s mother Endora (Agnes Moorehead) who is constantly at loggerheads with Darrin. The programme ran for 8 series and 254 episodes.
The show in question is entitled I Get Your Nanny, You Get My Goat, and is episode 15 of season 4, first broadcast in December 1967. The plot revolves around Samantha calling in her old nanny, Elspeth (Hermione Baddeley), to babysit their daughter Tabitha. The arrival of the English nanny (whose character is clearly based on Mary Poppins) doesn’t go down well with Endora, who calls up Elspeth’s employer, the British Lord Clive Montdrako of Ipswich (Reginald Gardiner), who she claims is “the only warlock in the House of Lords”. Lord Montdrako doesn’t take kindly to Darrin, as he sees him as having poached Elspeth away from him. Much magical mayhem follows, which sees a variety of spells being cast, usually to Darrin’s detriment. This culminates with a scene in which Samantha magically transports herself to Lord Montdrako’s castle in England. This scene contains two more references to Ipswich:
During a tour of the castle, the guide (Samantha in disguise) makes reference to “The Ghost of Ipswich Downs” who is alleged to make a tapestry fly up and wave whenever strangers enter the hall. She also points out to the tourists a suit of armour owned by “The First Earl of Ipswich, who in his time danced his way into the hearts of many a young lady”. Needless to say, both the tapestry and the suit of armour then perform to order, courtesy of Samantha’s magic powers.
This particular episode was written by Pittsburgh born Ron Friedman, who as well as writing more than 700 hours of episodes for many TV series, was also famous as a television and film producer.
We have been unable to find any reason for the name Ipswich being used, other than the association that the name conjures up with images of witches, magic and sorcery in some people’s minds.
“Ichabod Ipswich” – Character in Goober and the Ghost Chasers
Goober and the Ghost Chasers was a children’s animated cartoon series produced by Hanna-Barbera Productions between 1973 and 1975. Only 16 episodes were ever made.
The show’s theme is very similar to Hanna-Barbera’s successful and more famous Scooby-Doo, Where Are You!, insofar as it features a group of teenagers and their dog, Goober, who work for Ghost Chasers Magazine and go around solving paranormal mysteries. Goober, who is green in hue, has the ability to become invisible.
Episode 11 is entitled Go West Young Ghost, Go West and features a ghostly character called Ichabod Ipswich (see picture, left). The plot revolves around an amusement park called Funland, where a haunted house has been brought by the owner from Salem, Massachusetts and set up as an exhibit. It is haunted by the spirit of one Ichabod Ipswich, who is alleged to have been a coward and is now doomed to roam the house until he can clear the family name.
The twist is that a rival park owner is dressing up as the ghost to scare away customers and lure them to his own business. After much mayhem and zany capers, the real ghost, plus the Ghost Chasers team, unmask the imposter. Ichabod Ipswich is now seen as a hero, instead of a coward, and has therefore cleared the family name of Ipswich.
The name Ipswich was probably used due to the close proximity of Ipswich, Massachusetts to Salem, and the connection with witches and all things paranormal.
Fictional town of Ipswich, Oregon, USA in the film Summer of '84
The movie Summer of ’84, which was released in 2018, is a Canadian horror/mystery film directed by François Simard, Anouk Whissell and Yoann-Karl Whissell, and starring Graham Verchere, Judah Lewis, Caleb Emery, Cory Gruter-Andrew, Jason Gray-Stanford, Tiera Skovbye, and Rich Sommer.
The film is set in the fictional town of Ipswich in Cape May, Oregon, USA, and revolves around the hunt for a serial killer known as the “Cape May Slayer”. Teenager Davey Armstrong, a conspiracy theorist, suspects that a neighbour of his, Ipswich police officer Wayne Mackey, is the killer. With help from three of his friends, Davey decides to investigate in an effort to bring the killer to justice. The climax of the film sees Davey and one of his friends, Woody, abducted by Mackey and taken to an offshore island. Mackey kills Woody by slitting his throat, but spares Davey in order to leave him paranoid and constantly in fear of the killer’s return. The movie ends with Mackey still on the loose.
So why was the name Ipswich used for the fictional Oregon town? This is down to producer and co-screenwriter (along with Stephen J Smith) Matthew Leslie, who grew up in Massachusetts, in the area around Ipswich and Salem.
Summer of ’84 was actually filmed in Vancouver, Canada, but the geography and character of the fictional town during the writing process was inspired by Ipswich, Massachusetts, with its tidal islands only accessible by road at low tide. With its similar topography, however, the area around Vancouver was eventually chosen as the filming location.
(For details of the film’s soundtrack, which includes the instrumental Ipswich Lanes by Le Matos, see More Songs & Music with “Ipswich” in the Title, above).
Ipswich Almond Pudding & Ipswich Lemon Pie
There are two recipes that I know of that are named after Ipswich in England:-
Ipswich Almond Pudding: Sometimes simply called Ipswich Pudding, the Recipe dates back to at least the eighteenth century. Details of the ingredients & instructions vary slightly, & there are several published versions on various websites & in books. These are the basics:
Heated milk & cream are poured onto breadcrumbs. Sugar, almonds & orange or rosewater are added & left to soak in for a few minutes. Beaten eggs are added & mixed in. The mixture is then poured into a pie dish & dotted with butter, before being placed in a water filled roasting tin. It is then baked until set & served hot with cream, custard or fruit compote.
Ipswich Lemon Pie: Also sometimes known as Mrs Kent’s Lemon Pie, this recipe dates back to the eighteenth century. Mrs Kent was an Ipswich housewife, & the recipe was recorded by her friend Elizabeth Hicks, who was a collector of local recipes.
