RUISLIP, NORTHWOOD AND EASTCOTEbtckstorage.blob.core.windows.net/site8867/Journals... · Well Green, the 'alias Long Marsh' seemingly having been dropped. It would not be surprising

RUISLIP, NORTHWOOD AND EASTCOTELOCAL HISTORY SOCIETY

JOURNAL 2002

Re/. Contents Author Page

Committee Members ii

Lecture Programme 2002-2003 ii

02/1 WELL GREEN, EASTCOTE Eileen M. Bowlt 1

02/2 RAMIN, Eastcote High Road, Eastcote, Middlesex Patricia Clarke 14

02/3 THE OLD SHOOTING BOX,Eastcote High Road, Eastcote, Middlesex Patricia Oarke 22

02/4 THE MOORE FAMILY OF EASTCOTE Colleen Cox 24

02/5 FORE STREET, EASTCOTE Denise Shackell 28

02/6 COINODENCES AND CONNECTIONSThe Barters and the Powells Karen Spink 34

02/7 THRILLS AND SWOON IN EASTCOTE Mary Pache 41

02/8 EXPERIENCES OF WORKING ON THE H047 SERIESOF RECORDS AT THE PUBLIC RECORD OFFICE Susan Toms 45

02/9 COINS FROM A RUISLIP ARCHAEOLOGICALEXCAVATION Colin Bowlt 48

02/10 NATIONAL LOCAL HISTORY WEEK - 4 to 12 MAY 2002 49

02/11 Obituary - JIM GOLLAND [essica Eastwood 56

Cover picture: The Old Shooting Box, Eastcote 1973 (Denise Shackell)

Designed and edited by Brian Grisdale

Copyright © November 2002 individual authors and RNELHS.

Membership of the Ruislip, Nortlrwood and Eastcote Local History Society is open to all who are interested in localhistory. For further information please enquire at a meeting of the Society or contact the Membership Secretary.Meetings are held on the third Monday of each month from September to April and are open to visitors.(Advance booking is required for the Christmas social.)

Ruislip, Northwood &-. EastcoteLocal History Society

i

An active Research Group supports those who are enquiring into or wishing to increase our understanding of thehistory of the ancient parish of Ruislip (the present Ruislip, Northwood and Eastcote). Its members are largelyresponsiblefor the papers in this Journal, and for other Society publications which are producedfrom time to time.

Journal 2002

Ruislip, Northwood and EastcoteLocal History Society

Registered Charily No. 288234WNN.RNELHS.fIyer.co.uk

COMMITTEE 2002-2003

President Leonard Krause 01923 836074

Chairman Eileen Bowlt 01895 6380607 Croft Gardens, Ruislip HA48EY

Secretary Susan Toms 01895 6371343 Elmbridge Close, Ruislip HA4 7XA

Treasurer Jessica Eastwood 0208 621 537968 Nibthwaite Road, Harrow HA! TG

Membership Secretary Delia Montlake 01895 67666334b Eastcote Road, Ruislip HA4 8DQ

Editor Brian Grisdale 01895 673299

Outings Organiser Sylvia Ladyman 01895 673305

Minutes Carol Butler 01895 632939

Simon Morgan 01923 827188Eric Spanier 01895 636026Karen Spink 0208 866 7279

September 16

October 21

November 18

December 16

A Century of Cinema in the UK

Ruislip Maps through the Ages (& AGM)

Isambard Kingdom Brunel

Herga Consort of Early Music

Tony Moss

Simon Morgan

Trevor Burnard

Derek McLean

LECTURE PROGRAMME 2002-20032002

Ruislip, Northwood & EastcoteLocal History Society

ii Journal 2002

2003

January 20

Febmary17

March 17

April28

London Bible College

London before Londinium

Ancient Ruislip Houses

C1erkenwell

Peter Cotterell

[on Cotton

Eileen Bowlt

Alan Cox

Meetings are on Mondays at 8.15 pm and are held in St. Martin's Church Hall, Ruislip.

WELL GREEN, EASTCOTERamin, the Old Shooting Box and Park Cottages / Jacobean Cottages

by Eileen M. Bowlt

Ramin and The Old Shooting Box, thesubjects of Pat Oarke's articles in this journal,historically stand at Well Green alias LongMarsh, although .their present address isHigh Road, Eastcote. Three cottages calledPark Cottages, later Jacobean Cottages, stoodon the road edge to one side of the OldShooting Box unti11926.

This paper sets out to explain the exactposition of Well Green and the historicalbackground of the two houses and the threecottages. It should be read in conjunctionwith my article 'The Grange at Well Green,Eastcote' in last year's journal.'

WELL GREEN alias LONG MARSH

Well Green alias Long Marsh in 1565.The King's College Terrier of 15652 namespart of Eastcote as 'Well Green alias LongMarsh'. It seems to have been open landsituated between the River Pinn and EastcoteHigh Road, from the bottom of Fore Street toCatlins Lane. Beyond that point as far asCheney Street, the land between the road andthe river was occupied by two houses withoutbuildings and their pastures. Theysurvived into the nineteenth century,appearing on the 1806 Enclosure Map' butnot on the 1865 Ordnance Survey. Their sitesare now part of the public open space calledthe Long Meadow.

One of the problems of working withhistorical documents is that houses are onlyrarely given a name and streets often haddifferent names from those in use at thepresent day.

It should be noted that in Elizabethan timesCatlins Lane was known as Popes End Lane;the road from Catlins Lane to the junction ofCheney Street was called Cocowes (i.e.Cuckoos) Lane; modem Cuckoo Hill was

part of Cheney Street; Field End Road wasOay Street Hill.

Only two house names occur, 'Hopkyttes'which later became Eastcote House(demolished 1964) and 'Plucketts's which isnow Eastcote Cottage on the corner of FieldEnd Road and the High Road.

In 1565 there were six dwelling houses andcottages between Fore Street and Field EndRoad described as lying north against WellGreen alias Long Marsh. They can beidentified with the site of New Cottages, FlagCottage, the site of Eastcote Lodge (now FlagWalk), the site of The Black Horse, the OldBam House and Eastcote Cottage. Three ofthem, Flag Cottage, the Old Bam House andEastcote Cottage, are listed buildings, datingat least in part from the sixteenth century andtherefore substantially the same as thosementioned in the Terrier.

The High Road runs along the southern edgeof what was Well Green alias Long Marsh.The petrol station, Deans Cottage, The Roseryand the Old Forge now stand on the formermarsh. One section remains open space andhas been renamed Forge Green because of theproximity of Tapping's blacksmith's forge inthe early twentieth century.

Eastcote House was owned by RalphHawtrey. The description in the Terrierreads: 'Ralph Hawtrey holds one cottagecalled Hopkyttes with an orchard and two closesof 4 acres and it lies at Well Green and it abutsnorth onto Well Green..... '

Once Eastcote High Road crosses the Pinn onthe Long Bridge, it runs along the northernedge of Well Green alias Long Marsh. TheTerrier mentions two houses that can beidentified as the present Grange and Ramin,as abutting south onto Well Green.

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One of the demolished houses opposite thebottom of Catlins Lane was said to lie westagainst Well Green.

Thus Well Green alias Long Marsh wasdefined in 1565. The building that is now the

Old Shooting Box had not then been built.

Seventeenth century documents refer only toWell Green, the 'alias Long Marsh' seeminglyhaving been dropped.

It would not be surprising if Well Green hada similar spring or well.

Fig.1. Map of Well Green as described in the King's College Terrier 1565Well Green is shown hatched and superimposed upon the 1897OS 6in. Map.

The Enclosure Map and Award 1806-14The Ruislip Enclosure Map of 1806 marks thearea in front of Eastcote House as Well Greenand interestingly shows a circular pond, wellor possibly spring, with a watercourseleading from it into the River Pinn. Acircular depression can clearly be seen todayin the meadow directly opposite the Grange.Could this possibly be the source of thename Well Green? Further west at the backof Park Avenue, there used to be a spring,known as 'the boiling spring' that fed into thePinn and only dried up when suburbanhouses were built,"

Well Green had been common waste,probably because it was boggy andunproductive. It was being enclosed in 1806.Ralph Deane, the descendant of theHawtreys, who inherited Eastcote Houseduring the Enclosure upheaval, was allottedthe portion between the walled garden andthe High Road numbered on the map as NewEnclosure 122. This is now part of the publicopen space.


Journal 20022

Another portion, New Enclosure 123,went to'the trustees of the late Mrs Rogers'. She wasElizabeth Rogers who had died in 1803 andunder whose will Ralph Deane eventuallyinherited Eastcote House and its estate in1810.6

Fig. 2.The Enclosure Map 1806

Well Green

RAMINJames Feme owned both The Grange andRamin in 1565,neither of course being namedat the time. Two closes of land and orchards,amounting to 4 acres, went with the twocottages. The land extended to Pope's EndLane (Catlins Lane). For the sake of clarity Ishall use the modem names in relation tothese two properties.

From Court Books covering the years 1590-16817 it appears that Ramin as well as The

Part of what is now Forge Green was alsogranted to Ralph Deane and the sectionopposite Eastcote Lodge was given to JohnHingeston, its owner.

EastcoteGrange Park/Jacobean

Cottages Ramin

Grange remained in the hands of the Femefamily until well into the seventeenthcentury. However, it must be said that theabsence of names makes the precise identityof 'a cottage at Well Green' a little difficult.Identification has been achieved partly by aprocess of elimination and also from thedescription of the position of the dwellings.The existence of Abstracts of Title relating toThe Grange, taken in conjunction with theCourt Books, made a positive identificationof that property possible" but that of Ramin isconjectural.


Journal 20023

[ohanna Feme seems to have been inpossession of the cottage now called Raminin the 1660s and sought a licence at theManor Court held on the 26 Apri11667 to letit for nine years. The licence was granted,but there is no evidence that the cottage waslet. Johanna, did, however, sell the northernpart of Hodgkins, a field along Catlins Lane,to Henry Gemell, in 1668.9 She sounds tohave been needing ready money. Eventuallyin 1675, at the same court as John Femesurrendered The Grange to John Meridale,Johanna surrendered what appears to beRamin to Richard Hagger.w

A Survey made in 168510 shows that RichardHagger was still in possession in that yearand marginal notes show continuedownership to 1708.

The southern part of the housePat Oarke's survey of Ramin indicates thatthe timber-framed section with thepicturesque jetty overhanging the road wasbuilt in the sixteenth century, but is merelythe cross wing remaining from a largerhouse. The hall attached to it may have beenearlier than the cross-wing and was perhapsdemolished because of age and generaldecrepitude. A new bay and jetty were builtonto the cross-wing, almost certainly at thesame time as the demolition of the hall- the unanswered question being 'when?'Pat Oarke suggests that this is likely to havehappened either late in the sixteenth or earlyin the seventeenth century, certainly beforeRichard Hagger took over.

The Femes would have been left with a fairlysmall house.

The middle partPat Oarke dates the middle portion of thehouse to the eighteenth century. Although itis certain that the Haggers owned theproperty between 1675 and 1708, there are nodocuments to show when they gave it up,although their names continue to appear inRuislip parish registers until the middle ofthe eighteenth century.

Pritchard family ownership c1800-1922The next definite information aboutownership comes in the Enclosure Awardand Map 1806-1814.11The cottage stands inOld Enclosure 646 and was 1 acre 0 roods14 perches in size. The owner was JamesPritchard. The shape of the building on themap seems to depict the southern portionand middle portion and a separate bam lyingto the north.

Collaborative information from the RuislipValuation of 180712shows that the propertywas then let by James Pritchard to WilliamBiggs junior.

By 1837 when another Terrier of Ruislip13was taken, a James Pritchard was given as theowner of a cottage and la Or 14p, let toThomas Gibbs. According to the parish ratebooks, Thomas Gibbs had been in occupationsince at least 182714and remained there until1843, when 'Winter late Gibbs' appearsalongside the name of Henry Hill whooccupies a cottage and the la Or 14p.15

The previous year Thomas Gibbs had acottage and only 2 perches, instead of thela Or14p he had rented previously. This mayhave been when the building was dividedinto two.

The Rate Book entries suggest that thesouthern and middle portions of Ramin werelet as a single cottage as late as 1842 and thatthe north part was probably added later.

However, about twenty years ago the namePritchard and the date 1816 were etched intoa brick beside the doorway of the northernsection. This can no longer be seen, but isremembered by Mrs. Neill, former owner,and by the present writer. There are stillsome inferior scratchings of the namePritchard on bricks under the window. Thispoints to the Pritchards having built on thenorthern part in 1816 and would fit in withthe building style, as suggested by Pat Oarkewho thinks that the north part was built as aseparate cottage with its own front and backdoors, probably before 1840.

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The census returns for 1841 show thatThomas Gibbs was a labourer aged 40 andlived with a female called Gibbs, whoseChristian name was not given and who wasaged 84. She may have been his mother. It ispossible that his father was also calledThomas and that the division took placebecause the younger Thomas and his motherneeded less room.

By 1851 there were three occupied cottages.

Occupants of the three cottages that makeup Ramin 1851-91In 1851 Gilbert Lawrence, a Sawyer, with hiswife and two children were in one.

An agricultural labourer called ThomasTownshend, with his wife, five children andhis wife's young sister, was in another and nodoubt somewhat overcrowded.

Henry Hill and wife and three children werein the other. He was a JourneymanWheelwright.

The Pritchard family continued to ownRamin until 1922. The occupants of the threecottages changed from time to time.

HenryHill, the wheelwright was still in hiscottage in 1871, but by that time a 73-year-oldwidower and living alone.

The Townshends had gone by 1861 andStephen Brumsden, a groom, had taken theirplace from Cirencester. He and his wife werestill there in 1891, by which time he was 68and working as a gardener.

Gilbert Lawrence had also moved on by 1861and John Cox, a Master Carpenter fromAmersham, with his wife, two children and ababy granddaughter were living there. 15-year-old son, William., was a carpenter aswell. Ten years on, in 1871, John Cox wasdead and William. was head of thehousehold. He was married and had twovery young children and was also housinghis niece and his mother. By 1881 he had six

children, but his mother had probably diedand his niece was no longer with him. TheCoxes had left by 1891.

1891 CensusApart from Stephen Brumsden, the other twocottages were occupied by Samuel Nash andGeorge Hill.

Samuel Nash and his wife had three childrenand a lodger with them.

George Hill, from his age, 32, could well havebeen the son of Henry Hill. He was a horsecarter on a farm. He and his wife had fourchildren at home and George's stepbrother,William Weatherly, and an agriculturallabourer from Long Crendon, were livingwith them.

1902 Rate Book(Uxbridge Library-Ruislip Parish Rate Books)Stephen Brumsden, George Hill and SamuelNash still occupied the three cottages thatmade up Ram.in.

These details of the families dwelling in thecottages suggest that the larger groups mayhave required more space than, say, StephenBrumsden and his wife and there may wellhave been some flexibility in the way theavailable rooms were used at different times.

SALE OF THE THREE COTTAGES 1922 -now Ramin16

Frank Pritchard who lived in Richmond,Surrey, sold the three cottages that now makeup Ramin in 1922. The occupants were thenGeorge Hill, Mrs. H. Bray and F. Rogers.John David Marshall, MPS, LSA, paid him£850. Mr Marshall had purchased TheGrange from the descendants of the Wattsfamily the previous year.t7

He sold The Grange to Charles Noel GregoryDore of The Lawn, Pinner, soon after buyingRamin,"


Journal 20025

was William Bugbee and members of theBugbeard family lived at The Grange earlierin the eighteenth century, but no directconnection between Ramin and WilliamBugbee's pub has been found.

Fig.3. Ramin in 1945 showing the dormers, other new windows and doorput into the house by Mr. Marshall

Ramin as a single gentleman's dwelling isalmost certainly his creation. When he sold itseven years later the alterations described byPat Clarke had been carried out and some ofthe land on the corner of Catlins Lane hadbeen developed.

