This is a sponsored post. Having lived in our home for almost a quarter of a century now I’ve always felt the custodian as well as the owner of it. Because as well as the families that came before there are families to come too. Long after we are gone new families will take up the mantle as caretaker. So it’s our job to preserve these old walls however big or small, architecturally significant or not for future generations. Each old home is a snapshot of history which is why for so long I have wanted to know who roamed these corridors (well your get what I mean) before me. Who were they? What did they do? Did anything scandalous happen here?? Will I find my ghost?? Well now I can reveal all. My homes amazing history is about to unfold, with a little help from Find My Past.
The 1921 Census Release
But before we get to that bit there’s exciting news afoot!! Every ten years sees a new census release from exactly 100 years ago. And as of this January the 1921 Census for England and Wales became available online with Find My Past. In fact the 1921 census amounts to 30 tonnes of paper records which Find My Past have been restoring and digitising for us all to see. They are a significant snapshot into lives 100 year ago. And vitally important too. The 1931 Census was destroyed in a fire. And the 1941 Census was cancelled due to the war making the 1921 census historically important. We won’t see the next one until 2051. And so if like me your home was built in 1921 or before, you too can start to trace not only your family tree but your homes past too.
Now I am a very lucky in this respect. You see I own all the original paperwork for my home. Right back to the day it was sold as a parcel of land in 1894. So I’m in rather a unique position in that I already know the names of everyone who ever owned the house, the question is though, did they live here? And if not who did? So lets get to it shall we. Come and join me on a journey back in time to 1894.
The 1891 Census
And so lets go back to 1891 where we find Mr Henry Whiteway Wilkinson Esq who currently owns the parcel of land on which the building of my home is going to be commence. From what I can tell Henry was a bit of a local property magnet. Not only was he amassing a property portfolio but he was also a clay merchant too. The area where I live is renowned worldwide for it’s china clay. Still is in fact. With many of the fine china manufacturers worldwide still using china clay dug from the ground only a matter of miles from my home. You only have to try and dig a hole in my garden to find a rich seam of clay less than a foot below ground!
In fact Henry was not just a clay merchant but a prominent one at that. His company Whiteway & Co thrives for many years. In fact he’s instrumental to improving the transportation of clay in this area too enabling it to travel the globe. He shipped over 40,000 tons of china clay annually by rail across the country in the early 1900’s. And almost as much again by sea. In 1901 he even bought a steam tug boat called Bonchurch to assist vessels entering and leaving Teignmouth Quay to help speed up the loading process.
And as if that wasn’t enough, because lord knows Henry was an accomplished man, he was also a surgeon. It appears he was taking after his father in that respect. Born and bred in London though, there is one strange thing I find in his history. He appears in every census in London as a child but his christening, aged 7 is at our local Church. And then once married he moves down here. London to Devon was a long and a time consuming journey back then and there’s no evidence that the family has ties down here in Devon. Not to mention that in that day and age you christened your children quickly, just in case. To wait until he was 7 seems unheard of. I guess I’ll never know.
Anyhoo, it seems he had a mainly happy and prosperous life, raising 9 children (8 boys and a girl, I’m crossing my legs just at the thought) together with his wife Charlotte. In 1915 during World War 1 they opened their house and set aside 8 beds for injured officers. Little were they to know that only a year later in 1916 sadly they would loose their own son John to the war. To this day Henry and Charlotte remain side by side, I found them in our local church yard. And although his part in my homes history is fleeting, I felt his story was too good not to share.
And so let me introduce you to William Ward Lear (Accountant and from my research a man with am alter ego too who henceforth, by his own request I will call Willie). Willie leases the land for the house from Mr Henry Whiteway Wilkinson Esq for 99 years on the 25th day of March 1894 for the princely sum of £1 per year. The lease states that he is:
To complete before the 25th of March 1895 a messuage or dwellinghouse with all necessary outbuildings, walls etc upon the said piece of ground and to expend thereon the sum of £250 at the least.
