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England (Counties as in 1851-1901) => England => Warwickshire => Topic started by: ellie1789 on Wednesday 31 May 23 08:39 BST (UK)
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Hi all,
I inherited some old photos when I moved into my house, dated 1937 and 1941. I have tried to find the previous occupants of it in older censuses but haven’t been able to locate it as the farm had a different name then which is the same as another on the road so I’m unsure as to whether I’m looking at the right house or not. I know it was bombed in 1941 (as per the photos and local tales), but again can’t find any reference to the details and whether there were any casualties. I’d love to understand who the people are in the photo, and/or who lived here before me. I don’t even know how old the house is.
The address is:
The Farmhouse, Fernwood Farm, Rouncil Lane, Kenilworth
But it was previously:
Fernhill Farm
Thanks for any help
Update - seems I’m unable to upload the photos so will try again later on my computer
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The most recent electoral registers I can find online for the area are from the 1920s up to 1931. Rouncil Lane was then known as Roundshill Lane. In 1926 the following people were recorded at Fern Hill Farm: Philip Bottrill, Elsie Bottrill and James Roberts (see image below).
In the subsequent years, Fern Hill Farm does not appear and there's no sign of the Bottrills. As you can see in the image below, in 1926 Fern Hill Farm is listed between Little Woodcote and Bulkington. When looking at the later registers, between Little Woodcote and Bulkington Cottages there are some residences just marked Fern Hill (with 4 separate families residing there), then Brook Cottages (2 families) then Roundshill Lane Farm (see below), followed by Woodcote Lodge (2 families), The Kennels (7 families) then Bulkington Cottages. Might Fern Hill Farm have become Roundshill Lane Farm? (see new posting below) In case this was the case, the occupants in 1930 were Thomas and Mary Bostock, who also owned New House Farm in Weston under Weatherley. There is one other entry in the 1930 registers which is odd. A Frederick Stanyer is noted as owning land at Fern Hill but his abode is shown as Fernhill Farm, Old Park, Warwickshire. I have no idea where Old Park is in relation to Roundshill Lane so don't know if this is significant. Obviously with your local knowledge you may be able to make more sense of all this.
For later electoral registers you will probably need to visit the Warwickshire County Records Office, although obviously you should check first to find out what they hold.
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on this 1935 map (and the rest of Rouncil/Roundshill road) on the adjacent maps, there is only this one place named Fernhill Farm
https://maps.nls.uk/view/102178570#zoom=5&lat=2077&lon=7544&layers=BT
I've found a bit about the Stanyers of Fernhil Farm, but on the 1939, the adjacent farms don't appear on this map, so like Andy, am not sure if it is the same place.
The adjacent farms in 1939 are Banner Hill Farm, & Ash Tree Farm.
But others on the same page are
Lyon Farm Cottages, Elmwood Farm, Ash Tree Farm, Fernhill Farm, Banner Hill Farm, Hill Farm, The (B?)Eddings , Hill Farm Cottages, Hasley Knob.
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It's interesting to see that the Municipal Borough Boundary came fairly close to Fern Hill Farm on the map mckha489 provided. I wonder if this boundary changed during the 1920/30s meaning that the farm subsequently appeared on a different set of electoral registers after, say, 1926. The registers I found are on FindMyPast.
By the way, having now checked the present day google maps of the area I see that Roundshill Farm is an entirely different place, and incidentally the Bostock family still seem to live there.
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Coventry Evening Telegraph - Friday 06 May 1938
SHOOTING TRAGEDY AT KENILWORTH
20-year-old Girl Found Dead by Younger Sister
A FORMER pupil of Warwick High School. Miss Catherine Stanyer, of Fernhill Farm, Rouncil Lane, near Kenilworth, was yesterday found lying dead in the garden of the farm. By her side was a double-barrel shot gun.
Miss Stayer, who was 20 years old, was the eldest daughter of a well-known Kenilworth farmer, Mr. Fred Stanyer, and Mrs. Stanyer, who have farmed in the district for many years. The tragedy occurred at about 10 o'clock yesterday morning. It was discovered by Miss Mary Stanyer, the younger daughter, who heard a shot and rushed outside and found her sister lying dead with a wound in the head.