He was responsible for the name 'Ramin',which appears in the Middlesex DeedsRegistry Memorial of 1929, when MrMarshall sold the house to Ralph EustaceLovett Tennyson D'yncourt, of Ebury Street,Victoria.w Mr Marshall was then living inGarence Gate, Regent's Park.

Mr Marshall seems to have believed that hishouse had at one time been an inn called TheRam. A licensed house called The Ramappears in Licensed Victuallers lists forMiddlesex in 1780 and 1784.20 The licensee

Mr Clinton Dore remembers a family calledLucy living at Ramin in the 1930s.

Kelly's Middlesex Directory and Kemp'sDirectory of Ruislip-Northwood give thenames of the occupants, but not the ownersin more recent years. The Breretons werethere by 1935. In 1956P.M.Brereton occupiedit and W. A. G. Kemp says that Mr R. J.Brereton was living there in 1962.21 He wassaid to have had in his possession somedeeds mentioning an inn at Well Green keptby two brothers. Unfortunately these havebeen lost.

6Ruislip, Northwood & EastcoteLocal History Society

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At some stage, probably in 1966, thearchitects, Mr & Mrs T. P. Wurr (Mrs Wurrwas formerly Noeline Dore of The Grange),purchased Ramin. During the next fouryears there were two short-term tenants.Kemp's Directory shows W. MacDermott atthe house in 1966/7 and CJ. Ford, who wasan American, in 1968/9. The Wurrs soldRamin to Mr & Mrs Charles Neill about 1970.Mr Worler, the present owner, bought it fromMrs Neill in 2001.

THE OLD SHOOTING BOX

See Fig. 4.

The early history of the house now known asthe Old Shooting Box is extraordinarilydifficult to establish. W. A. G. Kemp, in his'History of Eastcote' reported the views ofBertram Park, an expert on roses and Vice-President of the Royal National Rose Society,who lived there in the 1950s, 60s and 70s. Hebelieved that the house had formerly beenthree cottages, the one at the western endbeing the newest. He was also said to havehad a deed dated 1710.

In fact he had a fine collection of deeds etc,but dating back to 1797, not 1710. After hisdeath his daughter June Mardell depositedthem in Uxbridge Library. They relate to theOld Shooting Box and to the cottages thatused to stand in front and were called ParkCottages and then Jacobean Cottages in the192Os.

See Fig. 5.

Pat Oarke believes from the architecturalevidence that the house was built in the earlyeighteenth century and extended and refacedin the mid-nineteenth century.

I have traced the history of the house througha variety of documents.

The earliest document at Uxbridge Library,22dated 5 June 1797, is an admission at theManor Court of Robert Anderson of St.

James's, Westminster, to a property lying atWell Green, surrendered to him 'out of court'by William Goodson. The description of theproperty is immensely interesting;Itwo copyhold messuages, tenements with theshop, barns, stables, outhouses, yards and gardenand appurtenances thereto belonging' .Descriptions in court rolls tend to becomefossilised and the 'barns, stables, outhouses,yards and garden and appurtenances' seems tobe a catchall phrase, commonly employedand not necessarily to be taken literally.Nonetheless the Old Shooting Box thenseems to have been two separate copyholddwellings with a shop, probably a workshopof some kind, rather than a retail shop.

William Goodson appears in the 1790 ratebook occupying property in Eastcote and aMr John Goodson is mentioned in the 1771rate book, (the earliest extant rate book)living on the Westcot side of the parish.23Nothing more is known of the family at thisstage.

Anderson, the surname is found locally in theeighteenth and nineteenth century. It isincreasingly obvious that many children fromRuislip, particularly younger sons went towork in London, sometimes beingapprenticed there. Robert Anderson couldhave been one of these. On the other hand hecould simply have been a successfulbusinessman investing in property in ruralMiddlesex.

The next document 24 reveals that RobertAnderson had died, leaving his executors,Thomas Pearce, a brewer of Millbank,Westminster and John Barrett, a coalmerchant of Westminster, to sell theproperty. Thomas Parker from Bermondsey,a stationer, bought it and took possession2 June 1800.

From the third document 25we learn that onthe same day Charles Lawrence, a broker ofthe City of London, took it over. He mighthave lent Mr Parker money with the propertyas security.


Journal 20027

Fig. 4 The Old Shooting Box 1908when it was still owned by the Deanes of Eastcote House


8 Journal 2002

Fig. 5 Photograph of the cottages that stood in front of the Old Shooting Box until 1926Ramin can be seen to the right, as it was before conversion to a single house

The house stands on Old Enclosure 644 andC. Lawrence was named as the owner in theEnclosure Award.> The plot was 1 rood13 perches in size, just over a quarter of anacre. One of the parish rate books for theyear 1800 has a note 'Charles Lawrence atPinner'. He rented the house to ThomasSweetman according to the 1806 rate book,but soon afterwards sold it to Mrs SusannahLong, widow. Her husband, Richard Long,had died at the age of 52 in 1799. He was atenant farmer and she had continued to holdthe tenancy until 1807 when she bought whatis now the Old Shooting Box. She wasadmitted at a Manor Court held on 18 May1807.27

An 1807 Valuation of Ruislip parish28 showsMrs Long occupying her own 'cottage andgarden etc' and Robert Turner occupying acottage and garden owned by Mrs Long.Unfortunately the area of the land is omittedfor both entries, but this fits with the earlierreferences to the property being twopremises, even though there is no mention ofa shop in the Valuation. It might be the 'etc'!This Robert Turner is unlikely to be the manwho owned Highgrove at the same time.

The 1837Terrier 29 refers to the property as ahouse and aecottage, occupied by 'EdwardLong's widow', presumably a relative.Unfortunately there is no separate referenceto a resident at the cottage.

On 13 October 1841, it was reported-? thatMrs Susannah Long had died since the lastcourt 'seized of two copyhold messuages ortenements with the shop, barns, stables,outhouses, yard, garden and appurtenancesthereto belonging situate upon or near WellGreen' 'formerly held by William Goodson'.Mrs Long had died aged 80 and been buriedat St Martin's in February 1841. EdwardLong, farmer, of Eastcote, was her eldest sonand heir. The 1851 census shows him to havebeen at St. Catherine's Farm in Catlins Lane.

However, [ames Long, a carpenter, who wasprobably his brother, paid him £120 and wasadmitted to the property, but immediately

mortgaged it to Mrs Jane Hill of Islington for£150. He repaid the money and interest toMiss Susan Hill by the end of May 1845.31

The fourth document also shows that theWidow Long died in possession of a piece ofland opposite the other premises, said toadjoin the lands of Ralph Deane and WilliamBowles, 'upon which a barn had beenerected'. I have not yet precisely identifiedthis land, said to be 'now a garden and withybed' in the sixth document dated 31 May1845. It was perhaps somewhere between theRiver Pinn and Eastcote House.

Immediately after redeeming his propertyJames Long remortgaged it for £225 at 5%interest, lent by Mr William Nash ofUxbridge. Interestingly and confusingly thedescription runs 'five messuages or tenements(formerly two messuages or tenements) with theshop, barns, stables, outhouses, yards and gardenson or near Well Green'.32 Was he renting outseparate rooms to raise the money, which heseems to have needed, or had he extendedthe building, or possibly joined together twoseparate houses?

At the time of the 1851 census, only twohouseholds can be clearly identified, oneheaded by [ames Long, a Master Carpenter,and the other by William [oel, an agriculturallabourer.

Deane ownership 1852-192030 October1852 the property was conveyed toFrands Henry Deane who had recentlyinherited Eastcote House upon the death ofhis father, Ralph Deane. He paid [ames Long£345 for 'all those five copyhold messuages,cottages, tenements, formerly two messuages ortenements with the shop, barns, stables,outhouses, yard, garden and appurtenancesthereto belonging'.33

Mr Deane is the most likely person to haverefaced the frontage and restored thebuilding to a single dwelling. He lived atEastcote House until 1878 and improved theestate by building several cottages, such as

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Journal 20029

The Rosery and Deans Cottage on the formerwaste at Forge Green. The enhancement ofthe Long's cottage fits in with theseactivities.

Refurbishment in the early 1850s also fits inwith Pat Oarke's idea that the uniformwindows at the front date from 1840-60.

By 1857 the house was let to Dr Diamondwho was also renting Haydon Hall from JohnHamett.34 Dr Diamond was a MedicalOfficer at St Pancras General Dispensary.It is not at all clear what he did with the OldShooting Box, as he presumably lived atHaydon Hall.

Francis Henry Deane moved to Uxbridge in1878. He must have contemplated selling theOld Shooting Boxa few years later, as there isa sales brochure among the documents atUxbridge Library35 advertising an auctiondue to take place on 14 July 1887 at The Mart,Token House Yard in the City of London. Bythen the house was named South Hill Houseand described as a 'desirable' cottageresidence, containing 8 bedrooms, box room,drawing and dining rooms and offices, set inpretty gardens, with stabling for two horsesand a coach house. It was let untilMichaelmas 1887 at a rental of £40 perannum. The brochure does not give thename of the lessee, but the 1886 rate bookgives the occupier as 'late Burdock'.

Fr.eehold· Cottage Residence.-. . - ..- .. -:~-.u .- --,. - -. . .

.leu1'S HIl.l. ileus ••EASTCQTE,

CoDtaiDiag Eight Bed RQOIIIS,Box Room, DrawiDg aDd DiDiDs Rooms ud 01Iices.

. "':""J?::a.Xl or TT, G.A.::a. D :m :J$I" SID front aDd rear. with

. STA~~ING P·OR TWO HO'RSES AND COACH HOUSE,I.et tin MiclIaeImu, .887. at a ReplaI of

£40 per Annum..·-:FOSS:BJss:t01'l" K .••••.T :am •.••••.:1:).

AT THE MART, TOKENHOU8E YARD, NEAR THE BANK OF ENGLAND,. IN TB. CITY011:: 1..000000t

On THURSDAY, 14th .day of JULY, 1887,

10

At Two O"aIoolc punotuaib'.

. ..l~ """c:c..!iIioIIo of Sale mar be __ of 6: so..., ~ VllIlddp;

THB AUOTIONB&RS,SO, QHBAPSms. B.C.

Fig. 6 1887 Sales Brochure

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Journal 2002

As encouragement to prospective buyers thehouse was said to be 'about two and a halfmiles from Pinner Station on the L. & N. W.Railway, and about 15 minutes walk from thePinner Village and station on theMetropolitan Extension Railway, whencethere are good trains to the City and WestEnd.' The Pinner Station referred to becameHatch End Station, while the MetropolitanStation is Pinner Station, which had justopened in 1885.

There is no record of the sale having takenplace and Francis Henry Deane, followed in1892 by his son, Ralph Hawtrey Deane,continued to own the house until September1920, when it was sold to Charles PercyDuncan, who was the tenant at the time.36Mr Duncan, formerly of 176 Brompton Road,was an estate agent. He had come to live inEastcote in 1916 and after four years as atenant, paid £750for the house.

There had been various tenants over theyears. Gertrude Bellairs had lived there atthe turn of the nineteenth/twentieth century.Mr Tasman, a builder, had moved in by190737 and the name had changed to'Shooting Box'.

The conveyance of 1920 says 'South HillHouse otherwise the Old Shooting Box'.

In July 1923 Mrs Beatrice Fanny Duncan, anestate agent like her husband, bought threecottages (Park Cottages/Jacobean Cottages)standing by the roadside in front of the OldShooting Box.38

By 1926 Mr & Mrs Duncan were raisingmoney on the property. They borrowed£2500 from W. & S. Philp, Market Gardenersof Harlington/" The house along with thesite of the cottages and extra land at the rearchanged hands several times in the 1930s, atime when this area, part of Metroland, wasdeveloping rapidly. The Duncans sold it toCaptain W.L. Hope for £2650 in 1932.40Within the year he made more than ahundred pounds profit, by selling it to MrsMonica Lucy Thompson for £2775.41 In 1937

she conveyed it to Norman Howard BestallTrimmer, of Wembley, a Civil Engineer.42

Then came the war and the property boomwas over for a time.

Bertram ParkBertram Park lived at the Old Shooting Boxuntil his death in 1973. As part of his workfor the Royal National Rose Society,he editedthe Rose Annual from 1948-63. He wasawarded the Victoria Medal of Honour of theRoyal Horticultural Society and a gold medalfor his roses, 'Lady Zima' and '[une Park', thelatter being named after his daughter. Thegardens at the Old Shooting Box wereplanted with three thousand rose treesduring his time there.

He was also interested in photography andreceived the Royal Warrant by appointmentto King George VI. He was a fellow of theRoyal Geographic Society.

After his death the house was put up forauction on 18 July 1973. P. W. Reglar, theestate agent bought it. The present owner isMrs Frances Bennett.

PARK COTTAGES / JACOBEAN COTTAGESThe group of three cottages in front of theOld Shooting Box, makes a charming ruralpicture in the photograph taken in 1908,although the condition of the interiors isunknown. The cottages, or at least a buildingon the same site, can be seen on the EnclosureMap of 1806 in Old Enclosure 645.The accompanying Award gives the owner asJohn Bray, senior. The plot of land was only14 perches in size.43

Thomas Ballding (spelt variously as Baldingand Baldwin ) and John Shackell were livingthere in two cottages in 1807.44 The elderJohn Bray died in 1807 and his wife took overhis property. Thomas Ballding bought it in1809 and continued living in one of thecottages.s" It looks as if throughout thisperiod there were two cottages in OldEnclosure 645.


Journal 200211

Thomas Balding, at a Manor Court held onthe 23 August 1836, surrendered 'All thosethree cottages or tenements, then lately twocottages or tenements and formerly one cottage ortenement situate at Eastcote'. William Bowles,a Pinner farmer, purchased them from him.46

The same document says that the cottageswere then late in the occupation of HenryHill and Widow Temple and then or late ofHenry Hill, James Hillyer and GeorgeAldridge. This explains how a singletenement had already been divided into twocottages before the time of the Enclosure andinto three cottages by 1836.

The 1865 OS 25-inch map shows the row ofcottages to be two sets of two with a gapbetween them. The semi-detached cottage onthe extreme right next to Ramin appears tohave been owned by James Pritchard.

William Bowles died 30 October 1864. Hiswidow, Hannah, and sons, William andDaniel, sold the cottages to Walter GreatrexEsq of Malvern Terrace, Barnsbury.v A littlemore information about the subsequentoccupiers of the cottages - J. Webb, FrederickAxten and John Fort - is given when WalterGreatrex was admitted to the property inAugust 1865.48This may be the same WalterGreatrex who owned St Catherine's Farm inHowletts Lane 1864-98.

Frederick Axten's cottage was Eastcote's firstpost office in 1861.

The cottages next changed hands in April1878 when Walter Greatrex sold them to MrWilliam Robinson of 33 South Street,Manchester Square for £330.49 Theyremained in his hands until 1905, when MrsSarah Ann Robinson of 64 Whitecross Street,was admitted following his death on 4 March1905.50

John Pratt Page of Eastcote, gentleman, paidher £300 for them in 1906, when they wereoccupied by Webb, R. Grimwood andNightingale.v

Document 23, dated 15 June 1922 first namesthe cottages as Park Cottages. Mrs EvelynRoberts formerly of Oxford Road, Ealing,bought them for £490 and lived in oneherself. Her neighbours were Mr Hill andMrs Hobb. A year later in July 1923 she sold'Jacobean Cottages otherwise known as ParkCottages' to Mrs. Beatrice Fanny Duncan ofthe Old Shooting Box.52 By the time theDuncans mortgaged their property inOctober 1926 the cottages had beendemolished and the site thrown into thegarden of the Old Shooting Box.

We have a complete picture of the owners ofthe cottages from el800 and a reasonable ideaof most of the inhabitants. Unfortunately wedo not know when the single cottage wasfirst built, but know that it was subdividedby 1807 and again by 1836.

