Throughout five hundred years of English history no member of the Neems family has achieved fame or notoriety. Mostly farmers, they lived largely hidden lives in small villages near to market towns such as Faversham, Tetbury or Brentford. Their work was 'down to earth'. Alice, named in her father's will of 1572, received three sheep. Rebecca, widowed mother of Tim Neems, a musketeer in Cromwell's Army, struggled to keep her small leasehold following the Restoration of 1660. Joseph, trader in farm produce, and later a publican of 'go ahead' Brentford Market in mid 18th century London, these...