Wimborne Minster, Dorset

The Parish Church of Wimborne Minster, Dorset has a enduring significance for the Bemister Family of Carbonear.

It was on the 30th of May 1785, in the Minster - as it is locally known - that John Bemister married Mary Willis. John had been baptised there on the 13th of November, 1747.

It would be two of the three sons that John & Mary raised at nearby Lambsgreen Farm - a location that is now a popular pub and eatery surrounded by farmland - that would eventually establish the family in Newfoundland as young lads. The first to accept an apprenticeship in the Newfoundland with a merchant was William Willis Bemister, when he was 14. His younger brother Edward Smith Bemister joined him and both became established in their own firm in Carbonear eventually.

The descendants of the Bemisters of Carbonear are all related to one of these two men.

Wimborne Minster has served as a place of workship for centuries, in fact the history predating the current Norman structure dates to its foundation by Cuthburga, sister of Ine, King of the West Saxons in 718.

In 871 Alfred the Great buried his older brother King Ethelred I of England, in the minster.

An historical overview is now available of one of the early stages of the Minster when it operated as the Collegiate Church of Wimborne Minster.

The Lambs Green Inn in Corfe Mullen

In 2004 when the Bemisters of Carbonear held their reunion in the Poole area of Dorset, UK a very special gathering was held at the site of what researchers have concluded is most likely their ancestral home.

Lambs Green Inn in Corfe Mullen is now a thriving country pub which was established in 1980's in a farmhouse - what was long known as Lambs Green Farm. Located on Lambs Green Lane and still surrounded by farmland, the pub operates like any traditional facility with the operators accommodation on the second floor and the restaurant facilities spread throughout the rest of the various attached thatched roofed buildings.
Examination of the various parts of the current structure, shows that additions have been made in various centuries but the core of the pub is centered around original hearths of a farmhouse that appear to date to a time that John and Mary (Willis) Bemister were listed as living at Lambs Green Farm in Corfe Mullen, raising their three sons. John and Mary had married in 1785.

About 1804 a son had sailed for Newfoundland with a brother to follow eventually. Both sons became established in business and had their own families in Carbonear, Newfoundland.

As all descendants of the Bemisters of Carbonear can trace their ancestry to John and Mary Bemister's Lambs Green Farm, it was a great comfort to be able to enjoy a meal and explore the old house.

Receiving a warm welcome from the staff, we would recommend that anyone with an interest in local history or simply looking for a great meal, plan a trip to Lambs Green Inn.