12Ruislip, Northwood &: EastcoteLocal History Society

Journal 2002

References

1 Bowlt The Grange at Well Green, Eastcote, RNELHS Journal 20012 King's College Muniments: RLTI/1823 London Metropolitan Archives: MR/DE RUI E24 Bowlt Plockettes to Eastcote Place, RNELHS Journal 19995 Morris: The Boiling springs of East cote, RNELHS Newsletter Spring 19796LMA: DRO 19 E2/227British library: Add MS 93678Bowlt The Grange at Well Green, Eastcote, RNELHS Journal 20019 BL: Add MS %37 folio 18010BL: Add MS 936811LMA: MR/DE RUI E2/1-212LMA: DRO 19 E3/113LMA: DRO 19 E3/214LMA: DRO 19 E2/2315LMA: DRO 19 E2/2716LMA: MDR 1922/20/30517LMA: MDR 1921/3/7318LMA: MDR 1922/31/61319LMA: MDR 1929/47/96020LMA: MR/LV 9/97 and 9/12821W.A.G. Kemp: 'The History of Eastcote' 196322Uxbridge Library: 6651/123LMA: DRO 19 E2/124Ux lib: 6651/225Ux lib: 6651/326LMA: MR/DE RUI El27Ux lib: 6651/328 LMA: DR019 E3/129LMA: DRO 19 E3/230 Ux lib: 6651/431Ux lib: 6651/532Ux lib: 6651/633Ux lib: 6651/834LMA: DRO 19 E2/3935Ux lib: 6651/1436LMA: MDR 192940 560 and Ux lib: 6651/1937Ux lib: King's Gazeteer Almanack 190738Ux lib: 6651/2539 Ux lib: 6651/2740Ux lib: 6651/2941Ux lib: 6651/3142Ux lib: 6651/3443LMA: MR/DE RUI/El-244LMA DRO 19 E3/145LMA: DRO 19 E2/2346Ux lib: 6651/1047Ux lib: 6651/1048Ux lib: 6651/1149 Ux lib: 6651/1250Ux Lib: 6651/1551Ux lib: 6651/1652 Ux Lib: 6651/25


13 Journal 2002

RAMINEastcote High Road, Eastcote, Middlesex

by Patricia Clarke

GeneralRamin is the remnant of a timber-framedhouse, with additions at the rear.The following account, based upon a visit inJanuary 2002, deals with the buildingaccording to the sequence of construction,suggests dates, and summarises its status.The present owner is Mr. WorIer.

Ramin has three visibly distinct parts lyingin a line north-south, all of two storeys withtiled roofs, plus a single storey extension atthe north. The southern part is of threetimber-framed bays with brick in£ill, and isjettied at the southern end. The middle andnorthern parts are of one bay each and arewholly of brick. The outshut is faced inweather-boarding. See Fig. 1.

The southern partSeeFigs. 2, 3 and 4.This is the cross wing of what was once alarger house. As first built the wingconsisted only of the two northern baysproviding a single room on each floor, theupper one jettied at the south (A-C-C1-A1).The roof is of clasped-purlin type withcollar, queen struts and wind braces.The walls are in large framing with jowledwall-posts. No scarf joints or coherentassembly marks were found. It is acomplete frame in itself, in no wayintegrated with any adjoining part.

The wall posts indicate that the front hadKentish framing, using down braces, atupper floor level. One would expect acentral window too, but the evidence forthis was removed when the underside ofthe tie beam was deeply cut back to increasehead room. Kentish framing was popularand can be seen at Church Farm, Pinner.Mortices in the soffit of the jetty sill (C-C1)show that at ground floor level the original

front wall had close studding. One wouldexpect a central window between the twointermediate posts. There is no trace ofothers in the front bay.

In the upper floor of the northern bayshutter grooves for windows in the east andwest wall plates abut the cross frame (F-B,F1-B1), cutting through pegs which holdstuds in place. The pegs for the originalwestern window sill can still be seenoutside, and one for the eastern in the postof the cross frame. There is still a modernwindow in-situ on the western side.In view of the pre-existing structure (seebelow) it is difficult to envisage windows inthese positions originally, although it wouldbe possible if that structure was very low ornarrow. Examination of the interior side ofthe stud north of the western window, nowconcealed, should show whether thewindow is of primary or secondaryinstallation. I would opt for secondary,installed at enlargement. Pegs at sill levelsuggest an off-centre primary windowupstairs in the northern cross frame.

There is no direct evidence of staircases.In cross wings the staircase was usually inthe rear bay. At Ramin the joists in thenorth bay show no other trimming for astaircase than the present one. It is quitefeasible that the original one, whetherstraight flight or winder, was in the sameplace. There is no indication of where thedoor was.

The beams at each floor of the central crossframe are lightly decorated (B-B1).The chamfer on the southern edge of thelower one has been subsequently mutilated,but on the northern edge a scrolled stop atthe west and a pyramid stop at the eastremain in good condition


Journal 200214

Non-identical stops are unorthodox but notrare. The beam at the upper level had ateach end a small solid brace with chamferededge, intended for display. It was not avery common feature in the area, althoughthere are examples at Home Farm,Ickenham and 3 Ruislip High Street. Thewestern brace remains, together with theoriginal tiny plug of plaster filling the gapat its top corner, but the eastern wasremoved to admit the stack.

DateThe cross wing is of 16th century build.The roof and decorative treatment are of16th or early 17th century type, the floorjoists are laid flat, a practice going out ofuse at the end of the 16th century; themortices used for them (bare-faced soffittenons with housed shoulders) are 16thcentury or later. The jetty began to go outof fashion in the 17th century.

The earlier houseThe cross wing would have been part of ahouse. Its separate frame-dmplies that itwas an addition to an older part, probablyan open hall house, which was too decrepitto keep ormodemise by the 17th century -see below.for the enlargement. The crosswing may itself have replaced an even olderpart. The replacement by turns of parts wascommon and quite practicable in timber-framed houses, and is nowadays referred toas alternate rebuilding. Since the wing isseparately framed it is not surprising thatthere is no evidence of the earlier part.If the first stairs were in the present positionthe demolished part was probably on thefurther, or western, side of the cross wing;there would have been only onecommunicating door, in the north baydownstairs between A and B, but therelevant timbers have been removed for thepresent entrance.

Enlargement of the cross wingThe cross wing was subsequently enlarged,and common-sense suggests that this was

when the earlier part was demolished.Another bay was added at the south,bringing it forward virtually to the streetfrontage with a new jetty, leaving thetimbers of the first jetty in place(C-D-D1-C1). An internal stack wasinserted abutting the cross frame and facingnorth, while an external one was builtagainst the east wall of the new bay. Eachfloor was divided into two rooms, thedivision apparently running along the rear,or southern side, of the internal stack.

There were two hearths in each stack so thatall four rooms were heated. The northernhearth downstairs was originally thekitchen hearth, a huge inglenook with asimply-chamfered wooden lintel and thecentral part of the flue narrowed.The hearth above is entirely of brick, with afour-centred head and a wide continuouschamfer ending in run-out stops near thebase of the jambs. The southern hearthdownstairs is similar in size to the kitchenhearth but with a lower-set lintel. There hasbeen much alteration to the brickwork,including apparently a narrowing of theopening by building new jambs beneath thelintel, and the creation of a cavity in thenorth flank. I think the other keeping holesin side and rear walls are not originalthough they may be replicas. The hearthabove is similar, but smaller in scale andless altered. There is a cupboard in theadjoining southern cavity with what isprobably the original door, made of threevertical planks, tongued and grooved, thetwo outer ones moulded along their inneredges.

In the south room downstairs between thetwo stacks there is a contemporarydoorway, now blocked, in the east wall.The new dwelling would have needed someextra service space so this may have led toan outshut on the eastern side.

The logical place for the main entrance tothe house would have been in the west wallopposite the internal stack, between B and


Journal 200215

E, a very popular position in the 17thcentury, though no evidence remains here.This area of the house presents a problem ofinterpretation. Parts of some ground floorceiling joists in the original south bay had tobe removed to make way for the stack, butin fact all the joists were treated in this way.An auxiliary beam was introduced west ofthe stack at E to carry the replacementpieces, which were lodged upon it and onthe cross beam, leaving the original joistmortices in the beam empty; several of thepieces continuing south are alsoreplacements at this end. If anotherstaircase was inserted here at some timethere is no sign of it now.

The chimneys are the original ones, all withprojecting courses at the top. The easternchimney is a fine one with a triangular filletdown the eastern side.

DateThe extension was made in the late 16th orearly 17th century. The brickwork of stacksand chimneys is 17th century, possibly late16th. The brick fireplace is of a typepopular in the later 16th century.

The middle partThe middle part of the house has one roomon each floor. The stack was external andthis, together with the narrower depth ofthis part, shows that it was constructedbefore the adjoining northern part.The roof, as far as could be glimpsed, is ofpoor scantling with the rafters buttingagainst a ridge piece. The walls containsome timber framing - one stud is exposedin the east wall of the upper room, and aphotograph of 1925 shows two in the northwall downstairs, though this is not to berelied upon as accurate. The downstairsfireplace has red brick which seems 18thcentury, but which forms a triangularshaped cavity which is decidedly quirky.Iwould say from its appearance, completein the same photograph, that it was part ofthe 1925refurbishment.

DateThe roof and walling, together with theexternal stack suggest a date at any time inthe 18th century.

The north partThe northern part had two rooms to eachfloor. The rear room down was small,probably a scullery, and may havecontained the stair. The roof is like that ofthe middle part, and the stack is external.The external doorways (and possibly thedoors) and most of the windows are theoriginal ones, though the upper westwindow has been enlarged and the twosmall ones at the rear are secondary.

Interior features date the house to theperiod 1800 to about 1840. The upstairsfireplace is a standard cast iron hob-grate ofthe period with neo-classical Greek-keydecoration. The cupboards, set in thealcoves of the adjoining middle part's stackhave glazing bars of thin section witharched heads. The lower door of the easterncupboard has been replaced.

TheoutshutI have not tried to date this but I wouldexpect it to be late 19th or 20th century.

Later treatmentThe brick infilling of the timber frame of thesouth part, shown in the photograph belowand in that of 1910which is Fig. 5 of EileenBowlt's Well Green article, is of 18th or 19thcentury date. The quality of the brick-laying is good, with thin jointing. The brickfacade of the middle part was probably partof the same work.

A window was inserted in the west walldown at the south and then blocked by thesmall external stack which still survives,though now itself blocked internally.Both features postdate the brick infillingand are probably 19th century. The stackshows that the front room downstairs wasat one time subdivided into two smallerones.


Journal 200216

To the refurbishment of 1925 by Mr.Marshall I attribute the repositioning of thefront door, all the bay windows, dormersand the present staircase. I would alsoinclude the carving of the ends of severaljoists of the first jetty into rough flowershapes, which I think happened when themantel shelf, with carved brackets, wasadded to the eastern fireplace, and the lintelwas pecked to make it look 'old',

The cutting of door heads into the east endof the northern wall plate (A-AI) and intothe former eastern window (FI-Bl) are notdatable and could have happened at anytime after the middle part was built.The widening of the middle part of thehouse may have originated as a single ordouble storey extension. It is curiouslybuilt of 20th century brick in thin timberframes of 18th or 19th century type.Who put the bricks there is puzzling, forthey do not seem at all like the sort of bricksMr. Marshall would have used.

StatusThe style of the cross wing, particularly thesolid braces and the close studding, wereappropriate to someone like a yeoman ofsome substance, and the same should havebeen true of the earlier medieval house forwhich it was built.


This was the solar or high wing, reservedfor the private use of the owner, away fromservants and estate workers. After thedemolition and enlargement it wasprobably a slightly smaller house, but thenumber and quality of its hearths showed itto be one of good quality. At this date itwould have been rather small for someonewith a large amount of land.

The middle part may have been built as anextension or as a separate small dwelling.The records imply that it was separate in1807.

The northern part was built as a separatecottage with its own front and back doors,and a touch of style. The records also bearout the suggested dates for this part.

In the 19th century the three separatedwellings need not always have beenoccupied in the three parts outlined above.At that time houses were often recombinedin various ways, and the census detailssuggest that may have been the case here.It has been said that the name Raminalludes to an inn on the premises at sometime. There is nothing about the structurepeculiar to an inn, though it could easilyhave served as an alehouse or beer house.

Journal 2002

0-1

N~~-

A-1•.......•. --------- .••..•...---------

I I I·I I II I II I II I II I II I II I II I II I I

6 E C 0A

Fig.2 Plan of the ground floor after enlargement

Visible PostOverhea d Bea m

oI

1I

2mI

Stack

A-1 F-1 6-1 C-3

IIIIII

". ICl I.: Ic: IlI) Ic..0 I... I-; I I•.. IUl I

IIIIIIIIIIIII

A F 6 C-2

Fig.3. Plan of the upper floor after enlargement

0-3

0-2

Ruislip, Northwood & .&stcoteLocal History Society

19 Journal 2002

The solid brace.

Conjectural appearance of the first cross wing,with the upper side window included.

Fig. 4. Building Details

Possible positions of the demolished part, with and without the upper side window.


20 Journal 2002

the ornamental surround of a window or doorwaynumerals incised on timbers to indicate matching members in a framein line with the length of the house or winga portion of a building between the principal postsa major horizontal timbera surface formed by cutting off an edgea purlin supported by a collardecorative framing where the space between the studs is little widerthan the studs themselvesa transverse timber connecting raftersthe framework dividing one bay from anothera brace running from a post to a lower horizontal timberthe overhang of one storey over the one below itthe thickening of a post at the topa cavity in the brickwork of a hearth for goods needing to be kept drya horizontal beam over a fireplace, door or windowone resting on top of a beama horizontal beam in a wall placed between sill and platea socket cut to receive a tenona compartment at the side of a house under a lean-to roofa horizontal timber, usually at the top of a walla substantial vertical timber forming part of the main frameworka longitudinal timber in a roof slope, supporting raftersa pair of struts between tie beam and collara stop ending in a shallow curvethe measured size or dimensions of a timbera joint between two timbers meeting end to enda horizontal member at the bottom of a framed wall, window or doorframethe lower or under surface of a timbera stop where there is a step, or change of plane, between the chamferand its enda decorative ending of a chamfera less substantial or minor timber in a walla rectangular projection from the end of a piece of timbera main transverse timber connecting the tops of wallsa short timber set across the ends of joists to allow for an opening, e.g. astaircasethe horizontal timber forming the top of the wall frameirregular timber surface, part of the original outer surface of the treea brace within the plane of a roof, usually between a purlin and aprincipal rafterIn an open hall house the chief living room, the hall, had a hearth nearthe middle of the floor, and as a result the room was left open to the roofto allow the escape of smoke and fumes through a louvre, or chinks inthe roof. At one or both ends of the hall might be a two storeyed section,or bay, whose rooms were unheated.

Glossary (applicable to both the RAMIN and THE OLD SHOOTING BOX articles).

architraveassembly marksaxialbaybeamchamferclasped purlinclose studding

collarcross framedownward bracejettyjowlkeeping holelintellodged joistmid-railmorticeoutshutplatepostpurlinqueen strutsrun out stopscantlingscarfsill

soffitstep stop

stopstudtenontie beamtrimmer

wall platewaneywind braces

The open hall house


Journal 200221

THE OLD SHOOTING BOXEastcote High Road, Eastcote, Middlesex

by Patricia Clarke

N

t 0 NDiagrams

M L not to

Jscale

I H

F E

DescriptionAt present the building, as visited inDecember 1995 and owned by Mrs. FrancesBennett, forms one house, but it is reportedthat it was divided into three cottages in the19th century, and that the western bay is a19th century addition. The house is threebays long, aligned east west. The frontrange is one room deep and has two storeysplus attics. Behind the western bay is asingle storey outshut. Behind the rest is atwo storey outshut, continued northwardby a single storey outshut all under a

D C BPLAN

A

The middle and eastern bays (A-C-O-N)The framing of the front range (A-C-G-E)isnot uniform, being partly of large panelswith narrow studs and diagonal braces, andpartly of small panels, both types with brickinfill. A large proportion of the timbercomprises re-used pieces of the periodc.1480-1640. They include, for example, atie beam re-used as a newel post for thestaircase to the attic, and another used as atransverse beam in the ground floor wallfrom C to G; the ogee shaped brace in theupper floor of the same wall is another

catslide roof. The two eastern bays aretimber framed with brick infilling, but thematerial of the western, concealed, is said tobe brick. The whole of the upper floor istile-hung.

