A tribute by Peter Walter Joslin and William Frederick Joscelyne:
Arthur better known to his friends as 'Sonny' Joscelyne was born at Hadleigh in Essex England on the 20th of March 1903,
he was the first of six children for Arthur JOSCELYNE and his wife Ellen Elizabeth SETTERFIELD who had married a year
earlier at Margate Kent England. Sonny's siblings were his three sisters; Lily May, Rose Muriel and Edna Edith and his two
brothers Vincent Henry and Harold Woodward.
Arthur was 32 when he married his life time partner Rose Ellen HARVEY at Leigh-on-Sea Essex,
They were to have one daughter Clare Joscelyne who has helped me with this tribute to her father.
Arthur died at Leigh on the 2nd of May 1993 at the age of 90,
Rose sadly died on the 2nd February 2003 and was also aged 90.
Amongst his many talents, Arthur was a story teller and, fortunately for us he wrote down a lot of his experiences in life,
some of which, are now available in paper backs.
One story that is very close to my heart, is of his involvement in manning one of the small boats that rescued so many of our
service men from the beaches of Dunkirk in 1940. My own father Sergeant Walter James Joslin was born in Essex a year after
Arthur and he was one of the BEF to be rescued from Dunkirk, although he managed to get on a destroyer,
I often wonder if their paths ever crossed. Arthur supplemented his account of this rescue mission by painting his small flotilla
passing Southend and then as they approached the burning port of Dunkirk on the French coast.

      

Family History research and the name Arthur Joscelyne went hand in hand in this area of Essex, Arthur was a regular visitor at the local libraries, the London repositories and especially Essex Record Office in Chelmsford. On my first visit to the Chelmsford record office I was immediately informed about all the 'Joslin' Charts and Wills that Arthur had researched, catalogued and then deposited for others to benefit from. Amongst my records of Arthur is a photograph that the local paper had taken of him in the Essex Record Office, it shows him with one of his many 'Joslin' Charts, this one gives the family connections back to Egidius JOSSELIN a nobleman of Brittany who came to England in the reign of Edward the Confessor (1042-1066). I managed to purchase a copy from E.R.O. at a cost of about £90 in 1994, it still makes very interesting reading, even in the light of today's research..

The 'Josselin Society' was founded by: William Frederick Joscelyne (Bill No2) and Peter Josling (No1) in Essex, England in 1991. At a meeting at Horndon on the Hill, on 6th October 1991 and in recognition of his standing in family history research and in particular his 'Joslin' work, Arthur, who was now 88 was asked to become our first President, I have a copy of his letter of acceptance dated 31st October 1991. Peter Josling became the Secretary and William Frederick Joscelyne the Chairman, sadly Arthur died two years later and I was never to meet this fine old gentleman.

Bill Joscelyne's first meeting with Arthur was about 1970 after seeking help from
Lewis Hamilton Joscelyne of Braintree, who sent Bill to see Arthur who was the recognised Joslin researcher at that time,
they were to remain close friends for the rest of Arthur's life. Bill, who worked in the centre of London was very useful to Arthur
as he could easily visit the London records offices i.e. Somerset House, Chancery Lane and Westminster Archives and get
Wills and Certificates to confirm Arthur's research, also Bills draughtsman's skills were used for a set of Family Trees.
(The charts are available to members of the society)
Click on Leigh-on-Sea for Arthur's branch at St Clements Church and the Notley's and Rayne for further family connections,
they are all well documented within our society journals and publications.

JOSCELYNE BEACH (The Book)
Another of Arthur's stories is of how his father, in a drunken moment in 1909, bought a part of the beach at Leigh-on-Sea for £9.00 and ever since it has been affectionately known as 'Joscelyne Beach'.
Arthur and his family would hire out boats, tents, deck chairs etc to the
throngs that arrived from London for a day at the sea-side.
Well, Clare, his daughter, has recently arranged to get the story published
and it is now available in paper back for £9.99.
 (Josselin society members can order from Clare Harvey direct) or
contact the publishers who are 'Desert Island Books', 89, Park Street, Westcliffe-on-Sea. Essex. SSO 7PD England.
Phone Number UK 01702 392908 or you can email them at
 info@desertislandbooks.com
ISBN-1-874287-85-6 UK price is £9.99 plus £1.00 postage
check their website at http://www.desertislandbooks.com/ for other interesting books

I think this cameo of Leigh in the early 1900's will be yet another reminder of Arthur's many talents, and I look
forward to the publication of his other fascinating stories. ...

"WHAT A REMARKABLE FELLOW HE WAS."
By: W. F. Joscelyne 
I met Arthur following a couple of visits to Mr. Lewis Hamilton Joscelyne at his Estate Agent Offices in Bank Street,
Braintree in 1974, Hamilton strongly recommended I should contact Arthur in my pursuit of Joscelyne ancestry.

Arthur was cordial to me at our first meeting, but swiftly accepted me as a friend and fellow researcher,
after I showed him proof of my dedication, obtained by time and money in our mutual interest, research.

I was employed by the Post Office in Farringdon Road, London, and often spent my lunch break and spare time at
St. Catherine's House PRO getting valuable information for my research. I was, therefore, privileged to be able to obtain
copies of Births, Marriage and Death Certificates for Arthur, plus other information from the Society of Genealogists,
just around the corner in Goswell Road. I was always greeted very warmly by Arthur and his wife Rose on my visits,
Rose was always able to offer a large slice of fresh cream cake, with a selection of other cakes and a cup of tea,
and it was difficult to say "no" to second helpings.
(I can not remember ever saying "no".)

Arthur appears to have been successful in anything he put his hand to, including his enviable memory for research. Arthur and his brother Harold built many houses between them in Leigh, including one for their mother, and the house he and Rose lived in where I visited them at 70, Fernleigh Drive, Leigh-on-Sea. He built aviaries in the back garden to keep and breed Australian and African Parakeets, becoming founder member of "The Parrot Society", and successful in keeping and breeding the smaller variety called
"Love-bird", of which little was known at the time.

Arthur built a splendid doll's house for his daughter Clare, who admired a photograph of a doll's-house made for a member of
the Royal Family. The finished work of art was approximately 3 feet wide x 3.5 feet high x 1.5 feet in depth and had 3-4 floors.
All furniture and fittings were made by him, including electric lighting.
I also admired a model of a "man-of-war" ship in full sale about 2 feet long, an with 20+ gun ports either side.
This took him 3 years to complete, at a time when self-build kits were not heard of.

His wife Rose was also gifted with many talents, and showed me 20-30 dolls she had made from China-clay,
and made beautiful dresses and clothes for them, when she was 70+ years of age.
I was asked to photograph them for insurance. Arthur also painted a couple of excellent pictures from his memory,
of the passage of the "little ships" sent to evacuate Dunkirk in World War II,
which he and his brothers volunteered for. (photos above)

I had joined the Tyrell Society as my grandmother's name was Turrall, and Arthur often expressed a wish that he
might see a Joscelyne Society during his life time. He was overjoyed when told that an informal meeting had been
arranged by myself at "The Jobber's Rest", St. Mary's Lane, Upminster, Essex, on Sunday 24th February 1992
and would be attended by 11 prospective members. Unfortunately, he could not join us.
He was very proud and felt honoured when he was elected First President of our Josselin Society.
He had helped many members and non-members in their search for knowledge of their ancestry.

I say again, "What a remarkable fellow he was", and I feel privileged to have been accepted as one of his friends.

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