ACCOMPLISHED HORSEWOMAN
Miss Catherine Stanyer had, it is understood, only returned home last week-end from London, where she had been working for some months. Previously she had been employed in France and Holland as a lady's companion and governess. An accomplished horsewoman, Miss Stanyer had ridden many times with the North Warwickshire Hunt, and, during her schooldays, rode her pony backwards and forwards each day to Warwick High School.
FRIEND'S STATEMENT
A friend of the dead girl, speaking to a "Midland Daily Telegraph" representative this morning said she had been talking to Miss Stanyer during the week-end and she then seemed 'terribly depressed and nervous".
The friend added that she had been a hard-working girl, and after leaving school had spent a considerable time in intensive study and had attended a London College.
Last year she had been a demonstrator at the Ideal Homes Exhibition in London.
The inquest will be held at Fernhill Farm on Monday afternoon.
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Fred and Mabel Stanyer are at Fernhill Farm in the 1939 register. Properties in order of appearance are:
Lyon Farm Cottages
Elmwood Farm
Ash Tree Farm
Fernhill Farm
Banner? Hill Farm
Hill Farm
The Reddings
added: apologies mckha, I see you already posted this info!
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OS map showing two Fernhill Farms. Which one are we researching?
The Stanyer farm in 1939 has a resident manager, so I suspect that is the larger farm to the east?
added much later: I think I got this wrong, the Stanyer farm was to the west.
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I reckon it must be the one on the extreme edge of the map I posted.
The other isn’t called Fernhill Farm is it? I can only see Fernhill Oldhouse Barn
Fred died in 1961, of Spring Lane, Kenilworth.
I’ve been looking in the papers trying to find him selling up the Farm, but not having much success so far.
Nor can I see the marriage of the daughter, Olive Mary, known as Mary, to Mr Bowden.
Added…sorry, the image appeared while I was typing. Going back to look.
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OS map showing two Fernhill Farms. Which one are we researching?
The Stanyer farm in 1939 has a resident manager, so I suspect that is the larger farm to the east?
Presumably the one on the left as it stands on Rouncil/Roundshill Lane and is named Fernwood Farm (picture below) today as the OP noted. So I think you are right, and the other farm was also owned by Mr Stanyer in 1926 and was the one referred to as being at Old Park.
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We need OP to look at the maps.
NB There is a side by side option on that website.
Here are Banner Hill and Rounds Hill farms in 1925
https://maps.nls.uk/view/115635496
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The Daily Mirror published a photograph of Catherine Stanyer on 10 May 1938. Could be useful to compare with 1937 photograph OP has if it is the same family.
Pinetree
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Newspaper articles of the period (30s/40s) refer to T Bostock, Fernhill Farm. In the 1939 register Thomas Bostock is listed as Rouncil Farm, Rouncil Lane, with Oak Farm adjacent (occupied by another Bostock).
I think this points to the westerly Fernhill being the Stanyer Farm, and the easterly Fernhill [aka Rouncil?] being the Bostock farm.
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We need OP to look at the maps.
NB There is a side by side option on that website.
Here are Banner Hill and Rounds Hill farms in 1925
https://maps.nls.uk/view/115635496
There's Old Park Cottages close to Deer Park Farm, bottom left cormer of that map.
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Newspaper articles of the period (30s/40s) refer to T Bostock, Fernhill Farm. In the 1939 register Thomas Bostock is listed as Rouncil Farm, Rouncil Lane, with Oak Farm adjacent (occupied by another Bostock).
I think this points to the westerly Fernhill being the Stanyer Farm, and the easterly Fernhill [aka Rouncil?] being the Bostock farm.
Since the Bostock family are still at Roundshill Farm, maybe the OP could pay them a visit and see if the current generation recognise anyone in the photographs
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Looking at the current OS map it is clear that the OP is referring to the westerly Fernhill, which appears as Fernwood Farm. The easterly Fernhill is still labelled as Fernhill with Oaks Farm to its east and Roundshill Farm to its south.
