Rowe Lane
In this section, we look at the 9 houses in Rowe Lane. The first of these houses was built in 1903. Before then, the land on which the 9 houses stand was agricultural land, part of Bullswater Farm. We have covered the early history in the Bullswater Farm section.
In 1892, Bullswater Farm came into the hands of Anne Brinkwell Mason, who in 1889 had married Thomas William Sherman, son of John Frost Sherman, the miller at Heath Mill. Anne and Thomas decided fairly quickly to disband Bullswater Farm and develop the land. The general increase in personal wealth at this time had led to something of a housing boom across the country, as discussed in the economic history described elsewhere on this site, so this is not surprising.
The first house, Ardeley (now Orchard Cottage) was built in 1903. The same year an ad was placed in the local newspaper inviting further investment in the grand-sounding “Bullswater Building Estate” (see photo, left). We are fairly sure that the ad was placed by the Shermans and probably related to the combined Rowe Lane / Bullswater Lane frontages. However, the ad didn’t seem to attract much interest.
Another 5 houses - today’s Longfield, Fairway (1905), Sunnyside (1907), and Dorset Magna and Stanemore (1908) - soon followed. Initially they were rented out, but after Thomas Sherman’s death in 1920, and then Anne’s death in 1928 they were all sold. Sunnyside and Monida were advertised for sale in 1928 (see ad right).
Since WW2, a further 3 houses (Fox House, Willow House and Spring Acre) have been built. The table below shows the dates of all the houses in Rowe Lane.
Walking along Rowe Lane, it is pretty obvious that it was, not so long ago, a section of the main road from Pirbright to Guildford. It is a peaceful stroll today, but one is struck by how narrow it must have been for a main road, although perhaps the borders have collapsed inwards somewhat.
In fact Rowe Lane ceased to be part of the main road in 1937, when the “Rowe Lane Rerouting Scheme” was implemented. This involved the compulsory purchase by Surrey County Council of land belonging to Burners Farm (owned by Caroline Burwood, refer Burners Farm section) and Ardeley (owned by Mrs Ricardo, refer Orchard Cottage section below). Neither lady actually lived in Pirbright at the time. The official notice of this scheme is shown left.
We can’t work out exactly where these pieces of land were, but we assume they were on the western side of the current Rowe Lane (ie beneath the current main road). Presumably the purpose of the rerouting was to improve safety. But this didn’t stop accidents completely. In 1971, 4 people were taken to the Royal Surrey Hospital when their car overturned in Rowe Lane. The driver was from Normandy and the 3 passengers were all male (ages not given). The road used to be susceptible to flooding, so maybe the driver aquaplaned at some point. Otherwise, we struggle to envisage how a car could overturn in Rowe Lane. Suggestions on a postcard, please.
We have shown below an extract from the 1938 OS map and the current OS map (with thanks) below. Comparing the two, as well as there being 3 more houses in Rowe Lane than there were in 1938, Rowe Lane Farm has also been built. The sharp-eyed will see that Heath Oaks did exist in 1938 (as a very small dwelling).
We will now look at each of the 9 houses in Rowe Lane, starting from the north end.
Dorset Magna (previously Lower House, then Megna)
The house was built in 1908, given the name of “Lower House” and rented out by the Shermans. The name of Lower House is a little strange, begging the question “Lower than what?”, but it was what it was. We have shown below 2 extracts from the original building plans.
We don’t know who the earliest tenants were, but in 1921 it was occupied by Anne Sherman and 2 of her children (Anne’s husband, Thomas Sherman, having died the previous year).
In 1924 Anne put the house up for sale (see ad below), and moved to Austen Road in the centre of Guildford (just off the Epsom Road). The name of the house in Guildford was Sunnyside, presumably a nod to the house that she and her husband had built in Rowe Lane (see below). Anne died in 1928 in Jacob’s Well (at the house of one of her sons) and was buried in Pirbright. We have told Anne’s story more fully in the Bullswater Farm section.
Lower House was bought in 1924 by Commander Hubert Brian & Ida Bonning.
Hubert was born in Huish Episcopi (in Somerset, in case you didn’t know) in 1884, the son of a bank accountant. In the early 1900s he joined the Royal Navy as an accountant. Ida (nee Rundle) was born, we think, in 1885 in Plymouth, the daughter of a boilermaker. They married in Dartford in 1911. Hubert was a Paymaster Commander (ie an accountant who led the pay department).
By 1921 the couple were living at Westgate in Kent with an adopted daughter. Hubert retired from the Royal Navy in 1923, aged only 39 and it was at this time that the couple bought Lower House in Pirbright for reasons unknown. They made a small extension on the south side of the house in 1924.
In 1927 the Bonnings moved from Pirbright to Sevenoaks. Ida died the same year and Hubert returned to the west country to remarry Evelyn Whitehouse in Somerset. In case the reader was thinking that Hubert went on to enjoy a nice, quiet retirement in the country, they will be disappointed. Within a couple of years he was appointed Secretary, then General Manager of the Bristol & West of England Building Society. He finally retired in 1950 after 21 years’ service. Hubert died at Budleigh Salterton in 1957. Meanwhile Bristol & West (as it is now known) is today a banking division of the Bank of Ireland.
The purchasers of Lower House c1927 were Herbert and Annie Maude. They immediately changed the name of the house from Lower House to Megna. The name Megna is a puzzle. It is the name of a Tandoori restaurant in Englefield Green, but doesn’t appear to have any other special significance. Suggestions on a postcard (or email) please.
Herbert was born in 1868, either in Aberdeen or Brighton (the records differ). He joined the Merchant Navy as a 17 year-old apprentice in 1885. In 1896 he qualified as a Master of a Merchant Ship. By 1911 he was a Captain in the British India Steamship Company. Annie was born in 1898 and had married an Edward Fox, who died c1919. They had lived in Bournemouth and had one child, Donald, (in 1917).
Herbert and Annie married in Havant in 1921. It was an unusual family set up – the stepfather aged 53, the widowed mother aged 23 and a 3 year-old lad. 2 more children soon followed (in 1921 and 1928). The elder child, Donald, served as a 3rd Officer in the Royal Merchant Navy during WW2, sailing between India and Suez. He contracted jaundice, and died in hospital at Suez in 1942.
We don’t know why the Maudes chose to live in Pirbright. Perhaps Herbert was semi-retired (he had joined the Royal Naval Reserve) and wanted a nice rural setting in which to live. Or perhaps Herbert had a connection with the previous owner, Hubert Bonning, also a naval man. Or a bit of both.
Herbert died in 1950, aged 82. A few months later Annie remarried Frederick Henden, whose wife had also died in 1950. Frederick was 18 years older than Annie, and had lived for several years at Intime on Pirbright Green, where we tell his story. In 1952 Frederick and Annie took a cruise liner (first class) to Madeira, and shortly afterwards moved to Epsom Road, Guildford. But the marriage was short-lived. Frederick died in a hospital on the Isle of Man in 1955. Annie then moved to Emsworth (near Havant), where she died in 1997, aged 98.
