{"id":13495,"date":"2020-11-13T16:15:05","date_gmt":"2020-11-13T16:15:05","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/marthamnorfolk.co.uk\/?page_id=13495"},"modified":"2026-03-02T16:36:25","modified_gmt":"2026-03-02T16:36:25","slug":"rising-family-home-page","status":"publish","type":"page","link":"https:\/\/marthamnorfolk.co.uk\/?page_id=13495","title":{"rendered":"Rising Family of Horsey, West Somerton and Martham"},"content":{"rendered":"\n

Rising Family of Horsey, West Somerton and Martham<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n

Martham has never had a single landed gentry family. It has had Lords of the Manor<\/a><\/em>, but they have mostly been large land-owning farmers who lived away. This is almost certainly because in medieval times there was a larger than average number of freeholders in the village who owned just a few acres each. This did not provide the basis needed for the emergence of any really large estates, hence there were never any stately homes. There were, however, a small number of yeoman or gentleman farmers who managed to accumulate perhaps 200 to 400 acres and in relative terms were wealthy in comparison with those eking out a living from three or four acres plus use of the common land.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Rising Family Summary<\/strong><\/h2>\n\n\n\n

The Risings were the most important of the larger landowners and they came to prominence all over Flegg including, Horsey, Somerton, Caister and Martham in the 19th<\/sup> century. This section of the website does not attempt to cover the whole Rising family but instead concentrates on the members that lived in, or contributed to, life in Martham. There are two branches of the family featured on this page who were cousins.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Spanning a period of almost 200 years they were mainly property owners and farmers. In 1812 the principal family members owned 295 acres of land in Martham and thirty years later in 1842 this had increased to 425 acres. In addition, they owned additional land at Repps, Potter Heigham, West Somerton, Horsey and Caister. They were also estate managers, barristers, magistrates, chief constables, churchwardens, overseers, cattle & horse breeders and pillars of the community. At various times they owned some of the most impressive properties in the area including Cess Farm, Elmside<\/a><\/em>, Grove House<\/a><\/em>, Martham House<\/a><\/em>, Moregrove<\/a><\/em>, Rose Farm<\/a><\/em>, Sutfield House<\/a><\/em>, Bell Meadow and its cottages all at Martham and Horsey Hall and West Somerton Hall as well as elegant properties in Great Yarmouth. Some had large families but many children died as infants. They made good marriages with other eminent families, but also had affairs and had their fair share of illegitimate children. One kept a farming diary giving us an insight into their daily lives.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Much of their wealth was gained by hard graft and acute business acumen but ultimately, perhaps as a result of accumulated wealth, they moved on. Some lost interest in working the land, others spread their wings across the globe to America, Canada and South Africa. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

Gradually family members died or moved on and life styles changed. Many of the properties the family owned were rented out or sold and the main estate in the village based at Martham House and its farmland had passed down from his father to Rev, William James Sutfield Rising in 1902\/03 but he was an established Vicar with no interest in farming. His father’s Trustees managed the estate for a while but put it up for auction in 1908. The advert for the auction showing the extent of the estate can be seen below. The purchaser was William James Bracey.<\/p>\n\n\n

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Despite having such a significant presence in the village for so long there are now no Risings (that I know of) living in Martham other than extremely distant ancestors by marriage – but they are not forgotten!  <\/p>\n\n\n\n

Short Stories<\/strong><\/h2>\n\n\n\n