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Looking again at the 1939 Register I see that the Stanyer farm is in the borough of Warwick whereas the Bostock farms are in the borough of Kenilworth.
added: some of the newspaper reports of Catherine Stanyer’s deat give the address as Fernhill Farm, Beausale, which also supports the Stanyer farm being the westerly one.
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https://www.rootschat.com/links/01sci/
Same family?
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That is an interesting story, which brings us back to the confusion about which farm we are talking about. The map and pictures which accompany the article about the death of Annie Maria Stanyer do not show the same farm as that is identified as Fernwood Farm today (the picture I posted above). However that may have been a mistake by the author of the modern day article. We really need the OP to confirm which property she is asking about.
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Following on from AlanBoyd's posting of the newspaper report about the death of the Stanyer's daughter Catherine, here is a report about the attendees at her funeral, which appeared in the Warwick and Warwickshire Advertiser on 14 May 1938. Those who attended will have been fairly close friends of the family, as another newspaper article noted it was a private funeral.
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Hello,
Sorry for the slow response - it is the building as per Google Maps and the one towards the west shown on the map. The article about Annie Stanyer is about the other Fernhill Farm as that house is still there and I am familiar with what it looks like.
I know in 1979 there was a Transfer of the land in this title dated 18 October 1979 made between (1) Reginald Bostock and Muriel Margaret (of Oaks Farm) and (2) Arthur Bostock and Audrey Jane Bostock, and it refers to Fernhill Farmhouse then. It does seem to be the Bostocks, however I’m struggling to work out how they all relate and which building is actually mine in the records
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Looking at the modern OS map, and historical maps, this 1933 newspaper report on a North Warwickshire foxhunt is entirely consistent with Bostock's Fernhill being the easterly farm at that time:
"The fox crossed Warrior's Lodge farm into Kenilworth Chase and, leaving this covert, ran down to the Castle walls and alongside the Kenilworth (Inchford) Brook and right-handed away from the town back towards Honiley Hall, where the fox was viewed a short distance in front of the pack. Here he led hounds over Mr Bostock's Fernhill Farm, near the Kennels [HQ of the hunt at that time], and the Rouncil Farm and lane with Banner Hill to the right, and ran on to Goodrest, near Woodcote...”
The use of “Bostock’s Fernhill Farm” may be to differentiate it from the other Fernhill Farm, presumably Stanyer’s.
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It looks as if the Stanyers left Fern Hill in 1941, and that the farm was taken over by J H Lloyd.
The last newspaper reference that I can find to Fred Stanyer, Fern Hill is in October 1941 when he is selling a four-wheel trap and some oak blocks. In the same month there is an advert from Lloyd, Fern Hill, Kenilworth advertising for farm workers. This Lloyd/Fern Hill continues appearing in the newspapers throughout the rest of the 1940s with adverts and mentions of agricultural show appearances.
In March 1949 J H Lloyd, Fern Hill Farm, advertises a car for sale and gives his phone number as "Haseley Knob 70". This confirms that J H Lloyd took over the Stanyer Fern Hill, because in 1939 Miss Stanyer of Fern Hill advertised dachsund puppies for sale and gave a phone number – "Haseley Knob 70"
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Hi Ellie,
Thanks for clarifying which farm you are looking for, or more precisely which farm you want to know the earlier occupants for. Do you know when the name was changed from Fern Hill to Fernwood? Maybe this was to resolve the confusion over the two farms with what appears to have been the same name.
Although the electoral registers for 1938/39 and then 1946 may still be of help, I think that asking some of your neighbours may be quicker. In my experience, country people who have lived in the area all their lives tend to have long communal memories going back two or three generations.