The next owners from 1955 were James Patrick Seymour and Monica Madge Edge-Partington. James (known as Patrick) was born in Southwark in 1926. He was the son of Ellis Edge-Partington (1885-1957), who was clearly a high-achiever. During his lifetime, Ellis:
-
Obtained a theology degree at Trinity College, Cambridge.
-
Became a Blue, by playing hockey for Cambridge against Oxford in 1907.
-
Gained an Olympic Gold Medal by playing in the England hockey team which won the Olympics in 1908. Hugely coincidentally, a later occupant of the house represented Great Britain at hockey in the 1968 Olympics.
-
Served in the Army between 1915 and 1919, being awarded the Military Cross with Bar for gallantry in the field.
-
As a vicar, held parishes at Lambeth and Lewisham before being made Canon of Southwark Cathedral.
-
Was appointed chaplain to the King in 1941.
That’s a mighty impressive CV. Ellis’s father was James Edge-Partington (1854-1930), a noted anthropologist (specialising in Pacific ethnology, in case you were wondering) who has his own Wikipedia page.
Patrick qualified as a Chartered Accountant and became a well-known figure in British business, later becoming chairman of various public companies (Denby Tableware, Crown House and Tilbury Contracting). He was also Master of the Worshipful Company of Glaziers and Painters of Glass.
Monica was born Monica Smith in Epsom in 1928, the daughter of Howard Smith, who was managing director of James Smith Bros Ltd, a company which manufactured concrete tubes. Patrick and Monica married in 1951 and had 3 children. A photo from their wedding is shown left
They had 3 children, one of whom, Julian, was born at Pirbright shortly after they moved in. Patrick and Monica stayed at Megna until the early 1970s. Patrick died in 2007 at Winchelsea and Monica in 2018 at Redhill.
The next owners from the mid-1970s were Raymond and Shirley Stedman. Raymond was born in 1942 in Cheshire, son of Douglas and Dorothy Stedman, who lived in Hale, Farnham. Shirley was born in 1937 in Brighton. They were married in Guildford in 1967. We think that Raymond worked for Surrey County Council as their Countryside Officer. He was responsible for the restoration of the Basingstoke Canal in the early 1980s (and a big Thank You for this from us all, Raymond).
The Stedmans stayed at Megna until the early 1980s. They may have divorced soon afterwards and each remarried. Raymond and his second wife moved to Salisbury, while Shirley and her second husband live locally (albeit not in Pirbright).
The next owners changed the name of the house from Megna to its current Dorset Magna. Magna (meaning Great) is found in several place names in Dorset (eg Kington Magna), which may be some sort of explanation for the name.
The house was sold in 2020 to the current owners. An agent’s photo of the house is shown below (with grateful thanks).
Fox House (previously Farlow House)
The first planning documents for Fox House originate from 1954, although the house does not appear on the 1961 OS map, and we cannot find occupants of the house in the Electoral Registers of the 1950s. We suspect that the house was built (on land belonging to Dorset Magna - refer section above) in the 1960s.
The first reference to Farlow House (as Fox House was initially called) we have seen is from 1970, when Air Commodore John and Muriel Bore lived there. John was born in 1932 in Central London, the son of William Bore, a club waiter. He trained in Canada as a RAF Navigator and was later engaged in the flight testing of heavy aircraft, primarily bombers at Boscombe Down. He was a much-respected expert in the air navigation field, and was awarded the OBE in 1976. He ended his RAF career as Station Commander at RAF Northolt - the first navigator to fill that post, and retired aged 50.
In 1960 John had married Muriel Isaac and they had 3 children. The Bore family continued to live there until the mid 1980s, when they moved to Liphook and then they ran a farm in West Sussex. John died in 2024, aged 92. We have shown a photo of John, left.
The next occupants, from the mid-1980s were Tej and Caroline Paupiah. Tej was born c1955 and was a chemist, perhaps working at the Pirbright Institute. They decided to move to Fleet, and sold the house in 1997 to the current owners.
Sunnyside
Sunnyside was built in 1907 and is one of the few houses on Rowe Lane to have kept its original name.
The first tenants from 1907 were Frederick and Eleanor Rumsey. Frederick was born in 1872 in Brixton, the son of a Bank of England clerk. Eleanor was born in 1870 and lived in Barnes, the daughter of a Bookseller. They married in Barnes in 1900 and purchased a house in Carshalton. Like his father, Frederick became a Bank of England clerk, later describing himself as a Bank of England official. Funnily enough, he also had the same forenames as his father. It could have been quite confusing for some.
We don’t know why the Rumseys rented Sunnyside in Pirbright. It was unlikely to have been a weekend retreat for them, as the journey from Carshalton to Pirbright would have been quite a struggle (from experience, we know that it’s not exactly great today). Might it have had something to do with the soon-to-be-built Animal Testing Station (now Pirbright Institute) or the Army Barracks? We’ll probably never know.
The Rumseys soon became part of the Pirbright scene, with Frederick becoming a member of the Parish Council. The Rumseys kept their house in Carshalton, but c1911 moved to Church Cottage and then Burrow Hill. They left Pirbright in the late 1920s and retired to Tavistock. They had no children.
The next tenants from c1911 were Colonel Ralph Anstruther and Constance Henderson. They were previously living at Waldens in Malthouse Lane, where we tell their story. Ralph (1859-1939) was Governor of Aldershot Military Prison (North Camp), which we presume is why he and Constance chose to live in Pirbright. Ralph was one of 20 members of the Pirbright Committee set up to mark the Coronation of King George V in July 1911. Two of his near neighbours, William Willey at Monida (refer below) and Albert Tipper at Oaklands, now Bullswater House were also committee members. A Coronation Oak was planted on The Green, and a lot of fun was had by all. We think that this might be one of the oak trees between the car parks of Lord Pirbright’s Hall and the Avenue de Cagny. Ralph also played cricket for Pirbright.
After the Hendersons moved out (c1912) to live in a Suffolk village called Frostenden, the next tenants were Charles Gordon Deverill and Ethel Hilda Innes. Charles was born in Barnes in 1870, the son of an Architect-cum-surveyor. Ethel (nee Earle) was born in Chiswick in 1873, the daughter of a bookseller.
They married in Barnes in 1901, when Charles described himself on the census as a clerk for the County Council, but in the marriage register as a manager. Hmm, we are a little confused. The confusion was resolved in the 1911 census when Charles gave his occupation as Traveller (bookbinding). So he was now a sales rep for a bookbinding company.
All was further clarified in 1921 when Charles was now a Manager for James Burn & Co, Wholesale Bookbinders. This company (formed in 1781) was based in Esher and is still running today (though not based in Esher). For those who like nostalgia, we have shown (right) a photo of a Burn & Co staff coach (a Commer Avenger) at Hampton Court station in 1966. It was presumably waiting to pick up staff to transport them to the company’s Esher offices.