In the east gable wall is an internal stackwhich had three hearths, one on each floor.A second stack between the middle andwestern bays has two hearths on theground floor, and a western one on the firstfloor and the attic. The staircase is aboutthe middle of the outshut.

A E J

ELEVATION

N

re-used piece. The newer timber is of smallscantling and often bent or waney. In theeastern room of the first floor the door ofthe cupboard south of the stack contains17th century panelling.

The ceiling heights are typical of an 18thcentury house. The axial beam and joists inthe ground floor of the middle bay(B-C-G-F) are probably original to thehouse; the joists have chamfers and stepstops. Some of the timbers of the landing


Journal 2002

and the first floor east room in the outshut(E-F-K-J) bear matching 18th centuryassembly marks, neatly chiselled. Theupper front windows match those of thewestern bay. There have been many 20thcentury alterations and embellishments,mostly in the form of fancy or appliedstudding. There is a single storey extensionO-L-O-N) along the north of the outshut,probably 20th century.

The western. bay (C-D-I-H)This bay has front windows of the period1830-60, and an attic fireplace appropriateto the same. The ground floor room hasbeen covered with reproduction 20thcentury panelling, including an overmantelin Jacobean style. A reproduction firesurround in stone with a depressed head,which I think is also of 20th century date,has been removed from the fireplace. Thereis a single-storey rear outshut (H-I-M-L) tothis bay, probably 20th century.

OpinionNo part of the present structure is earlierthan the first half of the 18th century.It originated as a two bay house with anoutshut containing the staircase and extraservice rooms (A-C-l-J). I would expect themain entrance to have been about centrefront, but there is now no evidence one wayor the other. The attics were probably therefrom the start.

The western bay (C-D-I-H)was probably anaddition to the 18th century house, ratherthan being the replacement of an earlierbay. When it was built the opportunity wastaken to reface the whole frontage and giveit uniform windows - a photographpredating the tile-hanging shows heavyarchitraves of the style popular from about1840-60. French windows and a verandahhave subsequently been installed at groundfloor level, and the upper floor has beentile-hung in a way that has partly coveredthe window architraves.

The single storey outshuts, to both 18th and19th century parts, are probably 20thcentury work, but I have not sought toestablish clearly whether they might be ofthe late 19th century instead.

To summarise, the house was built duringthe first half of the 18th century towards theend of the timber-framing tradition, and itcomprised only the two eastern bays with afull length outshut behind. It would havebeen suitable for a farmer. Just before themiddle of the 19th century it was enlargedat the western end and given a new facade.It was apparently one dwelling at the timeof the proposed sale in 1882 (or 1887)whenit was known as Southill House. The 20thcentury alterations probably occurred afterthe house was sold by the Hawtrey-Deaneestate in 1920.

Note about re-used timberWhen a timber framed house wasdismantled it was quite common to re-usesound pieces, either in the replacementbuilding or in one on a different site. It isnot usually possible to tell whether suchtimbers come from an earlier building onthe same site. Doors likewise have oftenbeen moved around within a house or to adifferent house. It is likely that the re-use oftimber in this house has given rise to theassumption that part of it dates from the16th century.

See also Eileen Bowlt's Well Green' article.


Journal 200223

THE MOORE FAMILY OF EASTCOTEby Colleen Cox

My interest in the Moore Family wasprompted by an enquiry from a descendantwho still lives in the area. She is compilingher family tree - no mean task as she isrelated to a number of long-standing Ruislipfamilies including the Weatherlys, theAlldays and the Edmonds as well as theMoores. I am indebted to her for sharinginformation about her family with me.

PC Robert Moore

Robert Moore, pictured in several of theSociety's publications, was the villagepoliceman in Eastcote from the latter part ofthe 1860s until 1891. He was born on April29th1842 in the Norfolk village of Fritton andwas the youngest of six children. His oldestbrother left home and went to London tobecome a policeman and Robert followedhim, joining the Metropolitan Police Force onNovember 23rd 1863. He was recorded asliving in Eastcote when on March 25th1869 hemarried Emma Endacott in Marylebone. Shewas the daughter of a husbandman from

Throwleigh in Devon and it is possible thatlike many other girls of her age she hadmoved from the country to go into domesticservice in the capital.

In the 1871 census Robert and Emma wereliving with their one-year-old daughter,Alice, in one of the old cottages in Field End,Eastcote owned by James Nightingale.Ten years later the family had moved to acottage on Southill Lane where theaccommodation was better suited to theirgrowing family. This cottage was one ofthree built as part of the Haydon Hall estateand like other dwellings on the estate wasdesigned by Peto and George. They are firstmentioned as Southill Cottages in the 1881census and it is likely that Robert Moore wasone of the original occupiers. WhenLawrence James Baker tried to sell the estatein 1883 the sales particulars described thecottages as 'Three new ornamental cottagedwellings' each with three bedrooms, aparlour, a kitchen, a coal-house, a larder, awash-house and a closet and let to threeexcellent tenants at a rent of four shillings perweek.

By the end of the 1870s the Moore familycomprised Alfred John born in 1872, Emily[ane (1874), Florence Mary (1876), andCharles Robert (1879). There was no mentionof the first child, Alice and she was notknown to family members until her deathcertificate was recently traced. This revealedthat she was Alice Maud and had died in1874 at the age of five years. On April 6thwhen the 1891 census was taken, Robert andEmma were still in Southill Lane and he wasstill a policeman, although not for muchlonger as he retired from the Force on May 7thof that year at the age of 49 years. All thesurviving children lived at home. Alfred wasa carpenter, Emily a pupil teacher, Florence adressmaker and Charles was still at school.


Journal 200224

Southill Cottages, now known as 'Findon', Southill Lane

A policeman's job in a village such asEastcote at this time was not a particularlyonerous one. The sort of crimes encounteredincluded petty theft, stealing fruit from anorchard, poaching game, separatingsquabbling neighbours (especially membersof the Nightingale family) and dealing withdrunk and disorderly behaviour. There werealso the driving offences such as driving acart dangerously, falling asleep while drivingand drunk in charge of a hay cart. Mostreferences to the police are found in the localnewspapers when the offenders were takento Court. The names of a number of localpolicemen appear there but I can find nomention of P.c. Robert Moore. Either thelocals were on their best behaviour when hewas around, which seems unlikely, or he

adopted a laid-back approach and turned ablind eye. We shall never know but heobviously liked living in Eastcote as hestayed there for all his working life and hadno reason to move after he left the Force.

During retirement Robert joined hiscarpenter son Alfred John in the buildingtrade. Their close links with Haydon Hallprobably meant that they were given workon the estate buildings and it is known thatAlfred did other carpentry jobs includingmaking coffins. In 1894 Alfred marriedAmelia Alice Bellamy who was fromHuntingdon where the couple were married.It is not known how they met but links withthe Huntingdon family were maintained.


Journal 200225

Alfred's own family grew to include fourgirls and a boy and Amelia became the localmidwife.

The 1902 Rate Book records Robert Moore asoccupying the same cottage in Southill Laneand his son Alfred living in one of the others,all three owned by Lawrence [ames Baker.In addition Robert himself owned twocottages _ in Hallowell Road, Northwoodoccupied by Charles Dawkins and WilliamTillyard. At this time Northwood wasexpanding rapidly. The developer FrankMurray Maxwell Hallowell Carew hadpurchased land in Northwood in 1887 andhad divided the area into plots of varyingsizes planning to build larger houses to thenorth of Green Lane and west of the railway,with medium and small houses to the southand east. The houses in Hallowell Road weremainly built between 1900and 1920 and wereof the small to medium variety. While manywere sold to newcomers to the area, anumber were bought by local families eitheras an investment or for their own occupationThis may have been the case with the Mooresas they were later recorded as living inHallowell Road.

Further light is thrown on the activities of thefamily during the early years of the 20th

century by two Abstracts of Title of 1950 and1951 placed in the Local History collection by[im McBean and relating to two cottages, 124and 126 Fore Street, Eastcote. These hadformerly been known as Wood Cottages andhad also been part of the Haydon Hall estateand built, probably in the 1870s, by L.J. Bakerfor his estate workers. In 1908 however,according to the Abstracts, they belonged toEmily Jane Watts, wife of George ThomasWatts, carpenter of Hallowell Road who wasalso the daughter of Robert Moore describedas a builder of Southill Cottages. Number124 Fore Street (No.l Wood Cottages) wasoccupied by her brother Alfred John but wasconveyed to her father. In June 1909 Robertpassed the property to his younger sonCharles who in 1916settled it on trustees forthe benefit of his older brother Alfred for lifeand then to Alfred's wife, Amelia Alice for

her life and then to their children. This rathercomplicated series of events may have beenbecause Alfred was already ill as it is knownthat he died of cancer on November 29th 1919,25 years to the day after he got married.He is buried in St. Martin's churchyard,Ruislip.

The other cottage, 126 Fore Street (alsoknown as Field View) was occupied in 1908by Alfred Nash. Mer Emily's death in 1949,this cottage passed to Charles Moore,described as a retired plumber of Belmont,Ioel Street.

During the first decade of the 20th centuryhowever, Alfred Moore seems to have beenkept busy. The Moores had a yard next tothe Old Barn House in Eastcote High Roadand there is a picture of him driving his cartalong the road in the Eastcote PictorialHistory book.

Between 1908 and 1912 Haydon Hall, theLodge and the Southill cottages were sold tothe tenants, Captain and Mr5 BennettEdwards (see Mary Pache article) and thethree cottages were converted into onedwelling. Much of the work of conversionwas undertaken by Alfred and Robert and nodoubt the plumbing skills of the younger sonCharlie were also put to good use. When theproperty was inspected in 1914 in connectionwith the re-assessment of rateable values itwas described as being 'three cottages nowconverted into one' with three tile-hunggables, four bedrooms, a bathroom with ageyser, two sitting rooms and a kitchen.It was connected to the sewer. The inspectorcommented that 'it would make a goodsound institution or hospital', although to myknowledge it has never been used as either.

The Moores were an enterprising family.In addition to the houses in Hallowell Roadand Fore Street, Alfred John owned propertyin Withy Lane, Ruislip Common, describedin 1914 as la very old property in moderatecondition'. He also had three other cottagesnearby 'about 15 years old'. It is likely thatproperties were bought by the family which


Journal 200226

could be renovated or repaired either forletting or for sale. After Alfred's death hiswidow and family continued to occupy 124Fore Street. Of his four daughters, Alice, anurse, married and moved to live inHuntingdon where her mother had comefrom. Louisa worked at Barclays Bank inHarrow, married and lived in Bushey. Shehad no children but there are fond memoriesof her husband, reportedly a member of theMagic Circle, who performed magic tricks foryounger family members. NeitherConstance, who worked at Barclays Bank inNorthwood, nor her sister Elizabeth, marriedand they continued to live with their motherin Fore Street until her death in 1949.Elizabeth worked for the Ruislip NorthwoodUrban District Council in their offices inOaklands Gate, Northwood. The only son,Alfred John Junior, joined the Navy in 1916 at18 years of age and it is thought that it wasduring this time that he trained to become anelectrician. In 1923 he married ElizabethWeatherly from Hastings. The couple livedfirst in Harrow, then at the top of WiltshireLane before settling at 1Coteford Oose.

Robert and his wife moved to HallowellRoad after leaving Southill Cottages,presumably to one of the properties that theyowned. Infhe 1915 street directory he isrecorded as living at 'Wemyss' which isalmost certainly 131 Hallowell Road and thehouse he occupied until his death in 1925.Like his son Alfred, Robert is buried in St.Martin's churchyard. His widow Emma,stayed in the Northwood house with herdaughter Emily Jane Watts, the owner of thecottages in Fore Street. No trace has yet beenfound of her husband and it is possible thatshe too was a widow. Emma died in 1938and is buried with her husband in Ruislip.

According to the 1915 street directory Charlieand his wife Louisa lived at 1 Ferndale Villas,23 Hallowell Road, presumably the otherproperty owned by the family. He was botha plumber and builder and there are signs ofhis workshop in the garden to the presentday.

After the deaths of his brother and father,Charlie took over the responsibilities of headof the family. He gave the girls away whenthey got married and was held in awe byyounger members of the family. He seems tohave been a lively active man who took aninterest in local affairs. In 1902he was on thecommittee which organised the localcelebrations for the Coronation of EdwardVII. He was also a keen cricketer and playedfor Eastcote from the age of 16 years beingsuccessful with both bat and ball. Aftermoving to Northwood about 1911 hechanged his allegiance and played forNorthwood Cricket Oub as a slow bowler.He was also on the committee for 19 yearsbetween the wars.

Charlie continued to live in the area and wasstill going strong when in 1963 and in hiseighties he was interviewed by W.A.G. Kempfor his book on Eastcote. At this time he wasliving at Belmont, Joel Street convenientlynext door to the Ship Inn!

Istarted research on the Moore family usingthe traditional Local History resources of thecensuses, rate books and sales particulars butthanks to [ulia Powell and her work on herfamily's history, I was able to fill in some ofthe gaps in my knowledge. I now feel that Iknow them well and hope that I have builtup a picture of this enterprising and hard-working family who lived in the area duringthe 19th and early part of the 20th century.

Sources1. [ulia and Kathleen Powell.

Personal communication.2. Censuses 1871- 1891.Ruislip library.3. Sales Particulars, Haydon Hall Estate,

1883. Ruislip Library.4. Eastcote - a pictorial history.

R.N.E.L.H.S.5. Ruislip Parish Ratebooks.

Transcripts, Ruislip library.6. Abstracts of Title 1950 and 1951 for

124 and 126 Fore Street.Ruislip library.

7. W.A.G.Kemp.The History of Eastcote, Middlesex.


Journal 200227

FORE STREET, EASTCOTEby Denise Shackell

The majority of people in Eastcote in the 19thcentury lived in scattered farms or cottageson the old road network. Fore Street or FrogLane as it was also known, was one of theseold roads.

The first record of Fore Street is on a surveyof 1565, which mentions the street and someof the owners of property there. A mapdrawn by John Rocque in 1754 shows theposition of Fore Street. Fig.1.

From the Old Enclosure map of 1806 with itsschedules it is possible to position two farms,Four Elms Farm and Fore Street Farm.

The 1841-1891 Census Returns give moreinformation about the people who lived inFrog Lane, as it was then called. See Fig. 2The Census Returns give the occupations ofthose who worked and whether they lived inseparate or shared accommodation withanother family.

1565In 1565 a Terrier, or survey, was made byKing's College, Cambridge, the Lords of theManor of Ruislip, of their demesne lands.This gave tenants names with a description oftheir holdings. From this it can be seen thatthere were two messuages and eight cottageson the west side and two cottages on the eastside of Fore Street. A messuage was adwelling house with out-buildings, a cottagewas a small humble dwelling house.

Two of the cottages referred to in the Terrierwere in the possession of Isabel Mosse, thesecottages were just south of the presentGrangewood School, which were to pass toher son John after her death. In the CourtRoll of 21st May 1577 John Moss, her son,was in possession of these two cottages. Hewas 'of the parryshe ofStanmoer the more' (wasthis Great Stanmore?). The Court Rollcontinues 'out of the court doe surrender - Twocotteges with their appurtenances there unto

belonging sett lying and being in Fore Street - tothe be1woJeand use of Agnes Wynchester ofRyslyppe and her heyresfor ever according to theCustome of the manor. '

The Terrier also names Richard Nicholas,who had two cottages in the angle betweenthe ancient park boundary and the road, justnorth of the present Grangewood School.