If you have access to the 1939 register, I think it might be useful to trawl through it using the address search option as well as looking for names which have already featured thus far. For example it shows that there are Bostocks at both Rouncil (not Roundshill) Farm and at Oak Farm (see second image below). Also on the same page there is listed Fern Hill Farm Cottages, with families named Cashmore, Hurley and Brimridge (first image below) but no actual Fern Hill farm. I think this may because of the borough boundary, which I noted in my second posting on this thread. The western end of Rouncil Lane seems to be listed under another borough. Note that that Bostocks are shown on Rouncil Lane under Kenilworth UDC, whereas the Stanyers at the other Fern Hill Farm are listed under Warwick UDC, with no street name.
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This item from the Warwick and Warwickshire Advertiser 30 June 1917 adds to the picture
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The Electoral Registers for 1910 and 1914 confirm that Thomas Bostock was resident at Fernhill Farm Kenilworth. The 1911 census shows him and his sister Mary, both single, at Fernhill Farm along with a single female servant. By the autumn of 1921 electoral register he is Roundshill Lane Farm and people named Harold and May Roberts are shown at Fern Hill Farm. The 1921 census shows a Thomas and Mary Bostock together but without paying for the full record I don't know the address or the relationship between them; it seems likely that they are at Roundshill Lane Farm. Mary Bostock may be his sister born 1881-2 (per 1911 census). In the 1939 Register (image in posting two above) Thomas is at Roundshill Lane Farm, single
married although I cannot find the marriage*. His date of birth is 11 April 1879 and his wife Mary's is 25 Nov 1881. Thomas died 2 Nov 1952 and left a will. Probate was granted to Mary Bostock spinster. His estate was valued at £11,950.
* edited from the original at 18.47 31 May 2023 to reflect error pointed out below.
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By the 1939 Register Harold and May Roberts, formerly of Fernhill farm are located at The Kennels, Rouncil Lane. He is a manager of an engineering works. Based on this information and the earlier stuff about where Thomas Bostock was living in the 1920/30s, I think that Fernhill Farm was bought for the land and was then farmed as part of the Roundshill Lane Farm owned by the wider Bostock family, meaning that the farm house was available to be let to a tenant (the Roberts) who just lived in the house. Depending on the details in the deeds for the property that Ellie referred to earlier it may be that this arrangement was formalised by separating the farm land from the farm house. Perhaps Ellie can confirm who farms the land around her home. Today the Land Registry lists the Farm House separately from two other properties named Fernwood Farm, Rouncil Lane. I assume these latter entries relate to the farm buildings and farmland.
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In 1921 at Roundshill Farm Thomas and Mary Bostock are brother and sister. Mary's age is 39.7, which by my calculation puts her birthday at November 1881.
@Andy J2022, I think you have misread the 1939 register, Mary is single/domestic duties? Did your eye slip to Oak Farm?
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Yes, Alan I see what you mean. However Thomas born 11 Apr 1879 is definitely shown as Married. I went back later and thought I checked what it said about Mary, but as you say I looked at the wrong entry. Whoops.
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Yes, agreed, Thomas and Hild are married, and are parents of Arthur, Muriel Margaret, Reginald and Gordon. So the transaction referred to in reply #19 was a division of land between siblings.
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I think I'll stop adding to this thread for now. Obviously getting tired! Hopefully ellie will come back later and tell us how she gets on with identifying the people in her photographs. She has planty to work on. I think the current day Bostock family at Roundshill Farm may be able to help fill in the gaps.
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In 1911 Richard Henry Smith, farmer, and his wife Minnie are at Fern Hill in the civil parish of Warwick St Mary. Looking at the boundary of this parish at genuki, here:
https://www.genuki.org.uk/gaz/WAR/boundary/12753 (https://www.genuki.org.uk/gaz/WAR/boundary/12753)
(see image), it includes the westerly Fern Hill, but excludes the easterly.
In the 1921 census Richard Henry Smith and his wife Minnie are running a laundry at 32 High Street Warwick. This is definitely the same man since the subsequent obituary of his wife Minnie refers to her late husband as well-known farmer of Fern Hill who retired from farming to run a laundry.