During WW1, Charles served in the 28th London Regiment, reaching the rank of Major. Charles had another little-known claim to fame: He was the dormant holder of the Baronetcy of Coxton (founded in 1686 in Morayshire, Scotland). This means that he was entitled to claim to be the 10th Baronet of Coxton, but never actually claimed it. The baronetcy had been dormant since the death of his grandfather in 1886, and we do not know whether Charles was aware of this. It fell to his son, also Charles Innes, to claim the baronetcy (20 years after his father’s death) in 1973, aged 63, thus becoming the 11th Baron. The baronetcy is currently held by Alastair Innes (the 13th Baronet, ie the great-grandson of Charles Innes who lived in Pirbright). Isn’t the British aristocracy a fascinating institution?
Charles and Ethel moved out of Sunnyside in 1921 to live in Walton-on Thames (which was nearer to his work at Esher).
The next tenant from 1921 was Frances Emma Milestone. Frances was born in 1861 in Whitby, one of 5 daughters of Robert and Frances Milestone. Robert was a Whitby auctioneer, but in the 1860s the Milestone family moved to London. By 1881 Robert was a fishmonger and wine merchant employing 12 men and living a few yards from Oxford Circus. Robert died in 1904 leaving £12,000 (today worth £1.2 million), so he was obviously a successful fishmonger. So, an unusual name, and an unusual story to boot.
It seems that young Frances was left a legacy by her parents, and in 1907 she sailed alone to New York. In 1911 she was a 49 year-old trained nurse, living in Kensington with one Louisa Jane Stacey, a 52 year-old “Teacher and lecturer in Metaphysics”. We can only imagine what dinner-table conversation would have been like.
We don’t know what led her to Pirbright in 1921, but she moved into Sunnyside in 1921 and lived there initially with a servant (Dorothy Stonard). For the first few years the Electoral Registers record that she also shared the house with an Edith Milestone, who was presumably a relative. Frances threw herself into local activities. She was a committee member of the Pirbright & District Horticultural Society.
But, only 2 months after Anne Sherman’s death in 1928, her executor decided to sell the house. It was advertised for sale (noting that Miss Milestone was the tenant until mid-1929). The newspaper ad for the sale is shown in the Rowe Lane introduction above. Frances accordingly moved out of Sunnyside in 1929, moving to Kingston, near Richmond Park. She died there in 1936. We have shown a photo of her gravestone left (which commemorates her father, mother, Frances herself and her younger sister in that order).
The new owner, in 1929 was Annie Mabel Devenish. Annie was born in Weymouth in 1868. The name of Devenish and the town of Weymouth may ring bells in some peoples’ minds. The famous Devenish Brewery was founded in Weymouth in the early 1800s, and Annie was indeed a scion of the Devenish family who owned the brewery. Her father, Matthew Devenish, was a partner in the family business in the late 1800s.
Annie was well-provided for by her parents and could afford to buy a good-sized house in Pirbright without having to work. She lived with a long-term companion, Evelyn Florence Seymour. Evelyn had been born in Dublin in 1879, the daughter of a vicar who lived in Leeson Street, Dublin. In 1921, Annie and Evelyn were living at South Cottage in Pirbright before moving to Sunnyside in 1929, where they lived with a servant. We have shown a copy of their (rather unusual) phone directory entry from 1935 below.
Annie never married and died in Pirbright in 1952. Evelyn was one of her executors and stayed in Sunnyside until her death in 1958. We have shown a picture of their gravestone in St Michael’s Churchyard, right. The headstone reads: “In loving memory of Annie Mabel Devenish born 11th May 1868 died 30th Apr 1952. Also dear friend Evelyn Florence Seymour died 26 Apr 1958”.
And what happened to Devenish Ales? Alas, the company no longer exists. It stopped its brewing activities in 1991 and morphed into a retail pub company (which was acquired by Greenall Whitley & Co in 1993). Below we have shown 3 photos for us to remember Devenish & Co of Weymouth.
The next occupants of Sunnyside were Harry and Margaret Sharp. The Sharps only stayed at Sunnyside for 3 or 4 years, and then we have a gap in our knowledge until 1972, when Dr John and Susan Wilson moved in. They had previously lived at 13, Bullswater Common Road. The Wilsons remained at Sunnyside until 2010, when they sold the house to a David McGill. Sunnyside was again sold to the current owners in 2016.
Willow House
We think that WiIlow House was built c1995. It was sold to the current owners in 1997.
Stanemore (prev Hill View)
Stanemore was built by Anne and Thomas Sherman in 1908. We have shown an extract from the building plan left.
It is not at all clear who the earliest occupants of Stanemore (at the time called Hill View - rather ambitiously, we think) were. However, we think that in 1910 a CE Kennedy rented the property from Annie and Thomas Sherman. In 1910 he placed an ad in the Surrey Advertiser offering a horse and cart for sale, and giving his address as Hill View, Bullswater Lane (Stanemore is not actually in Bullswater Lane, but this was probably a mistake on Mr Kennedy’s part).
Later in 1910, an Elizabeth Lockie rented the house. Elizabeth was born in Chiswick in 1861, the daughter of a Brewer’s assistant. She was a single lady but had a 12 year-old daughter named Olive. She didn’t stay long in Pirbright – within a year she had moved to Normandy. In 1916 she married an Eli Rollings, and the couple lived in Wyke.
A Mrs Gillies placed an ad in 1916. A Mrs Handyside placed an ad to let the house in 1918. This time the address was given correctly (ie Rowe Lane, not Bullswater Lane). We have shown a copy of this ad below. We think that the house was still owned by Anne and Thomas Sherman at this point, so it suggests that Mrs Handyside may have been trying to sub-let the house.
We do not know for sure who Mrs Gillies or Mrs Handyside were. They seem to have been on relatively short leases, so we suspect that their presences in Pirbright were in connection with The Army or the newly-formed Animal Testing Centre.
By 1921 Ralph and Alice Harben were living at Hill View, again presumably as tenants. Ralph was born in 1861 in Gravesend, the son of a London Provision Merchant. Alice (nee Wakeman) was born in 1872, the daughter of a furniture dealer. They married in 1913 when Ralph was 52 and Alice 40. Ralph was a Provision Merchant in the City of London, like his father. They soon had 1 son, but in 1920 decided to move out of London. Perhaps Ralph had decided to retire, or perhaps he was in poor health – or a combination of both.
They arrived in Pirbright from London in 1921, but it rather looks as though Hill View was simply a staging post for the Harbens. They soon moved to Guildford, just off the London Road. Ralph died in 1923 and Alice and her young son moved to Brighton. Alice died there in 1961.
In 1922 a Mrs Mangles placed an ad for domestic help. This was almost certainly Roland and Sylvia Mangles, who were renting Hill View for a short time. The following year they purchased Monida (now Fairway) which was then next-door to Hill View. We have told their story there (see Monida section below).
After the Mangles family moved next door to Monida in 1923, Annie Sherman decided to sell Hill View.