This is a type of lemon curd open tart with a shortcrust pastry base. Lemon juice, grated lemon rind, sugar & butter are heated in a saucepan until the sugar dissolves, then allowed to cool. The beaten eggs are then strained into the mixture & returned to the heat until combined. This is then poured into a pastry case, glazed with milk, & put into the oven for around half an hour until the filling has set. Can be served hot or cold.
Ipswich Super Blue Pork Sausages
Since 2007 this product (see photograph, right) has been on sale at the renowned “Jimmy’s Farm” at Wherstead, Ipswich, England. Ipswich Super Blue Pork Sausages comprise fresh crushed garlic, blue stilton cheese and free range, rare breed pork. One food critic says that “the blue cheese adds an almost creamy flavour to the sausage and mixes perfectly with the garlic whilst not overpowering the excellent pork”. The name was given in tribute to local Ipswich Town FC whose colours are blue and white.
“Jimmy’s Farm” is one of the UK’s best known farms made famous by a documentary series on BBC television from 2004. It featured Jimmy Doherty, best friend of celebrity chef Jamie Oliver, establishing a rare breeds piggery in 2003 with his wife Michaela Furney on the outskirts of Ipswich in Suffolk, mainly to save the Essex breed of pigs from extinction.
Jimmy Doherty majored in Animal Biology at university and he champions free-range food and local produce through his numerous television documentaries and books. “Jimmy’s Farm” is a working free-range, rare-breed pig farm first and foremost, but still prides itself on producing high quality meat, including its renowned range of sausages, as well as offering locally sourced poultry, beef and lamb. The farm itself is open all year round to the public and has a farm shop, butchery, restaurant, field kitchen, education centre and farm park. The farm has successfully diversified to become a top tourist attraction for the region, and “Jimmy’s Farm” now has its own entry in Wikipedia.
Ipswich Clams
The soft-shell clam, Mya arenaria, is commonly known in America as the ‘Ipswich clam’, due to their prominence in the Ipswich Bay area of Massachusetts. However, the species is found, not only in New England, but down the Atlantic coast from Canada to the southern states of the USA. They are also found on the other side of the Atlantic, including the British Isles, & have become an invasive species along the Pacific coast of America from Alaska to California.
Ipswich clams are a well known delicacy in America. They can be steamed or fried & are commonly used in clam chowder & clam bakes. However, most “Ipswich clams” sold today come from Maine because pollution and an invasion of predatory green crabs have almost wiped out their presence in their traditional home.
These bivalve molluscs have a very thin calcium carbonate shell, hence the name ‘soft-shell’, & are usually found buried in up to ten inches of mud on tidal mudflats.
Other colloquial names for this clam are ‘steamers’ ‘belly clam’ ‘longnecks’ & ‘piss clam’. These names are identified with the long neck, or siphon, that sticks out of the shell. The clams live in the sand just below the surface and when people walk nearby, the pressure on the sand makes the clams squirt water in the air.
(See also Ipswitch - Trademark, below)
Almost Ipswich - Food with Names Similar to Ipswich
The first two brand names below are derived from “sandwich” rather than Ipswich, but the prefix used in each case provides a name that is very similar to the place of that name.
Chipwich - The Chipwich is an ice cream sandwich made of ice cream between two chocolate chip cookies and rolled in chocolate chips, hence the name. The Chipwich name and logo is trademarked by Crave Better Foods, LLC. Although ice cream sandwiches had been sold in New York City since the 1890s, the Chipwich would not be known until the chocolate chip cookie had been invented. (We assume the non-North American English speakers are familiar enough with the American term “cookie” but, if not, it is what non-Americans refer to as a “biscuit”.) This was invented by the American chef Ruth Graves Wakefield in 1938 when she added chopped up bits from a chocolate bar into a cookie that she was baking.
The original “Chipwich ” was created by Americans Richard LaMotta and Sam Metzger in New York City in 1978. It was made up of vanilla ice cream sandwiched by two chocolate chip cookies, with the sides rolled in chocolate chips, which stick to the ice cream. Although very successful, the small independent company that they formed struggled to attract capital and filed for bankruptcy twice (in 1987 and 1992). The venture ultimately passed into the hands of the larger ice cream and chocolate manufacturers, but in 2009 the then owner, Nestlé, stopped production of the original Chipwich. The trademark was acquired in 2017 by Crave Better Foods, LLC and the product was re-launched in 2018 in the USA.
Sipwich - Several coffee houses and cafés in the USA go by the name “Sip”, an allusion to what customers can do when they enter such an establishment. However, only one came up with the idea of merging the name with “sandwich” to advertise their particular brand of that article. This was the Sip Bar on Amsterdam Avenue, New York City. Although now closed, this outlet was popular in the late 2000s especially for the “Sipwich” at a cost of $4. The Sipwich was a delicious egg sandwich topped with all sorts of little delights, such as an extra egg, cheese, ham, avocado or chorizo. It was also recommended that a side order of Billionaire Bacon should complete this snack. The Sip Bar and its Sipwich was just the place for a comforting breakfast, brunch or a late night snack to recover from the day’s exertions. Chipswich - And it could be expected that an enterprising fish and chip outlet in Ipswich, Suffolk, would realise the potential of this brand name. Located in the Chantry suburb of Ipswich, the entrepreneurial owner of this establishment has assured himself of the name by incorporating the business in 2016 as Chipswich Limited. (We take it that our American readers know that “chips” in Britain are what you know as “French fries”.)
Chipswich - And it could be expected that an enterprising fish and chip outlet in Ipswich, Suffolk, would realise the potential of this brand name. Located in the Chantry suburb of Ipswich, the entrepreneurial owner of this establishment has assured himself of the name by incorporating the business in 2016 as Chipswich Limited. (We take it that our American readers know that “chips” in Britain are what you know as “French fries”.)
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