And of course, in 1921, Frederick Stanyer is a farmer at Fern Hill. This sequence of events is consistent with the Stanyer Fern Hill being the westerly of the farms.
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Hi Alan,
According to that map, the Fernhill Farm in the east should have been included. I’m just before that bend on the edge of the map
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I'm not clear what you mean Ellie. Surely your house is the one above the 'e' in Rouncil Lane within the parish boundary. That is the Western most FernHill Farm on the old maps. The Eastern FernHill Farm is the pink blob outside the parish boundary, in the centre of the map, approximately half way between your house and the word Borrowell within the Kenilworth built up area.
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Map now labelled with where I think everything is/was. Have I got it right? The image is a bit degraded because i had to screenshot it after editing to give it a new name.
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Here is more evidence supporting my theory that the Stanyer farm was the Fern Hill to the west. There are three points to make from the article presented below:
1) It is stated that the Stanyer Fern Hill has a gated road running through it. I think this can only be the farm to the west. Looking at the old OS map there is evidence for something across the road at both sides of the west farm – gates?
2) The address of Fern Hill is given, as it often is, as Beausale, which lies even further to the west. Surely the other Fern Hill would be linked to Kenilworth, and it would be very confusing to tie it to Beausale?
3) It is stated that Stanyer has been at the farm since ~1911. This fits well with my previous evidence that J H Richardson was there for the 1911 census but retired and moved to Warwick before 1921. In fact, as I previously posted somewhere the first newspaper reference that I have found for Fred Stanyer, Fern Hill is from 1912. Since the Richardson farm is precisely located by being in St Mary's parish in the 1911 census I think the only conclusion that can be drawn is that the Fern Hill farm to the west was the Stanyer farm.
My understanding of the original post is that this is the farm you are interested in.
from the Midland Daily Telegraph, 20 June 1938
WARWICK FARMER'S DIFFICULTY
Seven Years' Continuous Protest to County Council
When Mr. Fred Stanyer, a well-known Warwickshire farmer, of Fern Hill, Beausale, was summoned at the Warwick County Police Court, on Saturday, for allowing 13 cows to stray, he told the Bench that his farm was not enclosed. A road ran through it, and at either end there were gateways. The gates required to be put into a proper state of repair, and he had written to the County Council and the Warwick Estate but without result. The gates were old when he went to the farm 27 years ago, and had since got broken up. He had been urging the need of attention since 1931.
The Bench said that in view of the defendant's difficulties they would not convict. They expressed the view that gates should be put up, one at each end of the road.
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Yes Alan, that's my understanding of the situation too, with the left hand Fern Hill Farm now being renamed Fernwood.
To summarise my understanding of where we are, the right Fern Hill, Oak Farm and Roundshill Lane Farm were/are all owned by the Bostock family and the right hand Fern Hill farm was occupied by the Stanyer family (either as owners or tenants) until 1941, when JH Lloyd became either the new owner or tenant. Ownership may be less important than occupancy for the purpose of identifying the people in the photographs
One piece of evidence we haven't examined is fact that when Thomas Bostock bought one of the Fern Hill farms at auction in 1917, the area of the farm was stated to be 235 acres, 3 rods and 31 perches. It was bigger than the area for Roundshill Farm which was sold at the same time (191 acres) but smaller than Oaks Farm (297 acres). The earlier Ordnance Survey maps (see link by mckha489 at the top of page 2 of the thread) show the area of the fields but don't show the farm boundaries. However it may be possible to add up the field sizes and make a guess as to which farm is which.
There is a separate issue about why all three farms were being sold at the same time and who the previous owner/s were, but that probably won't help with the core issue of who owned what in the late 1930s and early 1940s.
Ellie, do you still intend to put the photographs on here as you originally suggested? It might open up a further area for research. Not least of which is that they may show geographical features or other clues in the background.
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Re the newspaper article, it is interesting that there's a reference to the Warwick estate and that Mr Stanyer was claiming that he was not at fault because of the faulty gates. This suggest to me that the Warwick Estate were the landlords and he was the tenant, and as such he wasn't responsible for the repair of the gates.
