The only family of Thurtells who lived close enough to Hobland Hall for James to be able to visit for lunch (see Clist account) is the Loddon Thurtells, who lived somewhere in Hopton at the relevant time (they moved to Loddon in 1817-1818). They also had seven daughters (aged about 9, 8, 7, 5, 4, 3 and 1 in the spring of 1818), and thus were very likely to have employed a governess, as they would have needed one for another 15 years or so. The only other female cousin that James had in the area was Phoebe Thurtell (aged about 8), daughter of his uncle George (who lived in Flixton). Sarah might have been Phoebe’s governess, but she doesn’t really fit the description of cousins, although she did have a 3-year-old half-sister. Sarah also clearly kept in touch with Helen Joyce, daughter of the Loddon Thurtells, which of course she might have done anyway.

Genuki records show that in 1868 a John Gurdon [sic] was patron of the living of Assington, not the Rector. [The patron of the living was the one who appointed the incumbent. It usually went with being the Squire, but not always; Alexander Thurtell’s parish was in the gift of Caius College Cambridge, which was how he came to have it.] In any case, the living of Assington was a vicarage, not a rectory. Ernie Spinks has noted that the surname Gurdon is oft repeated on memorial stones in and around the church. One Brampton Gurdon was rector in 1732. [Gurdon family history says the family arrived in England with William the Conqueror.]