Doesn’t give him much time does it?? A year to the day in fact!! And it’s at this point that I first find him relating to the history of the house. In a newspaper article we see the granting of planning consent. And not long after in the ‘Local Intelligence’ section which tickled me. He is putting the building work out to tender requesting sealed bids. And a week or so later there’s another newspaper entry accepting Mr Robert Yeomans tender for the building work. I’m not sure if nepotism comes into play here as it turns out that Yeoman lived on the same road as the plot of land. Or, if it was a case of penny pinching on Willie’s part as his bid I am assuming was the lowest and nearest to the minimum Willie had to spend at £256 🙂 The highest bid was considerably more at £370!!
At this point I also find out the name of the architect of the house too. A Mr Samuel Segar. From references to him in the newspapers around this period I find that he lives locally in a village called Highweek. But also has offices in the town centre near by. He was obviously THE man to go to when you wanted to build anything at that time too. In fact he seems to have designed more or less every building around that time both commercial and residential including the local cinema which still stands today.
There’s no mention of the house for the next couple of years though and I finally get to see the house actually lived in on the 1897 electoral register. And then again in 1899. There’s Willie Ward Lear for all to see all be it briefly as he’s soon to move on. But before we do, I have to tell you more about Willie!! He was definitely a bit of a black sheep or perhaps a Victorian ‘Del Boy’ 🙂 Willie appears quite a few times in the paper over the years and oftentimes for being rather naughty!
In 1899 Willie appears on two electoral registers! But at 20 years of age he actually isn’t allowed to vote! Let alone in two parishes! We find him in court for one of these addresses only though where they strike him off the list for being underage. Seems he gets away with the registry for my home though!
A few years later in 1905 we find him back in court again!! This time for travelling with the GWR without a ticket. Caught in the act by a conductor he tries to pay retrospectively but the conductor is having none of it. Willie walks away remarking, ‘I’ll make it hot for you’. But it appears the conductor has the upper hand and Willie receives a fine of 40 shillings and costs!
He next appears not once but twice in 1910. I’m not sure how her goes from an upstanding citizen to a thief and a drunk but he’s obviously well know by the judge! Firstly he steals a watch. The Chairman says the prisoner does not deserve much consideration for his behaviour is notorious! And that he was a man with abilities who does not make use of them because he is always drinking!
Later in the same year see Willie stealing a pair of trousers for which he is sent to Prison!! He seems to have a propensity for lying. And the gift of the gab does not work for him this time. Of all the things to go to prison for! A pair of trousers. A sorry tale if ever there was one of a life spiralling out of control.
Sadly the last newspaper reference to him is in 1925. As a result of a work accident he dies what must have been a painful and horrible death. And the court awards his widow Emily £300 in compensation. The poor man it seems lead a double life. The demon drink taking it’s toll on a once upstanding citizen. And so another page in the history of my home is written.
Ironically another addition to the original 1894 deed now leads me onto our next owner. Because it’s at this stage that you can also find the following lines. Can you guess the next owners profession 🙂 :
The Leasee will not use or permit the said premises to be used as an Inn Tavern or Public House nor allow the same or any part thereof to be used for the sale of wine, spirits, ale, beer or any other intoxicating liquors whatsoever.
The 1901 Census
Meet James Henry Norrish (Licensed Victualler ironically) who buys the house on the 2nd of December 1899 for the princely sum leasehold of £341 after seeing it up for sale in the East & South Devon Advertiser in November of the same year. Sold at auction as a ‘desirable property’ a Mr William Ward starts the bidding. He also rather strangely has a very, very similar name to the previous owner Mr William Ward Lear! Is this another of his misdemeanours??
Mr Norrish just so happens to also own Norrishs King Arms Hotel which you can see above. If you look carefully you can just about see our house in the picture too. At the far left hand side. Born in 1862 James it seems lives at the Kings Arms (which by the way is still there and has been in one form or another since 1842 ).