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A quick search of the holdings in the Warwickshire County Archives brings up the document reference shown in the image below.
There is also this entry: 06404 - WARWICK DISTRICT COUNCIL - 1884-1947
Doc Ref No CR2487/Box 113/4877
Title Plan of Dutch Barn, Rouncil Lane, Fernhill Farm, Kenilworth
Date 24 Jul 1962
Description Owner: Mr W Brandish. Depositor: Bass Engineers Ltd
Level Item
In addition there is a considerable number of items including several photograph collections relating to the Bostock family. However it's not possible to say if this is the same family that we have been considering. The collection is in series CR 1680.
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Further douments held by Warwickshire County Record Office
Reference: CR1886/M501
Title: Wedgnock Park: Fernhill Farm and area. Not signed. Size: 38" x 18". No scale.
Date: N.D. [c.1880?]
Note: According to the Our Warwickshire website:
“Wedgnock Park was a Medieval deer park. It was situated 1km north east of the Central Hospital, Warwick.
1 Wedgnock is one of three parks attached to the Castle of Warwick, which are marked on maps of Saxton and Speed. John Rous, who died in 1491, states that the park was begun to be imparked by Henry de Newburgh, Earl of Warwick, at the opening of the 12th century, in imitation of the park at Woodstock (Oxon). The park is recorded again at the time of Henry III (1216-72) and 1316. At the time of Edward I (1272-1307) the park contained 20 acres and it was enlarged during Edward III’s reign (1327-77). Source contains historical notes.
2 Wedgnock Park is shown on Saxton’s map of Warwickshire (1576) as extending N of and including Goodrest Lodge. 1961: The park boundary could not be found. Its S boundary could have followed the parish boundary from SP2767 to SP2667, but there is no trace of a former park boundary.
3 In 1845, at the time of the tithe communication, it was held to contain 2831 acres. Only 42 acres were then in use as a deer park. In shape it was an irregular diamond, about four miles by one and three quarters, extending from the canal bridge on the Birmingham Road N to Fernhill, and from Catchems End on the SW to Goodrest Farm at the NE. A detailed history of the park is given.
Reference: CR1886/M529
Title: Plan of Fernhill Farm. Not signed. Size: 38" x 27. No scale.
Date: N.D [late 19c?]
Reference: CR1886/M193
Title: Wedgnock Park: Fernhill Farm, occupied by Mr R. Smith, (tracing). Not signed. Size: 18" x 14". No scale.
Date: N.D. [mid-late 19c]
Note: Possibly Mr R Smith is the Richard H Smith who was in occupation of Fernhill Farm in 1911.
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@reply 36 the 1845 tithe map has the western farm as “in the occupation of the Earl of Warwick and others”. It also clearly shows the lane past the farm as a track with junctions to lanes at both ends. I’d post an image, but I had a tithe map image deleted in the past, so I guess that it is not allowed.
The boundary of the tithe map is the same as the St Mary’s parish boundary. There doesn’t seem to be a tithe map available for the other farms.
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The marriage of James Henry Lloyd and Annie Mary Powers in 1943 – "their future home will be at Fernhill Farm".
18th April 1942; Coventry Standard
Mr. J. H. Lloyd and Miss A. M. Powers.
Two well-known Kenilworth (both late of Allesley) farming families were united when Mr. James Henry Lloyd (second son of Mr. and Mrs. J. S. Lloyd, Goodrest Farm, Kenilworth) and Miss Annie Mary Powers (only daughter of Mr. and Mrs. J. R.. Powers, Hurst Farm, Kenilworth) were married in St. John the Baptist's Church, Westwood Heath. ...
... A reception was held at The Café, Berkswell. Their future home will be at Fernhill Farm, Kenilworth.
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Good call Alan. I think that must be the direction travel for Ellie, namely to discover the descendants of the Stanyer and Lloyd families, since they are the most likely subjects in the photographs which were the starting point for this thread. However given the date of April 1942 that the newly wed Lloyds came to Fernhill, and Ellie saying that the photographs relate to 1937 and 1941, maybe it's just the Stanyer family she needs to look for.