The two messuages or farms mentioned inthe Terrier were both on the west side of ForeStreet. Four Elms Farm, now number 19 ForeStreet, is on the west side, but the other farmthat we know about, Fore Street Farm, nowdemolished, stood near the corner of thepresent Wentworth Drive at the top end ofFore Street on the east side.

1754The map drawn up by John Rocque in 1754shows the position of Fore Street, but thestreet is not named on his map. There arecarefully drawn buildings on either side ofthe street and it is possible to count a total often buildings, of which six separate buildingsare on the east side. Whether these were alldwellings or farm buildings it is not possibleto be certain. There are four larger buildingshapes on the west side (the woods side), butit is not possible to be certain whether theseindividual blocks consist of more than onebuilding.At the time of the 1841 census most of theland and properties on the west side wereowned by small landowners, those on theeast side were owned by the wealthy Deanefamily. Most of these plots were notoccupied by the owners.

1841In 1841 a census was taken.Eleven households were listed, nine of whichlived in separate accommodation, two otherhouseholds shared accommodation. A totalof ten houses were needed to accommodatethese families.


Journal 200228

The Rocque map, made eighty-seven yearsbefore, showed ten buildings, indicating thatno extra houses had been built in the yearsbetween 1754 and 1841.

The occupations of those living in Frog Lanewere one bricklayer, six agriculturallabourers and three labourers. There wereten children between the ages of four andfourteen living in the street, none were listedas scholars.

1851The 1851 Census lists eighteen householdsliving in separate accommodation. One housewas uninhabited. Eight new properties musthave been built in the previous ten years tohouse the extra households.

For the first time a farm is named, Frog LaneFarm. Charles Tillet was the farmer, of landowned by the Deane family. He was fifty-nine years old living with his wife Elizabethaged seventy-five years, sixteen years olderthan her husband. They had no childrenliving at home, but they did have a servant,Jane Rowbottom aged eighteen years.Charles Tillet farmed seventy-nine acres withthe help of four agricultural labourers.

The occupations of the other workers in 1851included a total of twenty-six agriculturallabourers, one carpenter and a retired mason,John Page aged seventy-eight years, livingwith his two daughters, one unmarried andone a widow, who had no listed occupations.

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Two women were working as charwomen.One EIiza Templa was a widow aged forty-three, with four children under the age ofeleven years. Eliza also had two lodgersliving in her home to supplement her income.

William Bailey aged forty-seven years, acarpenter, had a wife Mary aged fifty-oneyears who worked as the other charwoman.They had four children, but two of these,sons, were working as agricultural labourers.The two daughters aged seven and elevenyears were not at school. It did not seem tobe necessary for the mother to be doing suchhard work.

In 1851 there were twenty-eight childrenliving in Frog Lane. Only two were scholars,the children of an agricultural labourer,William Biggs aged thirty-seven years. Hehad five sons, the eldest, £ifteen-year-oldGeorge, worked like his father as anagricultural labourer, but his brothers,Christopher and John, nine and eleven yearsold, went to school. Their father wasobviously keen to have some of his childreneducated.

1861The 1861 Census lists only twelvehouseholds, a drop of six families during thelast ten years. It is still not possible toidentify the exact position of the houses theyoccupied.

The occupations of those living in Frog Lanewere now more varied. There were stillplenty of agricultural labourers, twelve intotal, but no farmer is listed.

There was a seamstress, Sarah Gregory agedseventy-two, married to John also seventy-two years old who was still working as anagricultural labourer possibly onlyoccasionally. They had a forty-three-year oldson James, an agricultural labourer, living athome. There were two incomes, from themen, coming into the home. The additionalincome from Sarah's sewing must haveimproved their standard of living.

John Bignell, an agricultural labourer, and hiswife Jane had a son David, a boy of fourteenyears, who was listed as a gardener anddomestic servant. living with the Bignellfamily was Elizabeth Jennings aged fourteenyears, she worked for them as a generalservant.

There was one agricultural drill man and ahay-dealer.George Smith aged twenty-six was agamekeeper who lived with his wife and fourvery small children aged four years to fourmonths.

In 1861 there were fourteen children, four ofthem listed as scholars. Two were smalldaughters aged three and five years, of [amesPowell an agricultural labourer. Anotherwas Florence Aaron, aged four years, avisitor at the house of Henry Douglas a carterservant. There was John Evans aged sixteenyears listed as a scholar, still living as aboarder, as he had been for the last ten years,with William Lawrence. Was John at sixteenyears of age possibly a helper to the teacher?

1871In the 1871Census the number of householdsliving in Frog Lane had risen to twenty-two,none were sharing accommodation. anincrease of ten households in ten years.There must have been some extra housesbuilt to accommodate them. The census doesnot give this information

There were now three farmers. Henry Powellfarmed eighty-two acres of land. He had twosons, eighteen and fifteen years of age, withno occupations given on the census. It ispossible they worked for their father on thefarm. Daniel Holdford worked twenty-fiveacres of meadowland. Thomas Crawleyfarmed only five acres of land.

There were now three members of theLavender family living in Frog Lane. Georgeaged forty-six years was a wood bailiff,another George aged twenty-four years andWilliam aged thirty-eight years wereagricultural labourers.


Journal 200230

Samuel Coulter was a head gardenerdomestic servant. There were two othergardeners. One David Bignell was still, afterten years, working as a gardener. He wasnow married with a small daughter fourmonths old.

Frog Lane now had one laundress, twogrooms, one sawyer, one boot-maker and ahay-dealer living there.George Smith was still a gamekeeper, hisfamily had now increased from four to sixchildren.

There were now twenty-seven children livingin Frog Lane. Thirteen of these were nowscholars, a large increase in the last ten yearsof those attending school.

1881In this Census only fourteen households arelisted, eight less than ten years earlier. Therewere now twenty-one children, nineteen ofwhom were scholars. The Education Act of1870 had been passed and in 1876 educationwas made compulsory.

Two families had boarders living with them.George and Charlotte Ioel had three childrentwo of whom were five and three year oldscholars. They had one boarder ThomasAndrews an eighteen-year-old gamekeeper,probably to help with their living expenses.

William Lawrence, an agricultural labourerand Alice Lawrence aged sixty-six and sixty-four years old, had two boarders, one HenryBaldwin, a sixty-three year old widower, aretired blacksmith and John Evans,unmarried at thirty-six years of age was nowa general1abourer, living in their home.

Daniel Holdford, now a farmer of only fifteenacres, possibly because of old age, had twoyoung grandsons living with him.Henry Powell, now sixty years old, still hadhis two unmarried sons William andEdward, now twenty-eight and twenty-fiveyears of age, living with him. They were nowlisted as farmer's sons, presumably stillhelping their father on his farm.

Joseph Raynor aged thirty-three was now thegamekeeper. George Smith, who had beenthe gamekeeper, was now an agriculturallabourer living with four of his children,together with John Hill listed as father agedseventy-three years, a widower, and SarahElizabeth Hill aged twenty years and EmilyHill aged sixteen years.

One of George Smith's daughters, Mary AnnSarah seventeen years old, and SarahElizabeth Hill, who lived with her, were bothdressmakers. Another dressmaker was thedaughter of widow Elizabeth Weatherby.

Jane Lavender was a seamstress, a thirty-three year old widow, who supported withher needle, five yOllllg children, three ofwhom were scholars.

In addition to these occupations there weretwo hay-dealers, one cowman, three generallabourers, two domestic and one generalservant.

1891The number of households in this census wasfourteen, the same number as was recordedin 1881. In this census Frog Lane was nowcalled Fore Lane.

The occupations listed in 1891 included agardener and two garden labourers. Therewas a coachman groom and two othergrooms. There were now two gamekeepers.

The occupations of those now living in ForeLane indicated the needs of families living inEastcote in 1891.

There were several large houses in Eastcote atthis time. A gardener with two gardenlabourers, would be needed to work in largegardens attached to large houses.A coachman and two grooms would only beneeded in prosperous households.Two laundresses probably worked for suchhouseholds. The two gamekeepers would beneeded to raise the game birds for theshooting parties arranged for the guests atthese houses.

Ruislip, Northwood deEastcoteLocal History Society

Journal 200231

The other occupations of the people living inFore Lane were one greengrocer, a woodbailiff, four wood-cutters, two generalservants and a sewerage labourer.

The people working on the land were stillthere. Hemy Powell at seventy years of agewas still farming, but the number of acres hewas farming is not given. His son William,unmarried at thirty-eight years, is still livingwith his parents and working as a farmingemployee.

In addition to the occupations above were sixfarm labourers, one cowman and oneagricu1tUIallabourer.

The number of families who lived in FrogLane for long periods of time was relativelyfew. John Gregory, an agricultural labourerremained in Frog Lane for thirty years, fromthe age of fifty-two until he was eighty-threeyears old, from 1841 to 1871.

William Lawrence also lived in Frog Lane forthirty years from 1861 to 1891, from the ageof forty-seven to seventy-eight years. He wasan agricultural labourer, a sawyer, and in hisold age he was a garden labourer, during thetime he lived in Frog Lane.

John Bignelllived in Frog Lane from the ageof fifty-nine years until he was ninety yearsold. He was still working at eighty years ofage. By the time he reached ninety years ofage he was living on means.

The other families were sometimes listed intwo Census Returns but were nevermentioned again. Others moved away andthen returned later. Most of the familieslived in rented accommodation, it was easyto move to another property elsewhere if itsuited them better.

Sources

Bowlt, Eileen M.,The Goodliest Place in Middlesex.Hillingdon Borough Libraries 1989

Ruislip Enclosure Map and Award (1806).Copy Ruislip Library

Eastcote Censuses 1841-1891.

Rocque's Map of Middlesex 1754.


Journal 200232

COINCIDENCES AND CONNECTIONSThe Barters and the PowelIs

by Karen Spink

Some years ago I studied the owners andoccupiers of Field End House Farm, Eastcoteand connected the fairly well-to-doLawrences from outside the parish to thelocal Lavender and Powell families.'

CoincidencesThe Powells had lived at Park Farm, Eastcoteduring the 1850s and 60s and were succeededby a farmer from Hampshire called WilliamBarter. It was not until I came across anarticle, by a Pinner resident, in the PinnerHistory Society Newsletter about GeorgeBarter of Hope Farm, Pinner,2 that I realisedGeorge could be a member of this sameBarter family, and that this was the same manwho owned some cottages (at the end of thenineteenth century) in Field End'', It waswith even greater surprise that I learned thatGeorge Barter married into the Powell family.So it is now possible to connect the Barters tothe Powells, the Lavenders and theLawrences.

With further investigation and co-operationwith the author of the above-mentionedarticle, it has been possible to update thestory of the Powell family, and identify anumber of small properties in the parish ofRuislip owned by the enterprising GeorgeBarter.

Henry Powell was born in Harrow about1821, the son of a labourer, [ames Powell ofRoxeth, Harrow. He started his working lifeas a labourer and in 1846, at Pinner, marriedCharlotte Wilson, a servant from Readingwho had been born in Caversham,Oxfordshire. By 1851 he had improved hisstatus and was described as a farm bailiff.He and his wife lived at Park Farm in FieldEnd, the home farm to Eastcote House whichwas part of the large estate owned by theDeane family.

The Powells were still in Park Farm in 1861.They had four children, all born there, MaryAnn, Maria, William and Edward. However,by 1871 the Powell family had moved toanother Deane farm, Fore Street Farm (seearticle by Denise Shackell), and this is wherethe Barters enter the picture.

By 1871 the Powells place at Park Farm hadbeen taken by the Barter family: WilliamBarter, aged 62, from Sopley in Hampshire,and his wife Priscilla, also from Hampshire,(though the census incorrectly says Surrey),with their 26 year-old son George, also bornin Hampshire, described as a joiner. Williamfarmed 49 acres, employing one man and aboy. George, described as a joiner, was anapprentice carpenter with Gillows of OxfordStreet.

ConnectionsHow much contact these two families hadprior to this date is not known. Had Georgecome to Eastcote when he was working inLondon, or even lodged out here? Did hepersuade his parents to move here? Bothideas are open to speculation. However it isknown that in 1873 George Barter marriedthe eldest Powell daughter, Mary Arm(known to her family as Polly) at St Martin'sChurch, Ruislip. The ceremony wasperformed by the curate Rev. Roumieu, whohad himself, until recently, been living inField End opposite Park Farm.

In that same year, George's mother, sufferingfrom TB, returned to Hampshire where shedied in 1874. It would seem that George andPolly lived with William at Park Farm untilWilliam returned to his native Hampshire in1876.

Needing their own accommodation then,George and Polly moved to Pinner, to Hope


Journal 200234

Farm. The owners of this property werePolly's brothers, Ted and William Powell.Hope Farm, later referred to as HopeCottage,was a dairy farm. Now demolishedit stood in Pinner Road opposite where thefire station and Nower Hill Schoolare today.George and Polly are recorded in the 1881census living there with three children (theirfirst two born in Eastcote and their ninemonth old baby in Pinner). Theywent on tohave three more children, all born in Pinner.

George Barter now described himself as adairy farmer of 61 acres, employing one manand two boys. He usually had about sixtyhead of cattleand did his own milk deliveriesin the neighbourhood, and as Hope Farm inthe early years did not have its own watersupply, George would collectwater from hisin-lawsat ForeStreet Farm.

Although George Barter was living inaccommodation rented from the Powells,from the 1880she started acquiringa numberof properties. His mother came from areasonably well-off family and some moneymay have come to him from this side of thefamily.

Barter is a name that for some reason hasproved difficultto decipher in census returnsand rate books being variously transcribed(including by me) as Baker, Baxter andBarber. However, there is a useful referencefor properties that existed at the beginning ofthe 20th century. The Finance Act of 1910provided for the levy and collectionof a dutyon the increment value of all land in theUnited Kingdom. Two sets of books werecreated: Domesday Books,now kept in localrecord offices,and bound volumes of FieldBooks, compiled after the surveys (madefrom 1910-1915) were completed, nowdeposited in the Public RecordOfficeat Kew.

The information in these Field Books givesdetails about every property, its owner,usually the occupier, the condition of thebuilding, and sometimes the date when itwas built (though in some cases this appearsnot to be accurate) and also when the

property last changed hands. From thissource it has been possible to identify theproperties that George Barter owned in 1910and consequentlyconfirmthe name Barter onlocal records where it had previouslyappeared but had been incorrectly recorded.This shows how important it is, whenpossible,to refer to an originalsource.

Barter'spropertiesThe following are properties that GeorgeBarterowned in the parish ofRuislip in 1910.

Field End Cottages, near Tudor Lodge inEastcote, had formerly belonged to thenotorious Nightingale family.s They were arow of three similar two-bedroom cottages.Downstairs had only a single living-roomwith a kitchen range and there was a lean-towashhouse with water. The cottages wereconnected to the sewer and were described as'very old and in poor condition'. Barter soldthese in 1925 to the owner of Tudor Lodge,B.J. Hall, who not surprisinglyknocked themdown.

Mount Pleasant Cottages, also in Field End,next to the above cottages, sounded moredesirable, and survived until the 1960s.Thesewere a pair of two-bedroomsemiswitha front room, kitchen and scullery, outhouseand Wc. The WCs and sinkswere connectedto the sewer. Said to be built in 1856, thecottages were of brick and slate, in goodcondition, and occupied by [amesNightingale and Mr. Lavender.

Ivy Farm, in Wiltshire Lane,with a meadowof three acres was occupied by ReubenLavender. There were also five cottagesnearby, one of which was also let toR. Lavender.