The purchasers in 1923 were Archibald (Archie) and Ethel Buckle. Archibald was born in 1867 in Cheshire. His father was Commander Robert Buckle, who served in the Royal Navy. The Buckle family (from Banstead, Surrey) produced a series of naval officers, starting with Matthew Buckle (1718-1784). He commanded ships from a young age (26), when Britain was at war with France. Many of his later duties involved protecting British slave ships. In 1751-52 he was sent to the Gold Coast (today Ghana) where his purpose was “the Protection and Security of the Trade of His Majesty’s Subjects in those parts”. Specifically he was ordered by The Admiralty to discover “…whether the Possessions of this Nation, or the Trade of His Majesty’s Subjects in those Parts, have been Incroached on [sic], or Interrupted by the Ships or Subjects of any Other Nation…”.
Archie had joined the Royal Artillery in 1888 and fought in the Boer Wars. He achieved the rank of major in 1902. Ethel (nee o’Rorke) was born in Dublin in 1868. Her father, Charles O’Rorke was a wealthy landowner and a JP in Co Galway. Archibald and Ethel married in Co Galway in 1904 and had 1 daughter. Archie continued his military career, serving in WW1.
In 1919, Archie qualified as a Civil Engineer, quoting 30 years of relevant experience. At the time he and Ethel were living in Waltham Abbey, where Archie was the Engineer in charge of Building Works Dept, Royal Gunpowder Mill at Waltham Abbey.
We suspect that Archie and Ethel’s move to Pirbright was associated with Archie’s military career, which by then would have been approaching its end (in 1923 Archie was 56). Perhaps he was involved in some sort of consultant civil engineering role with the army? Or maybe he was doing private work? He gave his occupation in the 1939 census was “Civil Engineer (retired)”.
One of the Buckles’ first acts on moving to Hill View was to rename it Stanemore. Archie’s father’s last house in Banstead before he died in 1901 was called Stanemore, and no doubt this had happy memories for Archie.
The Buckles were keeping 250 poultry in 1928, but they sold Stanemore in 1932, moving to Farnborough. Archie died there in 1940. Ethel died at Streatham in 1955.
The next owners of Stanemore in 1932 were Annesley Harold and Aileen Maude Brownrigg. Annesley was born in 1882 in Gravesend, one of 10 children. His father, who was born in Ireland in 1826, was a Medical Practitioner in Gravesend. By 1891 the family had relocated to Witley.
In 1910 he and Aileen married and soon had 4 children. Annesley had qualified as an architect (ie was an ARIBA) and had won a series of architectural competitions. He started practising in Halsemere, where they were living at the time. In 1914 he joined up into the Royal Marine Artillery and then transferred to the Royal Garrison Artillery Corps (which used the largest guns in the army) and ended WW1 as a Major.
After WW1, Annesley set up a practice in Chelsea. But in 1920 the Brownriggs moved to Milford, and Annesley formed a practice in Guildford High Street with Leslie Hiscock, which included industrial, commercial, educational and recreational projects. In 1932 Annesley, Aileen and their 4 children, moved to Stanemore. Servants also lived in the house at various times.
In 1933, soon after the Brownriggs had moved in, an unpleasant incident occurred. We have shown the first part of a newspaper cutting about the incident (right), but the rest of the article is too long to include here. In short, the youths were found guilty of robbing the Tait family at nearby Heathers on Bullswater Lane, together of a whole string of other similar incidents. It sounds to us as though the Brownriggs were next on the list to be robbed that evening. One of the felons carried a revolver. The accused pleaded guilty and were sentenced to 9 months imprisonment with hard labour.
But the most surprising thing to our minds is the idea of the local bobby patrolling a quiet street such as Rowe Lane at 3.35 in the morning. Now when did anyone last see that?
Annesley died in 1935, aged only 53. A newspaper obituary is shown left.
After Annesley’s death, 3 of the 4 Brownrigg children moved out of Stanemore and were married during WW2. The remaining child, Patrick Brownrigg, a Lieutenant in the Royal Navy Voluntary Reserve, died in 1942 in Portsmouth Harbour from asphyxiation during diving instruction. He was training for a special service for which he had volunteered. This was “The Chariot Human Torpedo” (shown right), the idea being that 2 people would ride the chariot (which contained an explosive warhead), underwater near to a target, set the timer, detach the warhead, and ride back to safety. As might be expected, there were some successes, but some failures. But Patrick never got that far, dying during training, and he was only 28 – a tragedy.
Aileen remained at Stanemore until c1949, when she moved back to Milford where she died in 1972. As to the fate of the architectural business, in 1935, after Annesley’s death, their eldest son, John Brownrigg (1911-2002) joined Hiscock in the business. After a couple of mergers the business became Scott Brownrigg, which still exists today. For most of us, their best-known design projects are the Yvonne Arnaud Theatre in Guildford (1960s), Heathrow Terminal 4 and Manchester Airport Terminal 2 (both 1980s) and, for some people, Istanbul Airport (2018).
The next owners of Stanemore from c1950 were Dr John and Phyllis Moir. John Hay Moir was the son of John Hay Moir DSO, MC (a surgeon, who was the son of a John Hay Moir, from Aberdeenshire!). Our John Hay Moir was born in Derbyshire in 1912.
Phyllis (nee WiIlett) was born in Bromley in 1912, the daughter of William Willett, who had been a Master Builder. William is remembered for being the first person to advocate a form of Daylight Savings. He proposed, in 1907, changing clocks by 4 incremental steps of 20 minutes in April and September. (For the mathematicians, yes, he suggested an 80-minute change, not today’s 60 minutes). His idea was taken up and is still in use in many countries today (albeit in 1 step of an hour). He died in 1915, aged only 58, before his idea was introduced. We have shown a photo below of The Daylight Inn in Petts Wood, which was named after his idea.
William Willett has a further claim to fame. Wikipedia reports that he is the great-great-grandfather of Chris Martin, the singer with Coldplay. If so, we don’t think that this was via Phyllis. More likely it was thanks to one of her 9 brothers and sisters.
In 1939 Phyllis was living with her mother at Willow Grange, at the junction of Clay Lane with the Woking Road. Phyllis described herself as an Airwoman in the Women’s Auxiliary Air Force (WAAF). John was still living in his home town of Swadlincote in Derbyshire as a Practitioner of Medicine (actually he was an anaesthetist). John and Phyllis were married at St Mary’s Church, Worplesdon in 1940. John was by then a Lieutenant. They started their married life at Farm Cottage in Pyle Hill in Woking and soon had 4 children.
John was summonsed for dangerous driving on Station Road (now Prey Heath Road), Worplesdon in 1946. He was travelling rather fast, skidded and crashed into another car coming from the opposite direction. He was accused of doing 40mph when coming round the corner, which does indeed sound excessive. His excuse was that he was driving to Woking Victoria Hospital (which was near where The Wheatsheaf pub is today) to give an urgent anaesthetic. The summons itself was dismissed, but John was fined £10 (equivalent to £350 today) and had his licence endorsed for dangerous driving.
The Moirs moved to Stanemore in 1951, and stayed for 10 years before moving to Hunters Green on the Bagshot Road. We have told their story more fully there.
The next owners of Stanemore from c1962 were Humphrey and Valerie Wigan. Humphrey was born in Upper Norwood in 1914, the son of a motor engineer. In 1939, he was a clerk, working for Morgan Crucible Co, living in Chelsea. During WW2 he served in the Middlesex Regiment as a 2nd Lieutenant and was awarded the MC.