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The following extracts, which contain references to Fernhill Farm, are taken from an article on the British History Online (https://www.british-history.ac.uk/vch/warks/vol8/pp452-475) website, entitled The borough of Warwick: The castle and castle estate in Warwick. Apart from the town of Warwick itself, the land of the Warwick estate was roughly divided into three areas: Wedgnock Park, the Temple Manor and Castle Park. References to the ‘earl’ are to the Earl of Warwick, who for the purposes of this thread was Leopold Greville, 6th Earl of Warwick (https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Leopold_Greville,_6th_Earl_of_Warwick)
"In 1819 the earl's court baron was hearing presentments of encroachments in the shape of steps, railings or porticoes projecting into the streets, which were regarded as the waste ground of the manor. (fn. 257) The jury at the same court set out the bounds of the manor, showing that it included the whole of the parishes of St. Mary and St. Nicholas as well as land in Budbrooke, Hatton, and Beausale formerly in Wedgnock Park. (fn. 258)
[…]
WEDGNOCK PARK
The dimensions of Wedgnock Park were set down in 1845 at the time of tithe commutation, when it was held to contain 2,831 acres, made up of 1,556 acres in St. Mary's parish, 726 acres in Beausale, 203 acres in Hatton, 278 acres in Budbrooke, 41 acres in Leek Wootton, and 27 acres in Kenilworth. Only 42 acres were then in use as a deer park. The shape of Wedgnock Park was an irregular diamond, about 4 miles by 1¾, extending from the canal bridge on the Birmingham road (formerly called Wedgnock Lane) northwards to Fernhill, and from Catchems End on the south-west to Goodrest Farm on the north-east. (fn. 300) The boundary of the manor of Warwick north of the town coincided with that of the park, and the 'Duchy bank', which the jury in 1819 regarded as the manorial boundary for long stretches, (fn. 301) could be recognised in 1965 as the bank on which the park pale stood, most apparent where it crosses and recrosses Roundshill Lane.
(https://www.british-history.ac.uk/sites/default/files/publications/pubid-49/images/fig19.gif)
[…]
In 1601 the Privy Council instructed the surveyor for the county, and others, to value the park, exclusive of the herbage, pannage and fishing already let. They answered that 500 deer of all kinds had ordinarily been kept there, and not more 'for that the whole park is a sour ground, and the situation of the greatest part thereof is low and much subject to water, and the higher ground overgrown with shrubs'. If disparked, they thought the ground worth £50 in excess of the herbage. (fn. 354) To answer a further enquiry concerning Fernhill, sometimes described as part of the park and sometimes said to adjoin it, they took the evidence of an aged inhabitant who remembered deer there and a pale about it with deerleaps out of Honiley into Fernhill and out of Fernhill into Wedgnock Park. The pale between Fernhill and the park was only a 'footset pale' with no bank, and was thought to have originated when the king's stud was in Fernhill. One of the keepers had charge of Fernhill as part of his walk, and looked after the stud at that time as well as his deer. (fn. 355) The corporation of Warwick, as patrons of the rectories of St. Mary's and Budbrooke, had 13s. 4d. as tithe of the herbage, with two bucks and two does as tithe of the park yearly, and also pasturage for six oxen in the park, valued at £4, for repair of Wedgnock Lane. (fn. 356) Following this survey, Sir Fulke Greville received in 1602 an outright grant of the park, including Fernhill, Goodrest, and the three gamekeepers' lodges, but excluding the inclosures held of the Crown by other tenants, paying yearly the tithe bucks and does and £4 to the corporation and £66 13s. 4d. to the Exchequer. (fn. 357) The disparked inclosures at the southern end of the park descended with the manor of Warwick to the Bolton family. (fn. 358) In 1652, under the name of Wedgnock Park Closes, they contained 435 acres divided into 75 closes between nineteen tenants. (fn. 359)
[…]
Between 1679 and 1682 all the north and west parts of the park were inclosed. New farmhouses were erected on the sites of the present Hill Farm, Turkey Farm, Bulloak Farm, and Deer Park Farm, and on a site close to Fernhill Farm but south of Roundshill Lane. Barns were placed where Bannerhill Farm and Bulloak barn now stand. Goodrest manor-house and a lodge, perhaps that built by Thomas Fisher in 1560, remained within the deer park which also contained a round copse of 20 acres. (fn. 369)
[…]
A large part of Fernhill wood was grubbed up in 1789 and new farm buildings were begun there in 1793. (fn. 370) The last part of this ancient wood was removed by the tenant of the farm in about 1935. (fn. 371)
Footnotes.
