| Dumpling Green is now part of
East Dereham and lies approximately one mile south
of the town centre. It is traditionally assumed that George Borrow, the
novelist and travel writer, was born in the village on
the 5th July 1803. However, it is possible that this
attribution is due to an error on behalf of Dr William
Ireland Knapp who wrote the first biography of Borrow.
Dumpling Green Sign
Some have suggested that Knapp, who was an American
academic and who came to Norfolk in the late 19th
century to conduct research, may have mistaken the
location of the farm owned by Ann Borrow's parents.
Ann (nee Perfrement) was born at Dumpling Green in
1772 and her parents Samuel and Mary certainly owned a
farm in the village - but it may not have been the
Georgian property usually identified as Borrow's
birthplace.
George Borrow's Birthplace
(Or is it?)
George Borrow Plaque
The house still stands today and is located at the end
of an unmade-up road and has a plaque above the front
door proudly proclaiming the link with Borrow. (When you
reach the fork in the road, take the left hand track and
the house is at the far end.)
Ann Perferment married Thomas Borrow (Borrow's
father) at East Dereham church in 1793 but, at the time
of their son's birth, it is thought that they were
actually living in rented accommodation in the High
Street in Dereham (near what is now Chambers store) -
not at Dumpling Green.
If Borrow himself is to be believed (and it has to be
said that he is not the most reliable source as he
frequently blended fact and fiction) he was born in
Dereham:
|
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