Valerie (nee Clarke, and known by one of her middle names, Mavis) was born in Burton upon Trent in 1915, the daughter of a Chartered Accountant. In 1939, she was a piano teacher, living at Abinger Hill. She claimed in press adverts to have been a former student of someone who had been a pupil of Franz Liszt. Given that Liszt died in 1886, she must have been quite young (and her teacher quite old) at the time.
Humphrey and Valerie were married in 1940. They lived in Forest Row, near East Grinstead, but, after a short spell in Guildford (Epsom Road), by 1950 had moved to Edgbaston. c1970 they moved to Hockford Farm House, Pirbright and then Church Lane, Worplesdon. During the 1970s, Humphrey’s sister, Ursula, lived in Pirbright – at Carrs End (1979) and Woodpeckers (1981). Humphrey died in Guildford in 1996.
The current owners moved into Stanemore c1970.
Spring Acre
Spring Acre was built in 1954. In the 1928 Rate revaluation it had been an orchard with chickens, owned and occupied by Mrs Irelan, who also owned next door Stanemore (refer above). It was also marked as “orchard” on one document from 1934.
The first owners were Frederick and Elizabeth Brenda Alexander. Frederick was born in 1920 in Farnham, one of 9 children. His father was a gunner with the Royal Artillery from Northumberland. In his later years he worked as a clerk at Aldershot Barracks, which explains the family’s move to Surrey. Elizabeth (nee Copping, and known as Brenda) was born in 1926 in Dunsfold, the daughter of a farmer.
In 1939 Frederick was a bricklayer, living with his parents in Oxenden Road, Guildford. In 1937, Brenda’s family had moved into our area and her father was running the Victoria Farm Dairy on Connaught Road, Brookwood. Pictured left is something of a rarity – a Copping milk bottle (date unknown).
Frederick and Brenda were married in Guildford in 1950 and initially lived in Ash. We think that Frederick spent quite a bit of time in Pirbright, as in 1949 he was the Hon Sec of the Pirbright Scouts Association. And in 1950, at the Pirbright Annual Fete, he won the “Most Handsome Man” competition. For some reason, we haven’t noticed that particular competition at the Village Fair recently.... In 1954 they moved into the newly-built Spring Acre and proceeded to have 5 children. Here are Frederick and Brenda at a British Legion dinner in 1959 (picture right). We’re not sure which of the guests is attempting to steal Brenda’s necklace.
c1971 the Alexanders retired to Compton, where Brenda died in 1997 and Frederick in 2013.
The next owners of Spring Acre from c1972 were Walter and Fay Krell. The Krells are tricky to track down. Walter may have been born in Ansbach, near Nuremberg, in 1927. Perhaps his family fled Germany prior to WW2 and settled in England, but we can’t find any records of this. Fay may have been born Fay Mullett near Birmingham also in 1927. We can’t trace any record of their marriage, but in the late 1950s the Krells lived in Putney, East Holmwood and Shepperton. They had 2 daughters, Lorraine and Naomi, before settling in Pirbright c1972. The girls were keen on horse-riding. They competed in local horse shows, and in 1973 Walter and Fay gained planning permission to build loose boxes and tack room at Spring Acre. Today, Lorraine runs a company which makes Replica Food (now how many people know that there is a company doing that?).
Fay died in 1979. Walter may have moved to Staffordshire, but we are not sure about this. The next owners from c1983 were Derek and Marie Smith. We think that Derek may have been a builder. The house was sold in 2007 to a Jeffrey and Elaine Robinson, and then in 2010 to the current owners.
An agent’s photo of Spring Acre is shown left (with thanks).
Longfield (previously Elm Bank, then Fairmead)
Longfield and Fairway are semi-detached houses built by the Shermans c1905. It’s a good question as to why the Shermans chose to build a pair of semi-detached houses rather than 1 (or 2) detached houses, similar to the others in Rowe Lane. There was plenty of room to build a detached house or two. However, we don’t know the answer to the question.
Longfield was originally called Elm Bank. The first tenants from 1905 were Albert and Kate Tipper. In 1907 Albert bought a nearby 3-acre plot in Bullswater Lane from the Shermans and built what is today called Bullswater House. While the house was being built, Albert and his wife lived in the conveniently-situated Elm Bank. We have told Albert and Kate’s stories in the Bullswater House section.
After the Tippers moved out of Elm Bank in 1908, the next tenants from c1910 were George and Harriett Irelan, and Maud Hill. By this time the house had been renamed Fairmead (possibly because there was already another house in Pirbright named Elm Bank).
George Irelan was born in Kensington in 1862, the son of a basket-maker. Harriett (nee White) was born in 1861 in Lyndhurst, the daughter of a sawyer. They were married in Kilburn in 1882 and soon had 5 children, living near Holland Park. George at this stage was a carpenter. An early photo of George is shown (right).
Maud Hill was their daughter, who had recently (in 1910) married a John Hill. John was a soldier at the time, so it may have made good sense for Maud (and her new baby) to live with her parents while her husband was away. Maud and John soon moved to Kiln Cottage, followed by No 7 Council Cottages and then Hawthorne in Chapel Road. By 1939 they had moved to Caterham and John was working as a blacksmith. In the 1960s John returned to Pirbright (Maud had died in 1962) and lived with one of his sons (William Irelan-Hill) at No 16, Rapley’s Field.
One of their sons, John Albert Irelan was killed in 1914 just 7 weeks after the outbreak of WW1 in the trenches of northern France.
From 1919, Annie Sherman advertised rooms to let in the house to let several times between 1919 and 1927. This seems strange, given that the Irelans had been living in it for 15 years, but perhaps the Irelans, once their children had left, had asked Annie to let some rooms in return for a lower rent. We have shown one such ad left (from 1925). Surely there would have been several residents who would have raised an eyebrow at the description of Rowe Lane as being the “best part Pirbright”. Perhaps that is why the name of the lane was misspelt (to make it difficult to recognise). We also don’t know who “H” was. Most of the ads were placed by Annie.
George was fined £2 (£75 today) in 1920 for taking a stray dog home (he should have notified the police). But despite this heinous crime, George and Harriett continued to live at Fairmead until c1928, when they moved to No 1, East End Cottages, where we continue their story. The 1928 Rate revaluation shows that the house was owned Mrs Irelan, but let furnished to the Board of Agriculture Testing Station (today The Pirbright Institute). It was possibly used to house senior people working short periods as most of them only stayed in Pirbright for a few months. Norman Dobson (the owner of York Cottage on Pirbright Green also lived in the house in 1929.
In 1934 Fairmead was bought by George and Marion Gribble. George Ivie Gribble was born in Pilton (near Shepton Mallet) in 1865, the son of a Banker in Barnstaple. He married Marion (nee Smith) in 1888 in Islington. Marion was born c 1863 in Hawarden, near Chester.
On the census returns, George described himself as “Living on own means” (which usually meant that he had inherited enough money not to have to work). However in the 1939 register, he described himself as a retired civil servant, which sounds more likely.