257 Kemp, Hist. Warw. 267-8.
258 Ibid. 269-72.
300 Rowington par. recs. C.R.O., N 5/142.
301 Kemp, Hist. Warw. 269-72.
354 L.R. 2/257 f. 172.
355 Castle MS. 2563.
356 L.R.2/257 f. 172.
357 Castle MS. 2561.
358 Ibid. 6128.
359 Ibid. 9204.
369 Castle estate map, 1682.
370 Castle accts. and vouchers, and estate maps, 1750, 1788.
371 Ex inf. Mr. Walder of the Castle Estate Office.”
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Following on from reply #19 in which I identified Richard Henry Smith as the occupant of the west Fern Hill in the 1911 census, I have traced the family back and found that they appeared all the way back to the 1851 census. The 1851 occupant was Richard Smith, father of Richard Henry. Richard Smith is replaced by his widow Mary in 1881, and then by Richard Henry in 1891. The addresses are:
1891 Old Park "Fern Hill Farm"
1881 Fern Hill Old Park
1871 Fern Hill (with Wedgnock Park households on the same page)
1861 Old Park (several households with this "address")
1851 Old Park
In several censuses the farm is stated to be 250 acres.
I suspect that Richard Smith was preceded by a Thomas Payne (wife Elizabeth) but I haven't found him in the 1841 census.
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The addresses are:
1891 Old Park "Fern Hill Farm"
1881 Fern Hill Old Park
1871 Fern Hill (with Wedgnock Park households on the same page)
1861 Old Park (several households with this "address")
1851 Old Park
That ties in with Post 2 and the reference in the 1930 Electoral Registers to Frederick Stanyer at Fernhill Farm, Old Park, Warwickshire. I suspect the 'Old Park' bit refers to the Wedgnock Park connection. I haven't seen Old Park marked on any map so far.
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This from the Our Warwickshire website:
Wedgenock Old Park, Beausale.
Lovie reports that this is a disparked mediaeval deer park belonging to Earls of Warwick. Goodrest farm originally a lodge within the park.To the north east, park adjoined to park attached to Kenilworth Castle, the two parks being separated only by Rounsill Lane.
Reduced to 45a. by 1867.
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Great find that ties things together. I think that sorts out what and where Old Park was and thus Stanyer’s Fern Hill.
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We really need some input from Ellie about whether she has all the information she needs. Clearly she can now do a history of her house as well if she wants.
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Hello,
I’m a Stanyer. Fred was my great great uncle. Our family had worked with horses for a long time, my great grandad being a jockey (We still have a trophy he had won!). My great grandad was disinherited though for marrying a lady with welsh heritage i believe.
I believe that Fred and his sister inherited everything. Fred would often come and visit my aunty when she was very young with his wife Mabel.
Thank you for sharing this it’s been quite an interesting dive into my family history 😊
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Hi Stanley and welcome to the forum.
Unfortunately the original poster, Ellie, hasn't been active here since April, but hopefully she will get an email notifying her of your posting and you and she can work out if the people in the photographs she found are your Stanyer relations. She never did get around to posting them here. If not, I hope all the research we have done makes sense and still helps you with your own family history.
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Ah ok, thanks for letting me know Andy. It has helped me confirm some other events so i’m very grateful. Thank you for all of your research into this! :)