There was also a pair of semi-detachedcottages with gardens at the top of WiltshireLane, at Hill Corner, Haste Hill. Theseweretwo-bedroom with kitchen and sitting-roomand shed, brick-built and part weatherboardand tile. Water was laid on.

35Ruislip, Northwood &: &stcoteLocal History Society

Journal 2002

Woodbine Cottages at Tile Kiln, nearBreakspear Road, had been an old farmhousethat was divided into two. The smallercottage was only one up, one down, but theother had a large kitchen, large scullery, frontroom and three bedrooms and an outsidelean-to washhouse. There was an orchardand an acre of land. Water was laid on, butthere was no sewer.

There were also five cottages with gardens inBury Street, Ruislip, near The Plough. Oneof these was also occupied by a member ofthe Lavender family.

In addition, George Barter also rented 19.5acres of good quality meadowland,consisting of two level fields situated at thecrossroads, Field End, owned by the Deanesof Eastcote House.

As well as his Ruislip parish properties, in1904 Barter owned several shops in PinnerHigh Street on the right-hand side just pastThe Victory public house and, in 1914, sixcottages in Rickmansworth Road, Pinner.

Also, from the 1880s,he had rented 28 acresof land east of Nower Hill, adjacent to PinnerPark Farm, and when this came up for sale in1910, not one to miss an opportunity, Barterbought it, and rented it out to Hall's Farm.He also owned a parcel of land where TheChase is today, and Orchard Cottage,Waxwell Lane.

George Barter must have cut a striking figure,driving round in his horse-drawn trap tocollect the rent, sitting in splendour on an oldarmchair because he suffered from painfullumbago. In the 1920she moved to Hillview,12 Marsh Road, Pinner with his daughter,Margaret, which is where he died in 1939 atthe good old age of 95. If you ever walk upPinner High Street and cut through toSainsbury's think of him as you walk alongBarter's Walk which was named after him.

ThePowellsContinuing the story of the Powell family,Henry Powell's second daughter Mariamarried William Bray from Pinner, and theymoved to London where they had twochildren, one born in Euston and the other inIslington. In the 1891 census they turn up atFore Street Farm, where they may just havebeen on a visit.

Henry Powell also had two sons; William,born in 1853, and Edward, known as Ted,born in 1856.

They moved with their parents in the 1860sto Fore Street Farm. In 1890 Ted marriedFanny Louisa from Kent and moved out ofthe farm, though he continued to work itwith his brother William. William marriedGertude Lavender. She was the sister ofReuben Lavender, who was at Ivy Farm inone of George Barter's properties.

William Powell lived in Fore Street Farmuntil about 1913 when he moved to Hayling,Maxwell Road where he died a couple ofyears later. There were three children: Walterwho died as a baby, Phyliss and George.

Meanwhile, brother Ted, who had moved outof Fore Street Farm after his marriage, movedback to Field End, opposite Park Farm, intoNo. 4 Field End Villas (now 14 Field EndRoad). It is most likely his only son CharlesHenry was born here.

By 1902 Ted and his wife were living inSouthill Cottages, next door to two brothers,Alfred and Robert Moore (see article byColleen Cox).

In 1907 Ted and Fanny Powell were in a newhouse called Oakwood in Catlins Lane,opposite St Catherine's Farm. Then in 1910they were back in Field End, this time at No.2 Field End Villas (now 10 Field End Road),owned by Reuben Lavender. Ted and Fannyfinally moved to a newly-built house, 14North View, Eastcote, where Ted lived till hedied in 1939.


Journal 2002

Conclusion

So, to summarise, in 1910, William Powellwas living on a farm on the Deane estate,though with his brother he owned a propertyin Pinner which was occupied by GeorgeBarter. Barter owned many properties, one ofwhich, Ivy Farm in Wiltshire Lane, wasoccupied by the Lavenders, who ownedproperty in Field End occupied by TedPowell. This confusing situation only beginsto make sense when the connection betweenthese families is realised.

Henry Powell, who died in 1904, left £3964Ss. 5d., a good sum. for someone who wasborn to a labourer. He and his wife Charlotteare buried in Ruislip churchyard, as areWilliam and Gertrude Powell together withtheir baby son WaIter, and also William'sbrother Ted with his wife Fanny.

William Barter and his son George are buriedin Paines Lane Cemetery, Pinner. GeorgeBarter did very well for himself and hisfamily. When he died in 1939, much of hisestate still tied up in properties, he left thehandsome sum.of £31,02615s. 7d.

Footnotes1. RN&E LHS Journal 1987, p37-402. Pinner LHS Newsletter 83 Autumn 2000, p18

by Therese Lanning3. RN&E LHS Journal 2000, pl0-11 and pl6-174. RN&E LHS Journal 1987, p37-38

Portrait PhotographsFig. 1 George Barter, c1920

at Hope Farm, Pinner. (T. Lanning)Fig. 2 Polly (nee Powell) Barter, 1890s.

(T.Lanning)Fig. 3 Ted Powell. (M. Forrest)Fig. 4 Fanny Powell, wife of Ted Powell,

with son Charlie, 1891. (T. Lanning)

SourcesRuislip Rate Books - transcripts in Ruislip LibraryCensus Returns 1841-1891

- photocopies in Ruislip LibraryField Books -IR 58 PROProbate indexes -Principal Registry of the

Family Division, HolbomOriginal research by T. Lanning

AcknowledgementsI would like to thank the following people for providing me with information:Therese Lanning, who also kindly gave permission to reproduce photos of her ancestors.Pat Clarke of Pinner Local History Society.The late [im Golland who put me in touch with Mrs Lanning, and was always generous with his help.I shall miss his enthusiasm and encouragement.

Park Farm, Field End, c1907, Home of the Barters and Powells


Journal 200237

Fig. 1

Fig. 3

Fig. 2

Fig. 4

Journal 2002Ruislip, Northwood & EastcoteLocal History Society

40

THRILLS AND SWOON IN EASTCOTE

by Mary Pache

These excitements were provided by the penof Mrs. Harry Bennett-Edwards from herstudy in Haydon Hall, Eastcote in theeighteen-eighties. Had she been born ahundred years later she might have been aqueen of romance producing smallpaperbacks instead of the tomes thatappeared on my desk in the British Library.

The reality is that she was born Ada Cox in1845 into a prosperous family at Mill Hill.Her father's business and legal interests werelegion, but the one with most significance forAda was his ownership of magazines, TheField, Queen, The Law Times and Exchangeand Mart. She married when she wastwenty-two and from thenceforth becameknown to the world as Mrs. Harry Bennett-Edwards. The couple lived in the HaydonHall mansion from 1886, and Ada stayedthere for fifty years until she died in 1936,shortly after the abdication of Edward V111.

There were other writers and also artists inthe immediate neighbourhood of HaydonHall at the tirlle. An apocryphal story is toldthat Baroness Orczy wrote part of The ScarletPimpernel sitting under a tree at nearby SouthHill Farm, but the presence of GeorgeCalderon, author of novels and plays,translator and illustrator, is authenticated,also that of other artists in Field End Road. Itis possible that these neighbours gave Adaideas for her novels, as most of them featureartists and closet writers.

At Haydon Hall there was a staff of thirteento organize, including a nurse, a governessand a schoolroom maid to help look after thefive children. Ada was a dog lover, a keenmember of the Fox Terrier Oub and on thecommittee of the ladies' branch of the KennelOub. She was a familiar figure in theneighbourhood walking in wellington bootsover the marshy fields with her twelve dogs,

which accounts for the two kennel men livingin neighbouring cottages.

Both husband and wife contributed to thelocal activities which, in the absence of easytravel and nationwide entertainment, werean essential part of community life. W. A. G.Kemp records an evening at the VillageInstitute, located in the meadow oppositepresent-day Flag Walk. Ada recited two verydifferent poems, The Burial of Sir JohnMoore' and 'Little Vulgar Boy'. There wasanother performer at this event, Mme. deFonblanque, and as this was Ada's mother'smaiden name 1venture to conclude that thislady was a relative. She was also the authorof a poem on the title page of one of thenovels. 1 hope she didn't give it a publicairing on this village occasion as it is called, 'IWish You Were Dead'.

A regular festival was on Guy Fawkes nightwhen there was a huge bonfire in thegrounds of Haydon Hall, but the main eventwas the Summer Treat for over 500 childrenwhich was more than a mere bunfight. Therewas all the fun of the fair with a steam merry-go-round, swings, a shooting gallery and acoconut shy; also races and a tug-to-war withmoney prizes. At teatime, in addition to theregulation bread and butter, 'there was anabundance of fruit, cakes, and biscuits ofvarious kinds'. The day ended predictablywith 'incessant cheering for Mrs. Edwardsand her family'.

The people of Eastcote who read her novelswould have been aware that she was not theupholder of conventions that we associatewith a Victorian Lady Bountiful. Herobituary in The Times describes her as a 'richlady who seemed to delight in ignoringstrait-laced conventions and lifted eyebrows'.The only eyebrow-lifting behaviour 1 couldtrace was being a pioneer in the 19C


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movement for the emancipation of womenand a member of the Independent LabourParty.

The radical opinions of Guy Oldcastle in ThePharisees, her three-volume opus of 1884,show that she was familiar with socialistideals. The stereotype of the main malecharacter is immortal. It started life as themasterful Mr. Rochester in Jane Eyre andlives on to this day between the pages ofMills and Boon. In this novel he is GuyOldcastle, a man who 'never requested,always commanded' and it wasrecommended that 'people should beobedient always to his will.' However hishypocritical neighbours in the county, thepharisees referred to in the title, aren't shy ofexpressing their disapproval of his marriageto romantically named Star. She has risenfrom the gutter and is both an actress and anartist and, to cap it all, infuriatingly beautiful.According to the custom of the time Guyshould have kept Star as his mistress in somesecluded nook away from the public gaze.Perhaps Ada had read George Eliot's novelDaniel Deronda, published eight years earlierand become aware of problems that couldarise from this practice.

The narrative in The Pharisees continues withour couple emigrating to Australia to live in amore liberal society, but returning with ayoung son when Guy's father dies to take onthe duties of the title and the estate. Hebreaks the chain of tradition by failing to getelected to Parliament. His cousin encouragesthe renewal of their former loving friendship,and her suggestion, also voiced by hiselection agent, that he lost votes because ofhis unsuitable wife takes root in his mind.Meanwhile Star has been fuelling adversepublic opinion, however innocently, bydrawing close to her artist brother-in-lawand, I quote, 'showing more ankle than wasbecoming to modest womanhood'. Guy isestranged and doesn't respond to heraffectionate advances. He reneges on hisformer beliefs in the 'extinction of hereditaryrights' and the 'equal division of property'and insists, with characteristic verbal

forcefulness, that his son must be 'brought upfittingly to take his place as the future heir'and trained 'to conform to Society's decrees'.Star takes this as severe criticism of herself,especially when she overhears him tell afriend that everything would be all right ifshe were dead. She acts nobly and runs awayto remove the blot of her presence, thenobligingly drowns herself. Guy disappearsinto obscurity and leaves his son to carry onthe family name.

Another three-volume novel, this oneundated, is The Unwritten Law. There is ashort Foreword at the beginning which statesthat 'the work does not pretend to anythingbeyond whiling away an idle hour.' This is agross underestimate of the time required forreading it, and a contradictory sentiment asthe novel raises serious questions. AnnasHolt, a blacksmith's son, is a talented artistand a 'would be leveller of society'. Thesethree attributes ensure that nobody will calland leave visiting cards. He rebels againstthe custom of legalizing marriage, andcondemns the law of the time which allowedonly adultery as a ground for divorce. Hehas the good fortune to share mutual lovewith Lisa, the well-born daughter of a free-thinking father.

Lisa is ostensibly unfeminine in the Victoriansense, and spends the time, while Annas ispainting, in hunting, shooting and fishing incompany with a local squire. However it ismade clear that the two are just good chums.Annas voices his radical opinions to Olga, arich lady of the neighbourhood. She is acloset writer, the secret author of a best seller,but the two have something in common asshe also is shunned by the local gentry. Sheis suspect from the start because her name isforeign and has the flavour of Bohemia.Furthermore, her provenance is a mysteryand she has a child but no visible husband orevidence of widowhood. The concealed truthis that she is taking care of the child while theparents fight a custody battle and, echoes ofMrs. Henry Wood and East Lynne, thenursemaid turns out to be the mother indisguise. Annas is consumptive and meets a


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tragic end. The unwritten law of the titleseems to be the moral that anyone who defiesconvention will be defeated.

The main character in The Tantalus Cup isEllis Lyndon, another artist, who lives withhis parental family in a country mansion.While I was reading this my fancy placed mein Haydon Hall and I imagined I could seethe characters moving about the leafy lanesthat we see in some our archive photographs.Tantalus is one of the many mythologicalreferences in Ada's novels. I had to look it upin Brewer to find out that Tantalus wasplunged up to his neck in a river with acluster of fruit above his head just out ofreach and water below that receded everytime he tried to have a drink. He was welland truly tantalized. From this we can guessthat Ellis is not going to have a happy life.

He is embittered from childhood when hismother destroys his picture of God and Hisangels because she considered it to beblasphemy, and his father killed his little dogbecause it damaged some potted plants. Asan adult he draws and paints secretly bynight in a shed with a beautiful village girlfor his model. She is the first drop in theTantalus Cup as he desires her but his strongmoral sense prevents him from having hisway. He forms a friendship with Enid, thelocal doctor's daughter; but her feelings forhim are stronger. She wonders why, 'whenhis hand lay in hers, it sent the bloodcoursing through her veins and throbbing inher temples' and when affected in this way,she trembles 'as a young aspen leaf tremblesbefore the soft summer breeze'. Ellis feelsobliged to feign a response to all this, and hekisses her even while he is thinking of theforbidden personal assets of his model, 'theroundness of her limbs ..... the rich fullnessof her lips ..... her long waves of golden hair'.He is somewhat relieved when his fatherspots the model leaving the shed at dawn,and banishes him to London. However thedoctor has heard wedding bells for Enid andEllis,and considers them betrothed.

From this frying pan Ellis leaps into the fireof a relationship with prosperous Zare whomhe meets on the London train. She is a'brilliantly-coloured exotic .... a grand fiery-eyed tiger' who enslaves the 'pale-faced, fair-haired, dreamy-eyed boy' from the momentthey meet. The cliffhanger at the end ofVolume 1 is when she captures Ellis andtakes him home with her. Far from objecting,he falls passionately in love, but the seconddrop splashes into the Tantalus cup as, inspite of 'the electric love-touch of his hands'and Zare's 'thrillingly, burningly' ways ofresponding, his conscience won't let himbetray his commitment to Enid. EventuallyEnid releases him, but once Ellis and Zare aremarried the excitement of the affair drainsaway. Even so, Zare is incensed when shewitnesses his chance meeting with his formerbetrothed, and she puts on a jealousyspectacular. There was, 'in her eyes the fire-flash of a wild beast at bay' and she takes herrevenge by destroying Ellis's picture that wasdestined for the Royal Academy.

After more twists and turns of the plot Ellisand Enid meet again in Australia and marry.By now he is a broken man who nevertouches brush and canvas again, so success inArt stays beyond his reach and fills theTantalus cup to the brim. I see similarities inthis novel with Three Weeks by Elinor Glyn,but as this was not published until 1907,twenty-nine years after Tantalus, perhapsAda provided the inspiration.

There are copies of seven of Ada's novels inthe Rare Books Room of the British library.One will remain a part mystery for a whileyet as some of the pages of In Sheep's Clothingare uncut. I had to restrain myself fromgetting to work with my fruit knife butspecial permission has to be sought forcutting and, if granted, it is carried outreverently by hands more expert than mine.I gathered from the pages I could read thatthe wolf in this particular sheep's clothing isClaud Lewis, the pseudonym of a man whowas acquitted of a murder charge but,disguised by the passage of time, marries agirl whose particular horror and disgust is


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the man whom she regards as a murdererwho escaped justice. I noted that Ada gives apuff to one of her father's magazines when aColonel in the story looks up reluctantly fromhis copy of The Field.