They had 4 children. In 1898 the family was living at Morton Manor, a small 14th century manor house on the Isle of Wight. By 1911 they were living at Fareham. They moved to Portsmouth in the early 1920s, before purchasing Fairmead in 1934. We don’t know why they moved house so regularly.
Once in Fairmead, the Gribbles added a front porch to the house. 2 years later, they added an extra bedroom on top of it. Planning approvals then were easier than they are today. They lived there with one of their children, Geoffrey Charles Gribble, and his wife, Irene (nee Cole). Geoffrey was born in a town called Lake on the Isle of Wight. Irene was born in 1887 in Paddington, daughter of a barrister. Geoffrey and Irene married near Chichester in 1910. At that time he was a bank clerk. They had one daughter.
Geoffrey was also on the Electoral Register at Sunningdale (Broomhall Chambers, on the London Road). This was the office address of his firm of estate agents, Gribble & Brook.
Marion died in 1939. We have shown a copy of a press notice of her death, left. The Chester Chronicle referred to still exists today, though it is part of the Trinity Mirror Group, and is edited in Manchester, not Chester.
George died in Basingstoke in January 1940. At the time of his death he had 2 houses: Fairmead and a house in Basingstoke. Within a few weeks of his death, his children had put Fairmead up for sale (see press ad right, from 27 January 1940). The reader may notice that Geoffrey’s estate agency had merged with another agency in Basingstoke. The property did not sell, so it was offered at auction in May 1940. The ad emphasised that the property could be let out for “A clear £80 pa” (£3,400 pa today). Again no takers, so another auction was held in July 1941, which appears to have been successful.
It seems that Fairmead was then let out to a series of people.
Shortly after WW2 the name of the house was changed to Longfield. Why? Well, the name of the adjoining house was changed to Fairway at around the same time, which could have led to all sorts of confusion. Perhaps that was the reason. From the end of WW2, the house was let to a number of tenants – presumably for at least £80 pa.
From 1950 Norman and Hilda Wale were the occupants (presumably owners) of Longfield. They had previously lived at Goose Green Cottage on Pirbright Green, and, during 1948-49, at Humbles in Chapel Lane.
Norman Guinness Wale was born in Croydon in 1892, the son of a Croydon doctor, and educated at Charterhouse. Norman’s middle name of Guinness is unusual, and it will come as no surprise to learn that Norman was a descendant of the well-known Guinness family of Ireland. Norman’s mother was born Emily Maria Guinness in Dublin in 1850. Her great-grandfather was Samuel Guinness (1727-95), who was the younger brother of Arthur Guinness, who founded the well-known brewery in 1759.
Hilda (nee Lambert) was born near Worthing in 1894, the daughter of a clergyman who became the Hon Canon of Liverpool. They were married in 1919 at Wye, near Ashford, Kent. Norman was a Lieutenant in the First Battalion of The Buffs (Royal East Kent Regiment), serving in Egypt. In 1939 and during WW2, Norman served as Assistant Chief Constable in the War Dept Constabulary, with the rank of Captain. In 1946 he was awarded an OBE for his work there.
Norman was Treasurer of the Pirbright branch of The British Legion. Hilda was President of the Pirbright and Brookwood Women’s Institute. The Wales left Pirbright in 1958. Hilda died in Maidstone in 1970, while Norman died in Hastings in 1983 (aged 91). They had one son, David Guinness Wale, who married a Marie Marguerite C De Simard De Pitray. David died in 1964, aged only 42.
The next owners of Longfield from c1959 were Richard & Vivien Powell. We think that Richard was born in 1920 in Brentford, the son of a Metallurgical research chemist who worked for Johnson Matthey. Vivien (nee Varley) was born in Brentford in 1921. They were married in Wandsworth in 1943. They lived only a few years in Longfield. They eventually retired to Wells in Somerset.
The next owners of Longfield from c 1968 were Hubert H & Mary L Skinner. Hubert Skinner MRCVS was born in Newbury in 1914, son of a Maltster. Mary (nee Hanson) was born in Wandsworth in 1923. In 1939 Hubert was boarding with the Gribbles at Stanemore. At the time he was a Veterinary surgeon at the Pirbright Institute. No doubt he liked Rowe Lane, which is why he returned to it 20 years later.
Hubert and Mary were married in Croydon in 1949 (Mary was living at South Norwood at the time). They initially lived at Bullswater Bungalow (today called Allandale), and then in 1955 moved to No 7, Bullswater Common Road. There they had 4 children. Hubert spent some time documenting the history of the Institute. To quote Tony Garland, a recent historian of the Institute:
“Hubert worked at the Institute between 1937 and 1946 and again between 1946 and 1979, the intervening years having been spent on active service with the RAF’s Bomber Command during World War II. He had a very practical and productive career in veterinary science and made major contributions to the control of foot-and-mouth disease. After his retirement he wrote comprehensively on the history of the Institute and recorded its scientific achievements during the first 65 years of its existence (as published in the journal Veterinary History). During his career Hubert lived on Bullswater Common Road opposite the Institute and after his retirement he moved to Rowe Lane where he lived until his death in 2010. He was also a prominent member of the Pirbright community, a staunch supporter of the village church and an active leader of the scouting movement.”
We have shown left a photo of Hubert with one of his sons and one of his grandsons. We have also shown (below) a notice posted in the local newspaper in 1972 by one of the Skinner children, who seems to have been carrying out some rather specialised animal research.
The house was sold to the current owners in 2011.
Fairway (previously Monida)
Fairway was built c 1905 and originally called Monida. This is an unusual name for an English house at that time. It is the name of a mountain pass in Montana, and is also an anagram of the word Domain. But neither of those strikes us as a likely source of inspiration for a house name.
The first tenant was an Albert Ball, who didn’t stay long in Pirbright. In fact he left within a year. The next tenants were William and Maud Willey. William was born in Peckham in 1868, the eldest of 9 children. His father was a Tailor’s cutter. Maud was born in Lambeth in 1881, possibly the daughter of a Surveyor. They married in Bromley in 1897 and initially lived in Beckenham. They had 4 children. William was a Stock jobber at the London Stock Exchange. William was one of 20 members of the Pirbright Committee set up to mark the Coronation of King George V in July 1911. Two of his near neighbours, Colonel Ralph Henderson at Sunnyside (refer above) and Albert Tipper at Oaklands, now Bullswater House were also committee members. A Coronation Oak was planted on The Green, and a lot of fun was had by all.
The Willeys stayed at Monida from 1906 until the onset of WW1, but after the war, moved to Wallington. During the war the house was let to a variety of tenants. One such was Walter Studd, who was fined £2 (£150 today) in 1916 for breaching the recently-introduced Lighting Order. This restricted the use of car “headlamps”, and limited electric light bulbs to just 12 Watts.
