DORLING HISTORY AND GENEALOGY WEBSITE

Much of the Dorling information collected over nearly 40 years is now available on the "Dorling History and Genealogy" website hosted by the Guild of One-Name Studies.  The website is searchable and includes people in the trees from all the main Dorling branches.  The trees will be updated now and then as I am still working on them.  Living people are not shown.

The Dorling website can be searched by using the "Find", "Media" and "Info" links with drop down boxes on the right hand side of the page.  There are also links at the very top and bottom of the home page to other useful websites.   Apologies for many images not being available at the moment.

Do contact me with any queries using "Contact" at the bottom of the "Info" drop down list.  And please contact me if you can provide extra information and/or photos, or to correct anything.  

The Dorling History and Genealogy website is at https://dorling.one-name.net/index.php

 The Home Guard documents for County Durham are online at The National Archives, and currently free to download - there is one Dorling - Thom (Tom) born 1895 who served in the Durham Home Guard, 5th Battalion.  The Home Guard record gives his date of birth as 2nd September, and his next of kin as Jane Dorling of 31 The Bungalows, Tanfield Lea, Chester-le-Street. He was accepted for the Home Guard in June 1940 "for the duration of the emergency".  In June 1941 he was a 2nd Lieutenant, and sometime after that became Lieutenant.  He was discharged when the Home Guard was disbanded on 31 Dec 1945.

Thom was the son of Thomas Jacob Dorling b. 1836 Barton Mills, Suffolk, and Mary Ann Crane b. 1860 Manchester.   Their family lived in Chester-le-Street, County Durham.  In 1915 Thom married Jennie / Jane Wright, and then served as a private 1915-1919 in the 2nd Battalion of the Durham Light Infantry in WW1.  After the war Thom and Jane had two daughters, Phyllis and Olga.  In 1939 Thomas was "Colliery Deputy Overman Below".   He died in 1961 age 85.

 Dorling information can now be found on the Dorling Family History website, hosted by The Guild of One-name Studies 

 West Stow Dorlings 

This is part of a letter from Margaret Dorling, born 13 Oct 1896, probably at Culford, Suffolk,who wrote this in 1984:

"My father Esau Dorling (born 1865 West Stow) was the youngest of 9 as you may already know, and his mother, Margaret was left a widow when he was, I think about two years or so. She lived on North Stow Heath, which is very out of the way, I remember going there once. The cottages stood in the midst of heath land, a fine place, I would think, for rabbits! not many trees, as I remember it. Of course there are plenty of trees at Culford. I suspect you will hardly remember Culford, and it has altered lately, since the Estate was sold in 1935, and the East Anglian School bought it, they have lately made other changes at the Hall, pulling down kitchen and ...etc and building a large Assembly Hall to hold about 1000 + also the girls school is now at Culford. These schools used to be at Bury St Edmunds. Well, the only Dorlings I know, are busy working people, interested in tilling the Soil and cultivating Gardens, wherever they are & so they are I think, by nature Countymen. Grandfather, my Father, was very busy with his garden and allotment in his spare time. HIs work was hard & meant often a long walk to and fro (oh, my poor feet), no byke and seldom a ride I think except, he sometimes was on the Engine which was used on the Estate for different things., to take the elevator & drum, for thrashing, the stacks, corn etc, no combined harvestors then. + yet he could make a beautiful bouquet of flowers for the flower show, + 1st prize. I remember he said when making it, its for 1st prize, & it was."