After Ada's death Haydon Hall became theproperty of the Ruislip-Northwood UrbanDistrict Council and it was demolished in1967. The lodge house, built by Bennett-Edwards' predecessor, survives on stilts atthe corner of Southill Lane and the grassybank along [oel street where the greenhousesused to be, is colourful with daffodils andcrocuses in early Spring.

Acknowledgements:

The novels ofMrs. Harry Bennett-Edwards.

W.A.G.KempHistory of Eastcote, Middlesex.Published by the author 1%3

Jim McBean RNELHS Journal 1991

EASTCOTE a pictorial history.RNELHS 1984. Revised 1985

Ron EdwardsEastcote: From Village to Suburb.Hillingdon Borough Libraries 1987

Material supplied by Colleen Cox.

Karen Spink RNELHS Journal 1999

Eileen BowltRuislip Past Historical Publications 1994.


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EXPERIENCES OF WORKING ON THE H047 SERIES OFRECORDS AT THE PUBLIC RECORD OFFICE

by Susan Toms

Since Autumn 2001 I, along with twenty ormore other volunteers, have been involved ina project organised by the Public RecordOffice to list and index a series of records,entitled H047 - Judges Reports on Criminals,1784-1829. These records comprise lettersfrom individuals and groups petitioning onbehalf of convicted criminals, usually citingmitigating circumstances and requesting amore lenient sentence from the judge, as wellas the reports on the case from the relevantjudge. Only the monarch at that time couldgrant a more lenient sentence, but in practicethey were guided by the recommendationsmade in the judges' reports. A point to stressis that these were pleas for mercy not justice.At that time there was no Court of Appeal forwrongful convictions so the only availablemeans of influencing a sentence was apetition requesting mercy and a favourablereport from the judge.

Sometimes the recommendations were in theform of lists of prisoners from differentcounties tried by different judges for capitaloffences, who had been reprieved with lessersentences recommended. These were entitled'Memorials to the King'.

The documents are bound into seventy-fiveannual or bi-annual volumes and are atpresent only listed by date with no indices tonames, place or crime. Hence their potentialuse to local history researchers is severelylimited since any search would be very time-consuming and would depend to a largeextent on pot-luck in finding a relevantreference.

Therefore the aim of the project is to create afully searchable index under a variety ofheadings - namely place, area, individualnames, crime, judges, sentences and date, by

inputting details of each petition and reportinto the Public Record Office's computerisedcatalogue. This should provide a wealth ofinformation on the social and legal history ofthe period as well as information on specificindividuals.

1 have been working on Volume 5 whichcontains eighty-three cases between 1785-1786. The majority of crimes cited areproperty related rather than crimes ofviolence against individuals. The mostcommon references are to stealing livestock,such as sheep, horses, geese, and stealingother goods, like linen, clothing,handkerchiefs and wine. There are alsomany cases of housebreaking, burglary, pickpocketing and a few for highway robbery.

All these crimes were capital offences but insome cases the sentence was reducedimmediately to transportation to the coloniesor imprisonment and so the petitions wereaimed at further reducing the sentence to ashorter period of transportation orimprisonment.

Transportation was the most commonsentence since it literally removed thecriminal from the country for very little costand there would be no further cost to thestate. The sentence of transportation waspassed always for a period of seven, fourteenor twenty-one years, or for life.

Only a very small number of convictsmanaged to return at the end of theirsentence, by working their passage on boarda ship. In practice a sentence oftransportation was often a death sentencesince many prisoners died in the atrociousconditions prevalent either en route to thecolonies or when they arrived.


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A sentence of transportation to Africa was adeath sentence since no Europeans survivedthe rampant tropical diseases when theywere literally left on the shores with no foodor shelter. Therefore a judge'srecommendation that a prisoner betransported to a colony other than Africa wasseen as a sign of mercy and a reduction in thesentence.

As is the situation now the system wasoverwhelmed by the number of prisonersbeing sentenced and therefore the pleas formercy were based often on pragmatism tocombat overcrowding. I have seen severalcases where the judge has recommended apardon for the prisoner on the grounds thatafter seven years they are still in a gaol in thiscountry awaiting a ship to transport them.In effect the prisoner had served theirsentence already so it was only fair that theybe released. This problem was especiallyacute in the years following the loss of theAmerican colonies after the American War ofIndependence had ended in 1783.

Similarly many of the Superintendents of theconvict ships and the Governors of the Gaolsrecommended that some of their prisoners bepardoned and released for their goodbehaviour when in reality there was so muchovercrowding they needed to free up somespace. Sometimes the authorities wouldspecify that a prisoner had helped to preventa disturbance on board ship or had providedvaluable information to prevent the escape ofother prisoners and as such was worthy ofmercy.

Many of the petitions on behalf of theprisoner would claim they had a wife andchildren or aged parents to support.However these were often signed bychurchwardens and other parish officialswho were influenced as much by the fear thatthese dependants would be a burden on theparish if the prisoner was transported orimprisoned rather than a conviction that theprisoner deserved any mercy.

If an offer of employment was made with thepetition this would usually exert thestrongest influence for the case to be viewedfavourably. The main aim was to prevent theprisoner and their family being a drain onanyone. The expectation by judges was thatpetitioners 'should put their money wheretheir mouths were' with offers of securitiesfor prisoners to remove themselves toanother country in lieu of transportation orwith offers of employment. Without thesepractical offers of help to demonstrate thepetitioner's belief that the prisoner wasworthy of mercy the judges could be verydismissive of a petition. My volume containsseveral scathing comments by differentjudges on how some petitions are signed bypeople who hardly know the prisoner andare offering no practical support.

One plea for mercy involving a JosephPratton, convicted of stealing ten feet of leadpiping fixed to a house, was dismissed by thejudge, despite a petition signed by thirtyprofessional people claiming he was about tojoin his brother in America, 'when a youthfuland unguarded folly was construed a crime'.The judge did not believe a word of thepetition and he recommended that theprisoner was 'not a fit person for hisMajesty's mercy'.

In another case where a Peter Melling wassentenced to seven years transportation forstealing a cotton handkerchief even acollective petition from four tradesmenwilling to employ him did not sway thejudge, who felt that the prisoner's young agewas not sufficient reason to recommendmercy and the original sentence shouldstand.

However, individual judges could act withhumanity and understanding. Judge Adairthe Recorder of London, who certainlywasted no sympathy in many of his reports,nevertheless showed some compassion whenhe recommended that a prisoner who hadstolen a gold watch from himself bepardoned on condition he left the country for


Journal 200246

seven years instead of being transported forseven years. His recommendation for mercywas based on the fact that the prisoner hadoffered no violence when the judge hadstruggled with him to regain his watch andhe had since behaved well during hisconfinement.

Another judge recommended a free pardonfor a woman prisoner Margaret Manningsentenced to imprisonment for keeping adisorderly house, on the grounds of her age,she was seventy, and her ill-health. He felt alonger confinement would result in herdeath.

In one case a free pardon was requestedbecause of wrongful imprisonment. Thisconcerned a prisoner Shawell who wassentenced for assault with intent to extortmoney from the 'victim' Charles Brawn,despite the prisoner claiming that he hadbeen assaulted by Brawn with intent to'commit a crime against nature'. But theprisoner had not been believed at his trial.However when a later case involving thesame Charles Brawn and a young boy cameto court with Brawn again claiming that hehad been assaulted by the boy while the boyclaimed he had been defending himself froma 'crime against nature' this time the evidenceof three irreproachable witnessescorroborated the story of the youth andBrawn was seen as the perpetrator of theterrible crime. In the light of these unusualcircumstances the judge felt obliged torecommend a free pardon for the prisonerShawell whose original claim had not beenbelieved.

One of the few cases reported involvingphysical violence seems to carry a very

lenient sentence. A female servant wasattacked on the open road and her clotheswere tom from her and cut into pieces. Shewas then forced to tread down the pieces in aditch and was threatened with death if shetold anyone about the attack. Despite thesethreats her attackers were found andcharged, but the sentence of three yearstransportation appears inappropriate incomparison with sentences of seven years forcrimes of sheep-stealing. It was also unusualto have a sentence of transportation which isnot a multiple of seven years.

Occasionally a judge would not offer a finalrecommendation as to whether the prisonerwas worthy of mercy or not but would leavethed~IDnrothemonarch.The~~wouldbe given but the final decision was left to 'thehumanity of your disposition'. One judgegave the opinion that 'mercy I have alwayslooked upon as one of the most amiableattributes of the Throne'.

At the end of my volume I made anunexpected discovery when I found a reportfrom Judge Thomas Bayley asking for help indealing with a death threat letter he hadreceived. He mentioned that he had beenthreatened often in recent times but wasconfident that the authorities would supporthim in continuing to perform his duties.

Perhaps this suggests that, although thejudges seemed confident of their position insociety when they implemented a harshpenal code, matters were not as stable as theyappeared. People were already beginning toquestion the system, which led to the legalreforms of the nineteenth century.


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COINS FROM A RUISLIP ARCHAEOLOGICAL EXCAVATION

by Colin Bowlt

During 1986 the West London ArchaeologicalField group carried out a small excavation onthe north side of Bury Farm, 123 Bury Street,Ruislip, prior to the construction of a garage.The finds were never properly assessed andappear to have been 'lost' among the vastcollections of the London ArchaeologicalResearch Centre. An account of theexcavation has never been published.

A pit was discovered in the southwest cornerof the site, which in its lowest level containedmuch late eighteenth century pottery andother items. Included in these were elevenhalfpennies of the reign of George III (1760 -1820). These were the only coins found.Some were worn flat, indicating very heavyusage and the two where the date could beread, were minted in 1771.

Quite why so many halfpennies occurredtogether remains a mystery, but John Mills,the Excavation Director, made the comment'these coins undoubtedly saw regular use forshove ha'penny games in the local hostelries'.If that is so, the Plough on the opposite sideof Bury Street, could well have been the

'local' used. Ralph Weedon was publican atthe time.'

Two of the coins were Irish halfpennies.These were smaller than English halfpennies,the reason being that until 1824 thirteen Irishpence were reckoned to the English shilling.

The 1770-74 copper coinage was the onlyminting in this metal at the Royal Mint inGeorge Ill's long reign. In 1797 Boulton andWatt produced copper coins under licence attheir Soho Mint in Birmingham using coinpresses driven by Watt's rotative steamengine.

This was a time when the economy wasrapidly expanding under the impact ofindustrialisation and there were growingarmies of workers to be paid. With so little ofthe small denominations available manyemployers and traders produced their owntoken money from 1787 onwards. In additionthere was much recourse to counterfeiting.Interestingly, one of the Ruislip coins was acontemporary forgery.

lLondon Metropolitan Archive: MR LV/69


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NATIONAL LOCAL HISTORY WEEK 2002- 4to12 MAY

As a contribution to the National LocalHistory Week the RNElliS organised sixafternoon and evening walks around thedistrict, each with a local history theme. Thewalks were led by members of the RNELHSand were quite well attended, aided byfavourable weather. Short descriptions ofeach walk are given below.

MAY 5VICTORIAN AND EDWARDIANNORTHWOOD - Colleen Cox.On a pleasant Sunday afternoon in May agroup of some thirty people assembled in thecar park at Green Lane, Northwood at thestart of a walk to discover Victorian andEdwardian Northwood.

Mer a brief introduction to the history ofNorthwood the group turned west alongGreen Lane, formerly a deeply-rutted trackthrough what had been farm land in the 19thcentury. This land had belonged to theowner of The Grange, the oldest inhabitedsite in Northwood, and was later sold off fordevelopment of the area. Approaching TheGrange from Green Lane along the originaldrive, the group was met by Simon Morganand invited into his garden to view the housefrom the rear and to learn something of itshistory. The front of the old house wasviewed from Rickmansworth Road. It nowbelongs to the London Borough ofHillingdon and is used partly as a school andpartly for private functions.

The walk continued up Rickmansworth Roadas far as Holy Trinity Church and School,built in the mid 19th century at the heart ofthe original hamlet of Northwood. Thegroup then retraced its steps and walked tothe east along Rickmansworth Road past ahandful of Victorian cottages and the villagepub towards the land which was sold fordevelopment, pausing at Maxwell Road.

In 1887 the Metropolitan Railway reachedNorthwood and land adjacent to the line waspurchased by Frank Murray MaxwellHalliday Carew. He had a vision for thedevelopment of the area, drawing up plansfor the roads with plots of various sizes.Larger houses were to be built to the northand west of the railway for the professionaland business people who he hoped would beattracted to the area. To the east were plotsfor smaller houses for craftsmen andlabourers to work in the area and whosefamilies would provide servants to work inthe large establishments. Today we mightcall this social engineering. Although Carewwas only associated with Northwood forsome five years, by giving his names andthose of family members to the roads, he hascertainly left his mark.

The walk continued to the east under therailway bridge and up Northwood HighStreet with its trim terraces on one side of theroad and small shops on the other.A number of the houses had been built by1891 and the shops followed shortly after.As had been foreseen, people were attractedto the area and the population doubled from250 in 1881 to 500 in 1891 and had risen toaround 2500 by 1901. In addition to housesand shops, new churches and a school werebuilt. The newcomers had other demandstoo, such as a good water supply, properdrainage, refuse collection and street lighting,which were considered to be too expensiveby the original inhabitants and were thecause of some ill-will between the twogroups. The wishes of the newcomerseventually prevailed however and most werein place by the end of the Edwardian period.

The group crossed the footbridge over therailway line to Murray Road where many ofthe typical Edwardian houses can still beseen, as can the early shops at the top ofMaxwell Road and on Green Lane.


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The walk ended at Oaklands Gate nowconverted into offices but originally one ofthe large houses to the north of Green Lanewhich were part of Carew' s grand plan forthe area.

MAY 6RUISLIP'S DOMESDAY PARK ANDMEDIEVAL WOODLAND- Colin BowltOn Bank Holiday Monday, Colin Bowlt ledabout thirty people around parts of thesurviving earthbanks and ditches thatsurrounded the 'park for woodland animals'mentioned in Ruislip's entry in theDomesday Book.

The group met at Manor Farm, where mapswere displayed to show the way that BuryStreet, Eastcote Road and Fore Street allsinuously follow the curves of the Park.Having briefly noted the moated site and thedeep and impressive ditch at the bottom ofthe orchard, believed to be part of anearthbank that once surrounded the entirevillage of Ruislip, the group crossed theRiver Pinn, and entered the southernmost tipof the wooded section of the Domesday Park.The portion of the park along the river, hadbeen cleared of trees and managed asmeadowland for centuries and is now thePinn Fields.

Indicators of ancient woodland, bluebells,wood anemones, coppiced hornbeam and asmall bank and ditch were all noted in thewooded area at the bottom of SherwoodAvenue. Further along the road similarfeatures had survived from the original park,in the suburban gardens.

Once inside what remains of Park Wood, thegroup soon arrived at the massive earthbank,somewhat eroded after a thousand years orso, that marked the northern boundary of thepark and divided it from the remainingwoodland, known in medieval times as the'outwood'.

Through Park Wood the group followed theearthbank and ditch, sometimes verymarked, at others hardly visible except withthe eye of faith, to cross Grub Ground andout into Fore Street by Grangewood School.Just to the north an excellent piece of theearthwork could be seen.

The group returned to Manor Farm via thePinn Fields with St Martin's in view all theway, just as our forebears must have seen itwhile working in the meadows centuries ago.

MAY 7OLD EASTCOTE- Karen Spink and Susan TomsThe aim of this walk was to give an idea oflife in the original village of Eastcote, an areawhich encompassed three great houses, a fewshops and public houses along the HighRoad and the humbler cottages of labourersand workers. Basicallyuntil the 1920s, whenthe rapid development of modem Eastcotebegan in the area around the station, this wasthe accepted settlement of Eastcote.