The next tenants of Monida from c1919 were Philip and Clara Cherry. Philip was born in 1887 in Walsall. His father was a saddler from Nottinghamshire who died in 1898, aged only 38. Clara was born in 1886 near Walsall, daughter of a coal miner. They had 2 children. Philip was an Assistant sanitary inspector. During WW1 he was a Company Sergeant-Major in the South Staffordshire Regiment. After the war, one newspaper reported that Philip led the formation of a “Post” to help ex-Servicemen in the Pirbright area. But we’re not sure what sort of “Post” this was. The Cherrys only stayed 3 years or so in Monida, before moving to a farmhouse near Sevenoaks, where they stayed for several years. By 1939 we noted that Philip had become a Senior sanitary inspector.
Between 1923 and 1928 Monida was occupied by Roland and Sylvia Mangles. Roland Henry Mangles CMG, DSO was born in Compton in 1874, the youngest son of Ross and Henrietta Mangles, about whom we have written quite a lot in the Pirbright Lodge section. Ross held the rare distinction of being awarded the VC, as explained in that section.
Roland joined the army in his early 20s and fought in the Boer Wars. During WW1 he served with the British Expeditionary Force. He reached the giddy heights of Brigadier-General. He also played rugby for England twice in 1897, against Wales and Ireland, playing as a back-row forward. Unfortunately both games were lost. Sylvia (nee Hand) was also born in 1874, the daughter of an Oxfordshire vicar. Roland and Sylvia were married in Kensington in 1909 and had 2 children.
After WW1, Roland and Sylvia had been living in Semaphore Road, Guildford, and then Wimbledon, but the lure of Pirbright grew too strong, and by 1922 the family were renting Hill View (later named Stanemore), as we have described in the section above dealing with that house. In 1923 they moved into Monida, we think as owners.
Roland retired from the army in the late 1920s and left Monida c1927. In 1934 the family went on a rather nice-sounding cruise to Singapore (First class) on the Blue Funnel Line ship Aeneas. Their address at that time was The Sun Inn, Chobham, which sounds intriguing. Roland died in 1948, after which Sylvia moved to Bramley. She died in 1964. Both Roland and Sylvia are buried in Brookwood Cemetery. A photo of their gravestone is shown, right.
After the Mangles family left Monida, and following the death of Annie Sheridan in 1928, the house was sold to a Mr Watson of Swan Lane in Guildford. A press ad for the sale is shown in the introduction to the Rowe Lane section above.
The next occupants (as tenants) from c1929 were Frank and Jessie Church. We think that Frank was born in 1880 in Kensington, the son of a cab proprietor and started his working life as a clerk in a law firm. Jessie (nee Bricknall) was born near Dundee in 1887, the daughter of a Paper-mill manager.
Frank and Jessie married at St Neots (where Jessie’s family were living at the time) in 1912. They had 2 children. After WW1 they moved to Knaphill, where Frank had obviously tired of being a law clerk, and instead had become the proprietor of the Inkerman Garage, which was somewhere near Robin Hood Road in St John’s, we think. They only stayed in Monida for 3 years, before returning to Knaphill. In 1939 Frank was still a Garage proprietor living at Knaphill.
The next occupants (we think as owners) from 1932 were Ernest and Joan Mott. Ernest was born in 1898 at Wonersh, the son of a Gunpowder packer (presumably at the Chilworth Gunpowder Mills). Joan (nee Bond-Nash) was born in 1903, the daughter of a “gentleman”. This gentleman was actually one George Nash, the son of a Commission Agent (ie a trader) called Edward Nash. George’s middle name was Bond, but at some stage he changed his surname to Bond-Nash, presumably to help the impression of being a “gentleman”. George and his family lived at Greenham Cottage, Perry Hill in Worplesdon. He founded the “New Inn Leg Pullers’ Club” at the New Inn (later The White Lyon pub, but currently being converted into flats).
Ernest and Joan were married at Holy Trinity, Guildford in 1931. At the time, Ernest described himself as a Haulage contractor and his father was now a licensee. Joan soon started up a school, using a rather cheesy name (see cutting left from 1932).
In 1939, Ernest and Joan described themselves as a driver and linguist respectively. The Motts stayed at Monida until c1950, when they moved to Jenner Road, Guildford.
There is a gap in the records of about 5 years before Cecil and Vivian Read moved in c1955. By then, the name of the house had been changed to Fairway. It’s a slightly odd choice of name in our view, as the nearest golfing fairway is about 700 yards away, and there are several houses in between. Maybe because it was a “fair way” away?
We think that Cecil was born c1905 in Hendon and in 1939 was serving in the War Reserve Police. Vivian (nee Eakin) was born in Peterborough in 1916, the daughter of a bank manager at Barclays Bank. She qualified as a nurse at St Bartholomew’s Hospital, and during WW2 worked at Bedford Hospital as a sister in the Military Nursing Service Reserve. They were married c1945, although we can’t trace the records of this.
Before moving to Fairway, Vivian was living at Inkerman House (at Inkerman Barracks, Knaphill) with her father, Robert Eakin. Robert moved into Fairway with the Reads, but died the following year. Vivian’s mother, Kathleen Eakin, also died while living at Fairway, in 1958.
We don’t know much about Cecil Read’s military career, but the phone directory records him as being a Lieutenant Colonel and holder of the OBE. The Reads moved out of Fairway in the early-mid 1960s.
By 1967 Lt Col Iain and Dymphna Ferguson were living in Fairway. In 1977 the Fergusons moved to Pirbright Lodge, where we have told their story (including Iain’s notable achievement).
In 1981 an Alan Ashworth and Carol Mattia were living at Fairway. By 1982, Robert and Ann Emery were living there. These may have been tenants, rather than owners. By1989 Jonathan and Catherine Lang had bought Fairway. We think that they were married in the Guildford area in 1965. The Langs sold Fairway to the current owners in 2016. An agent’s photo of the house is shown (left) with thanks.
Orchard Cottage (previously Ardeley)
Orchard Cottage was the first house to be built by the Shermans in Rowe Lane – in 1903 – nestling in the corner between Rowe Lane and Bullswater Lane. It was named Ardeley, which is the name of a small village 3 miles east of Stevenage. We have shown 2 extracts from the original building plans below. The position of the driveway has been changed – probably to avoid having to turn into the main road after the road-widening scheme was implemented in 1939.
The first occupant, as a tenant, was Ernest Ifill Shadbolt. Unusual names, and an unusual person. His story is very well documented by the Epsom and Ewell History Explorer here: https://eehe.org.uk/24112/shadboltpark/ We recommend the reader to visit this site and read about Ernest. There are some fascinating stories about him (we liked the violin story in particular). And how many of us know about Shadbolt Park, which still exists in Worcester Park, or Shadbolt House?
We won’t repeat his early history here, but Ernest (1851-1938) had retired in 1906 as Director of Railway Construction to the Government of India and returned to England, aged 57. It looks as though Ernest rented Ardeley at that time and lived there alone (he never married), supported by a housekeeper. His recreations were recorded as “Music, Cycling & Gardening”. So Pirbright must have been an ideal spot for Ernest to settle down.
