My great grandfather Walter Thomas SMITH was one of the sons of Lydia MANTHORPE and James SMITH. Lydia and James were married in January 1838 in Gorleston Suffolk, Lydia being a daughter of William MANTHORPE & Hannah READ.

Whilst the active and turbulent cleric William de Manthorpe spent part of his career in East Anglia, there are a number of Lincolnshire connections which appear to link him to the Bourne family, as well as a couple of references that might link him to the village near Grantham.

The most extensive information about Lincolnshire Manthorpes relates to three clerics. There is some evidence that two of them belonged to the Bourne family.

The attractive village of Manthorpe near Grantham was first mentioned in 1185 and again in 1212, but was not a parish in the Middle Ages.

The pretty little church with its apple-green pews was built in the 19th century, and the village itself was the scene of the Manthorpe gathering in 1992.

James was the eldest son of Richard Manthorp and Anna Gray, and the entry for James Manthorp in Ipswich Gaol Book reveals how an encounter with the law has recorded personal details that will not be found elsewhere.