The walk began in the grounds of the oldestof the three great houses, Eastcote House, towhich there was a reference in 1494 when itwas in possession of the Walleston familyand was called Hopkyttes. It came into theHawtrey family in 1527 and proceeded toremain in this family and their descendants,the Deanes, for the next 400 years until it wassold to the council. During this long periodof tenure a large estate was built up and theycame to be regarded as the most important ofthe local gentry families. Unfortunately theHouse was demolished in 1964 but threestructures remain: the Coach-house datedearly 17th century, the Dovecot of the 18thcentury and the Walled Garden, where someof the bricks have been dated as 17thcentury.These remaining buildings gave animpression of life in 'the great house'.

Two buildings nearby, that had been part ofthe Eastcote House Estate, were EastcoteCottage, opposite the original entrance to


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Eastcote House and known as Pluckettswhen the Hawtreys bought it in 1616, andPark Farm which could just be seen alongField End Road. The 1930s development,Eastcote Park Estate was built on farmlandthat was sold by the Deanes.

The group walked along Eastcote Road toForge Green, the centre of the old village.There across the road was the Old BarnHouse, an obvious timber-framed building,listed in the 1565 Terrier, which has beenvariously a barn, house, carpenter'sworkshop, dance hall, restaurant and postoffice. Next to the Barn was a shop built in1900 and two cottages, although the secondcottage was demolished in 1963 to make wayfor the modem Black Horse Parade of shops.The Black Horse public house, despite itsobvious 2()thcentury look has been on thissite since the early 18thcentury when it wasprobably a cottage. It too was a centre of thevillage community where the vestry met,inquests were held and timber andunderwood from Park Wood was sold.

Before moving on, the site of the villagesmithy was noted, run by the Tapping familyuntil the mid 1950swhich is now a bungalowcalled 'The Old Forge'. Next to this buildingare two cottages, named 'The Rosery' and'Deans Cottage' which were built in the late19thcentury as Eastcote House Estate cottagesfor their workers. These cottages along withseveral others in this vicinity served as tea-gardens to cater for the many cyclists andday-trippers who came to Eastcote from themore built-up centres of inner London.

Further along the road the group paused atanother building mentioned in the 1565Terrier, Flag Cottage. For many centuries itwas known as Spring Cottage on account ofhaving its own spring, but it gained itspresent name during World War I when theoccupant erected a flag pole in the garden.The cottage also contains some fittings from aneighbouring building, Eastcote Lodge,which was demolished in 1963.

The next stop was on the corner of EastcoteRoad and Fore Street, known as PrettyCorner, to view three cottages opposite calledNew Cottages. These were built in 1879 forthe estate workers of Haydon Hail, whichwas then owned by Lawrence James Baker;hence the initials L J B and the date 1879 atthe head of the rain-water downpipe. Theywere designed by George and Peto withattractive decorative pargeting. The namePretty Corner dates from the 1930s when thearea was laid out and the original pond, Gut'spond, was drained.

Further on the group crossed Eastcote Roadand walked up the drive to HighgroveHouse, the only one of the three great housesstill standing. The current house, now usedfor social housing, dates from 1881 when itwas built for the Hume-Campbells after theprevious house was damaged by fire.Warrender Park, named after EleanorWarrender who lived at Highgrove in the 20thcentury, and Highgrove Swimming Bathswere built on Highgrove land. Part of theornamental garden has been turned into anature trail and this was passed on the returnto Eastcote Road.

The group then walked up Fore Street, whichduring the 19thcentury was called Frog Lane,to Coteford Infant Schoo1. The originalschool started life in the Eastcote VillageInstitute Hall in 1926. The Hall was builtwith voluntary contributions raised by thewealthier families of Eastcote to replace theinadequate tin hut in the Eastcote Road andprovide a social centre for the village. It wasalmost as an afterthought that it was rentedto the education authority for use as a schooland only in 1932 did the Council buy thebuilding. The school opened with eighteenpupils between the ages of five to seven andexpanded over the years until in 1982 a newJunior School was sited further up ForeStreet. The original Institute buildingremained in use by Coteford Infant schooluntil its demolition in 1986,when the site wassold for sheltered housing. It was the lastremaining public building in the Borough of


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Hillingdon, which was built privately forpublic use.

Past Coteford Infant School was Four ElmsFarmhouse, dated 1560,and the bam next toit known as 'The Shuttle'. During the 1920s aMiss Collins set up a Home Textiles Centre inthe bam where fleeces which came fromField End Farm were scoured, dyed, spunand woven by hand. The property is still inthe Collins family.

The next stop was on the corner of ForeStreet and Coteford Close where in 1914 fourcottages (two pairs) were built by the thenrecently formed Ruislip Manor CottageSociety to provide suitable accommodation ata reasonable rent for workers in the area.The intention was to build thirty-twocottages on the site, but World War Iintervened and after the war the remainderof the land was sold to the council who laterdeveloped it. This development representeda social change in that it was no longerrealistic to rely solely on the estate-owningfamilies to provide the necessaryaccommodation for workers in the area.

Continuing up Fore Street, several attractivecottages were passed which Lawrence JamesBaker of Haydon Hall had built to house theworkers on his large estate; he owned over300 acres and leased shooting rights of over2000 acres. Keeper's Cottage, Cowman'sCottage and Wood Cottages were well-builtin decorative styles.

A walk across the open space to EgertonClose gave a good view over Eastcote, acrossto where Eastcote House and Haydon Hallhad once stood and westward to Park Wood.The group paused to look at 16thcentury IvyFarm. and Cherry Cottage.

In the gathering evening gloom 'TheWoodman' in [oel Street was passed, whichstarted life as a cottage in the 17thcenturybefore being converted into a public house inthe 1860s. Its roots are older still, since abuilding on this site was listed in the 1565

Terrier. During the 19th century it was apopular venue for cricket teams to celebrateor commiserate after their matches.

Finally the group reached the site of HaydonHall, a public open space used by EastcoteCricket Oub. A house was built here in 1630for Lady Alice, Countess of Derby, but wasrebuilt in 1720 by Thomas Franklin.Lawrence James Baker, who purchased it in1864,added two new wings to the house anda magnificent conservatory and glasshouses.The group looked across to Southill Cottages,also built for workers, and the finest of hisestate cottages, Haydon Lodge (next to theremains of the ornamental lake), designed byarchitects George and Peto.

After L. J. Baker left Eastcote, Capt. and MrsBennett-Edwards (see Mary Pache article)were resident at Haydon Hall, and hostedmany village entertainments. The Hall waspurchased by the local council in 1936 and,having been allowed to fall into disrepair,was demolished in 1967.

In darkness the group was just able to makeout Southill Farm, an attractive farmhousebuilt in the Queen Anne style. The final stopwas at 'The Case Is Altered' public housewhich was only a cottage when it was listedin the 1565 Terrier. It was licensed as a beer-house in 1828 and largely rebuilt after a firein 1890. From the mid 19thcentury it wasowned by Gutterbucks brewery of Stanmore.Tradition has it that the Eastcote cricket teambased at Haydon Hall took their refreshmentshere, while the opposing team went to 'TheWoodman' in Joel Street.

To conclude the walk three more historicbuildings of old Eastcote, along the HighRoad, were mentioned, namely Ramin, TheOld Shooting Box and The Grange, butunfortunately it was now too late and toodark to view them. Karen and Susan hopedthey had whetted the appetite of fellowwalkers to visit these at a later date. (In themeantime see the Eileen Bowlt and PatOarke articles).


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MAY 9BEATING THE BOUNDS BETWEENHAREFIELD AND RUISLIP- Eileen BowltThis was a joint meeting held with theHarefield Society on Thursday evening.Between thirty and forty people met inBayhurst Wood, where the commonboundary between Harefield and Ruislipparishes was shown, marked on a copyof the Harefield Enclosure Map of 1813.

The 9 May 2002 appropriately enough wasAscension Day, a movable feast in thechurch's calendar, that marks the end ofRogationtide. In medieval times processionswere led through the fields at that time ofyear to ask a blessing on the crops. After theReformation this custom was changed andthe processions wound their way along theparish boundaries, stopping at particularlandmarks, such as a large tree, and beatingthe ground and often young boys as well,with willow wands, so that in old age, theywould remember the spot and be able toadjudicate in boundary disputes.

Only a portion of the boundary could bewalked because some of it lies on privatelyowned land. The boundary goes aroundWarren Farm '(Ruislip parish), following asmall stream, marked by trees. The groupmade its way along the northern edge ofMad Bess Wood stopping frequently to notethe position of the boundary, a field or soaway to the left. At the top of the hill, nearYoungwood Farm (Ruislip parish) was foundthe remains of the old cartway that used torun along the parish boundary from JackettsLane.

The group left the boundary and followedthe green lane that is actually a continuationof the former cartway, down through themiddle of the wood, noting theembankments marking the divisions of thewood, North Riding, Youngwood and MadBess. The green lane passes the Scout Chapeland crosses the camping ground to emerge inBreakspear Road.

The road is the parish boundary at that pointand the walk continued along it. The grouplooked at the present Willow Farm and RoseFarm (both in Harefield parish) and heardabout their predecessors. They saw the siteof several pairs of nineteenth century cottagesjust above the Breakspear Arms. One of themwas once a Dame School run by Old BettWillis, about whom some scurrilous tales aretold. There were frequent disputes about theposition of the Breakspear Arms, bothparishes from time to time claiming ratesfrom the occupiers.

Crows Nest Farm in Harefield is still theancient building that was part of the submanor of Moorhall in the sixteenth century.A pond mentioned in old documents can stillbe seen in the front garden.

By the time the group reached Tile Kiln Lane(Ruislip parish) darkness had fallen, so theyreturned to Bayhurst Wood Car Park, vowingto renew the perambulation along anotherpart of the boundary on some other occasion.

MAY 11MANOR FARMAND ITS SURROUNDS- Eileen BowltSaturday found another large group ofpeople, about fifty, gathered at Manor Farm.

The tour started at the site of the motte andbailey castle, part of the moat of whichsurvives. A brief history of the medievalowners of the manor was explained and thepossible reason for the building of castle.

Moving off the motte to the flat area outsideManor Farm House, the extent of the baileycould be seen, and where the land droppedaway, to where the northern portion of themoat had been, leading down to the villageearthwork at the bottom of the orchard. Thegroup saw how close the area was to theRiver Pinn, yet high enough above it to besafe from flooding.

Ruislip, Northwood &. EastcoteLocal History Society

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There were renumscences of the 'digs'organised by the RNElliS in the 1970s,across the earthwork, in a corner of the moatand beneath the present Cow byre.

Before going inside Manor Farm the groupwas shown where archaeologists found thepossible foundations of the Abbey of Bee'spriory on the north side of the house in 1997.Various features in the timbers andbrickwork of the house were pointed out andinterpreted.

Inside, an exploration of the ground floorrevealed finely moulded roof timbers inthe main rooms and panelling in thehall, although the present use of the buildingdoes not show these off to the bestadvantage.

The Manor Farm Working Party hopes thatthe Manor House will be used as anInterpretation Centre, with some roomsfurnished in keeping with the building's ageand status.

The tour continued around the formerfarmyard, into the Little Barn, now theLibrary and the magnificent Great Barnbuilt c1300. Some details of the Barns'construction were explained.

The tour finished beside the rickyard (nowbowling green) and the horse pool (duckpond).

MAY 12GRAND UNION CANAL FEEDER- Denise ShackellAt 2pm a group gathered at the Ruislip Lidocar park. There was a special Friends ofRuislip day at the Lido, with manyinteresting activities being offered thatafternoon. Nevertheless thirty people wereready to explore the route of the CanalFeeder which was constructed to providewater to the Grand Union Canal.

The tour commenced by walking around thewest end of the lido to find the outlet fromthe reservoir, originally constructed toprovide the water for the feeder. Lookingbehind the dam it is still possible to see theminiature 'locks' that controlled the watersupply.

The group then followed as close to thefeeder as possible, now no more than a ditch,through the woods to Cannon Brook Farm,noting that the feeder runs parallel toCannons brook. The feeder is piped underBury Street to the field opposite, then is openacross the field to Howletts Lane, where thefeeder is again piped at an angle beneath theroad to a good path on the opposite side ofthe road. The path, with Whiteheath Schoolon the left, has two small bridges made ofbrick that cross the feeder, one of which isdated 1930.

On reaching a field, Tile Kiln Lane houseroofs can be seen to the right. At the end ofthis field there is an aqueduct, of which aboutthirty feet is still in good condition, built tocross the River Pinn.

Passing the end of Woodville Gardens, thefeeder ditch is visible here and there to theleft of the field.

The group then walked between some treeson a section of the Hillingdon Trail, crossingover two golf course fairways. They passed awell preserved low brick bridge (1929)carrying an old trackway to the tile kilns.

The feeder continues into a tree-lined grassylane, formerly Clack Lane. Another bridgealso dated 1929takes the lane over the feeder.

The Ruislip Ickenham parish boundary iscrossed just before reaching the main-linerailway (formerly the Great Western).On going through a gate the feeder passesthrough a tunnel on the left with the footpathin a tunnel to the right.


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This was the end of the walk on this Sundayafternoon. The two hour time limit onlyallowed the walk to come this far but thecourse of the feeder continues until it reachesthe Grand Union Canal.

The group returned across the golf courseand field, along Woodville Gardens, andcontinued beside the River Pinn to BuryStreet and back to the starting point at theLido car park.

The comment of the group was astonishmentthat Ruislip was so rural. Several of thegroup had never walked this area before andthe information on the historical backgroundto almost the entire walk made for a veryenjoyable afternoon.

Library Displays

During National Local History Week,in addition to the walks, the Society mounteddisplays in the Borough Libraries pertainingto local history and research.


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JIM GOLLANDSchoolmaster and Local Historian

by Jessica Eastwood

Leonard Krause, President of Ruislip,Northwood and Eastcote Local HistorySociety, reminisced to me about his memoriesof [im Golland who died this year.

Len first met Jim through Len's son Jeremywhile he was at Harrow County School forBoys, where Jim taught English during the1960s. Jim set the boys projects on their localareas which aroused Len's interest. Onewonders what became of these researches.

When Harrow County became acomprehensive school in the 1970s,Jim left toteach in the English Department at HarrowSchool where he stayed for ten years. Hebecame very interested in the history of boththe School and Harrow-on-the-Hill. Duringhis researches at the school he found stacks ofold photographs, mostly of Old Boys but alsoof general local history interest, in a forgottencupboard. He also acquired some localsketches of places of interest in the local areadrawn by the Harrow Boys during their artclasses.

Jim became involved in the Pinner LocalHistory Society although he lived in Eastcote.He was especially interested in Pinner Fairand wrote about its history and the

importance of keeping this traditional eventgoing. Len was chairman of the RNEUISand the two men, together with like-mindedpeople, helped to keep alive the LocalHistory Conferences by holding them atWinston Churchill Hall after they ceased atHarrow College of Further Education in 1983.The Pinner Society organised the first oneand Jim was especially keen on using localspeakers rather than paying 'foreignlecturers'. He was a frequent contributor tothe Conferences, giving talks and writingplaylets.

Jim and his wife lived in Eastcote, not farfrom Len, so they shared concerns about thepreservation of local historical landmarks.Len said that Jim always admired our Journalwith its in-depth reporting of local historicalresearch. Recently Jim had also become veryinterested in family history.

[im Golland gave his last talk to us at ourChristmas meeting and as usual it wasinformative and humorous. It was a shock tomost of us to hear of his death. Len went tohis funeral service at BreakspearCrematorium and said that it was as much acelebration as a cremation Jim's contributionto local historical research will not beforgotten.


Journal 2002

Documents

RUISLIP, NORTHWOOD AND EASTCOTEbtckstorage.blob.core.windows.net/site8867/Journals... · Well Green, the 'alias Long Marsh' seemingly having been dropped. It would not be surprising