In 1910 he bought Ardeley from the Shermans. Lucia Stevens, a widow who had been born in Venice, was his housekeeper from 1915 to 1921. Lucia had married a Frederick Stevens (who was not closely related to the multitude of Pirbright Stevenses) in Guildford in 1903. In 1920, Ernest bought the land that would become Shadbolt Park, and built Shadbolt House there. He moved from Ardeley into Shadbolt House c1922.
The next owners of Ardeley were Robert (“Robbie”) and Mary Arbuthnot. Robert Wemyss Muir Arbuthnot was born in Edinburgh in 1889. He was a scion of the family that founded Arbuthnot Latham, the Merchant Bank, in London in 1833. Robbie’s grandfather, Archibald Arbuthnot (1805-1879, and a great name, we think) was a brother of John Alves Arbuthnot (1802-1875), the founder.
Robert’s father was a barrister, who died when Robbie was less than 1 year old. Robbie served in the Royal Field Artillery during WW1 and was promoted to Captain. In 1915 he married Mary (nee Coghill in 1891) in Market Drayton. Her father was a manufacturer of Borax there. They had 3 children.
After WW1, Robbie joined the family bank and the family lived in London (Beaufort Gardens, which was very close to Harrods) with Robbie’s mother. One of their children, Andrew Arbuthnot, was to become chairman of the bank in the 1970s, and was ordained.
The Arbuthnots moved to Ardeley c1923. A distant relation, Harold Arbuthnot, had bought Merrist Wood in 1918. Robbie and Harold shared the same great-grandfather, so we think it unlikely that they knew each other prior to Robbie’s move to Pirbright. However, both men were prominent locally, and their surname is unusual, so it is highly likely that they met during the next few years. While in Pirbright, Robbie became President of the local British Legion Club. In 1929, during Robbie’s presidency, Captain Stanley hosted the Admiral of The Fleet, Lord Jellicoe (President of the British Legion), at a British Legion rally and fete at Furze Hill.
The Arbuthnots moved to Hertfordshire, and retired to Somerset. Robbie died in 1962 and Mary in 1986 (aged 95). A photo of Robbie is shown left.
The next owner was Mrs Mildred Ricardo. She bought the house c1928, but allowed the Arbuthnots to live in the house for a short while. The Arbuthnots paid rent of £200 per annum (today £11,000) to Mildred for the privilege. Mildred was born Mildred Bircham in 1871 at Lancaster Gate, just north of Hyde Park. Her father, Samuel Bircham, was a solicitor, and a wealthy one - when he died in 1923 he left an estate valued at £158,000 (excluding any property). This would be worth £8 million today. This is not surprising. Samuel (1838-1923) was the son of Francis Thomas Bircham (1810-1883), who was the Halsey family’s solicitor. Samuel’s sister, Katharine (1839-1920) married Edward Joseph Halsey (1836-1905). We have written more about these rather complex relationships in the section dealing with Admiral’s Walk.
In 1889 Mildred had married Arthur Ricardo, born in Somerset in 1858, and so 13 years older than her. Arthur was a stockbroker, and they lived at Kensington. They had 4 children and moved to Cobham. In 1905 they bought a house called Stony Yarrows at Mayford (on the Old Guildford Road, just south of the roundabout). The house was next to a much larger house called Yarrowfield, which was owned by Mildred’s parents, Samuel and Caroline (nee Halsey) Bircham.
One of their children, Helen (aged only 19 at the time) married Leonard Cyprian Giffard Booth in 1914. Leonard and Helen bought Avila in Malthouse Lane in 1918, and we have told their story in the Malthouse Lane section. Another of their children, Leslie, married Helen (nee Scott) in 1920. They were to live in Ardeley during the 1930s, and we write about them a couple of paragraphs below.
Arthur died in 1925, aged 67, and it was 3 years later that Mildred bought Ardeley. She lived in the house for a short while, but appears to have moved back to Stony Yarrows in 1933, allowing her son and his wife, Captain Leslie and Helen Ricardo to live at Ardeley. Mildred retained ownership of Ardeley, however.
Leslie was born in Kensington in 1893. He joined the Royal Navy in 1911, aged 18 and served on the battleship HMS King George V at the Battle of Jutland in 1916. Helen (nee Scott) was born in Manitoba, Canada in 1894, the daughter of a surgeon who had been born in Scotland. They married in St Giles in 1920, by which time Leslie was a Lieutenant Commander, and had one daughter. Leslie was promoted to Commander in 1928.
He died in a Royal Naval Hospital in 1943, following an accident while on leave (thus denying Helen a naval pension). A notice of his death is shown right, together with a photo of his headstone in Brookwood Cemetery. After Leslie’s death, Helen moved to Runfold, but she moved back to Pirbright in the early 1950s, living at The Gate House in Burrow Hill, then Burners with her daughter, Susan. Helen lived at Burners until her death in 1965 in Mt Alvernia Hospital.
After returning to Stony Yarrows in 1933, Mildred became a local magistrate as well as being active on local committees. She was Chairman of the local Red Cross branch and Guild of Social Service, amongst other appointments. She died in 1950.
The occupants of Ardeley from 1944 were Anthony Kenneth and Mary Forbes. Anthony was born in Hampstead in 1908, the son of a Lloyds underwriter. Mary (nee Bromley) was born in Kilnhurst, near Rotherham, in 1910, the daughter of a priest. In 1939 they were both living in the same hotel (or boarding house) just off Park Lane. Anthony was a Deputy Lloyds underwriter, while Mary was a floral decorator. They married the following year in Westminster and had 3 children.
In 1949 Anthony wrote a sharp letter (see cutting left) to the Surrey Advertiser, complaining about the local council’s inability to empty their septic tank. A cynic might say that, if one was to swap pothole filling-in for septic tank emptying, then nothing much has changed. In 1950 the Forbes family moved to Flexford House, a Grade II listed building nestling beneath the Hog’s Back in Wanborough. Perhaps they had finally given up with their septic tank. Anthony died in 1978 at Flexford House, leaving £370,000 (worth £2 million today). Mary died in 1995.
In 1951 Eliot Kingsmith and Betty Power bought Ardeley. Eliot was born in 1899 in Kensington, the son of a member of the Stock Exchange. His family soon moved from London to Sandpit Hall, Chobham. He studied at Clare College, Cambridge.
Betty was born Betty Escott Jordan in 1896, the daughter of a Brickworks manager in Kenilworth. In 1925 she married a John Lane in Warwick, but the marriage did not last. They appear to have been divorced, as by 1938, Eliot and Betty had married and produced a daughter, Katherine Eliot Power. Eliot and Betty at this time were living in Ceylon (today, Sri Lanka), where Eliot was a planter. In 1959 Katherine married Robert Godwen-Austen, whose family lived at The Manor House. The wedding took place at St Michael’s and was conducted in part by the Bishop of Guildford. Eliot died in 1969 (leaving an estate of £78,000, worth £1 million today) and Betty in 1978, still living at Ardeley.
In 1981 the house appears to have been empty. By 1992 Peter and Gill Deering were living there and the house had been renamed Orchard House. They moved to South Africa, and in 2004 the house was bought by Jeremy and Oonagh Swan. In 2016 the house was bought by the current owners.