It began with the idea of a small family gathering, to mark the reopening of the Hadleigh Guildhall, and ended with a weekend, based in Hadleigh, which was attended by 136 Alabasters and Alabaster descendants.
When Beryl Neumann of New South Wales, my third cousin, (both of us descended from Charles Henry Alabaster) [1797-1861], suggested in a letter early 1988 that we should try to organise a family gathering in Hadleigh for Easter 1990, which was the target date for the completion of drastic refurbishment of the Guildhall owing to new fire regulations, I agreed that it was an excellent idea, and then promptly pushed the idea to the back of my mind. When Beryl wrote to me in the summer of 1989, giving details of her travel plans, I was driven to action.
I contacted John Stammers Alabaster (Branch I) and Adrian Alabaster, (Branch IIA) both fellow researchers and distant cousins of mine, to pool our ideas. We drafted a letter which I sent during September 1989 to every Alabaster in the British telephone directories, Beryl Neumann did likewise in Australia and another third cousin, Margaret Evans, (Branch IIA) did so in New Zealand. The letter was just a means to gauge the likely response if we did organise something. I did take the additional step of including a Questionnaire with the letter - even if nobody was interested, I might gain a little more knowledge for me Alabaster One Name Study! The response was good. We sent out order forms to those who had expressed some interest. We had hoped for 20 to 30 people. It looked as if we were more likely to get 50!
Eventually there were 136 people named Alabaster, descended from Alabasters or married to Alabasters who met in the United Reform Church Hall, Hadleigh on 21st April 1990. We had been pleased when we received replies which indicated that people were willing to travel from as far away as Yorkshire. On the day, we not only had family members from Yorkshire and Scotland but from Australia and New Zealand too! Beryl Neumann from New South Wales, whose mother was an Alabaster, was naturally there, but so, too, was David Alabaster (William of Woodford Branch) from Canberra, who had altered his travel arrangements to the UK to coincide with the Gathering.
Raewyn Alexander (nee Alabaster) from Atiamuri and Molly Duffy (nee Alabaster) from Dunedin were also there. They had travelled over together from New Zealand especially for the Gathering. Sharing the same maiden name, Raewyn and Molly have known each other for many years. Molly is descended from Reverend Charles Alabaster (1833-1865) (Branch IIC), born in London, who went to New Zealand and started one of the first preparatory schools in Christchurch. Raewyn is descended from Captain Daniel Alabaster (1836-1920) [Branch IV] born in the Gt Yarmouth area, who went to New Zealand in the mid 19th century as an explorer. Lake Alabaster in New Zealand is named after him. Raewyn and Molly have never been sure whether they were actually distantly related but I was able to trace their common ancestor to John Alabaster, baptised 1624 in Hadleigh. He was the great grandson of Thomas whose brass is in the church and who was partly responsible for the return of the Guildhall to the town of Hadleigh after the Reformation.
A great deal was packed into that day. The Mayor of Hadleigh opened the proceedings, then Mr W.A.B. Jones, historian of Hadleigh, gave an excellent talk on Hadleigh during the century and a half in which the Alabasters lived there. Everybody who attended was presented with a booklet, prepared by John Stammers Alabaster. This contained notes on "Some Notable Alabasters" about whom he and Adrian Alabaster were giving talks. These included Henry Alabaster of Siam, who was interpreter at the British Consulate, Bangkok during the "King and I" era, Thomas Alabaster, a convict transported to Australia in 1819 for stealing, Dr William Alabaster, scholar and poet, Captain Daniel Alabaster and Reverend Charles Alabaster. A newspaper reporter came to take notes and took a photograph of those present.
Following a buffet lunch, there were guided tours of Hadleigh Church and The Guildhall organised by the good people of Hadleigh. In particular, Mr W.A. B. Jones, Mr Cyril Cook and Mrs Hilary Griffin. We had a dinner that evening, some at the Eight Bells, Hadleigh, whilst others were at The George.
The next day, Sunday, the thirty or so of us who could make it, split into two groups and made a tour of various parishes in Suffolk which have connections with past Alabasters. We were welcomed at Snape, Friston and Saxmundham, where gravestones or memorial inscriptions remain to the Alabasters. At Friston we were given a talk about the church. then on to Framlingham Castle, where Dr William Alabaster was once imprisoned. Here, again, we were given a talk about the Castle's history. It had been a truly wonderful weekend.
In August 1990, Mr Jones died. Just before his death, I received a letter from him with news of fresh evidence he had found that Thomas Alabaster was in Hadleigh by 1555. He wrote "I still look back with pleasure on our grand meeting".
In memory of this special man, and of our Alabaster forebears, we decided to pay for the re leading of one of the windows in Hadleigh's church, close to Mr Jones' habitual seat and not far from Thomas Alabaster's brass memorial. After some delay, and problems of escalating prices, we succeeded in our intention, and on Saturday 24th April 1993, a gathering of Alabasters who were instrumental in fulfilling this goal met in Hadleigh.
This time we were able to hold it in the Guildhall itself. The atmosphere was wonderful, as distant relatives and friends met again. There was a splendid buffet lunch, more tours and lots of talking. Richard Jones, son of W.A.B. Jones, was our guest at the evening dinner, and gave a lovely after-dinner speech about his father.
On Sunday 25th April, during the morning service in Hadleigh Church, the Very Rev Arrand dedicated the window in memory of Mr Jones and our Alabaster ancestors, just about four hundred years after the death of Thomas Alabaster in 1592.