I only find the one reference to Norrish and my home though. And so with a little digging I find that he puts the house up for rent only 10 days after he buys it. And on the 1901 census I find that James and Gertrude Mason live in the house along with their children Maggie, Daisy and Dorothy. Mason as the time of the census has an occupation of ‘Traveller as Book Agent’. I’m not entirely sure from his job description exactly what he did. Nor actually how long they live at the house either.
The house is up for sale again in 1910 but this with a sitting tenant by the name of Mr Partridge who pays the princely sum of £19 a year to live here. I wonder when the Mason’s moved out and the Partridge’s moved in? I can’t find any reference to them at all related to the house apart from the above newspaper cutting. And so on the 9th of June at 3pm in The Kings Arms the house changes ownership again.
The 1911 census
And so the 22nd of June 1910 welcomes Thomas Morgan Harris (a farm bailiff) to ownership of my home. He pays a whopping £362 for it! It’s not exactly sky rocketed value wise over the last 11 years has it?? Hailing from Dorset Thomas is the head bailiff for a local Country Estate. Working under Lord Clifford at Ugbrooke House just down the road from us his job would have included collecting rents for tied cottages and land. There is still a lord Clifford today and the house and Estate are still very much standing too.
This is a guess but given that Thomas buys the house in June 1910 with a sitting tenant I imagine that he never lives here as he signs a lease on the house to a new tenant on December the 24th 1910.
the 1921 census
And so we welcome Cecil George Hearn who move in on Christmas day 1910 paying only £19 per year (the same as Mr Partridge) his rental agreement lists the following fixtures and fittings:
- Blind Rollers in each room
- The bath and water supply to same with 2 brass taps. The original kitchen is now the far end of our sitting room so I’m assuming there was a water supply in here but I’ve never found evidence of pipework. Apparently there was also a scullery and larder along with a coal store and outside loo. I am guessing these were demolished at some point. The the house was extended in the 20’s. Along with the addiction of the outhouses .
- Glass & Galvanised Iron veranda over back door. No longer there as the outbuildings at some point became attached to the house
- The deal and painted cupboard in the front bedroom – The remains were still in our bedroom when we moved in. Sadly though it was too far gone to repair
Cecil was born in 1887 in Dunsford, Devon. The son of a Vet Surgeon, Manure Merchant, Postmaster and General Merchant, he takes after his father and is also a vet qualifying MRCVS (London) on the 17th of December 1900. He moves into the house along with his wife Annie and their young son Percival Henry Batting Hearn (I always wondered where ‘Batting’ comes from and it turns out that it’s Annie’s maiden name). At some point around this time Cecil also sees service in the Boer War as a civilian veterinary surgeon.
1911 also sees another new addition to the family, this time a girl. Eileen Josephine Hearn is born on August the 2nd. It also welcomes Louis a retired farmer (aged 72) and Charlotte (aged 60), Annie’s parents to the house. I’ve no idea how they all fitted in to be honest. At this point it was a 3 bed house and there’s 4 adults and 2 children living here.
Sadly Charlotte dies in 1913. And shortly afterwards in 1914 Cecil goes to war again as part of the Army Veterinary Corps. He’s a temporary Lieutenant and at some point he makes temporary Captain too. His job would have been to look after the training and care of all the animals especially the horses which were very much the Landrover of the day
Exactly 9 years to the day of moving in Cecil finally buys these four walls that he called home. On the 24th December 1919 he buys not only the house but the lease too making it now a freehold house. And by the 1921 census Cecil, Annie, Louis, Percy and Eileen all still live here together. In fact they are a team until 1927 when sadly Louis also dies aged 88.
The 1939 Register
We next hear from the Hearn’s on the 1939 Register. And by now he’s opened a practice here at the house. The outhouses built at the back of the house were the consulting rooms. Cecil is obviously still a vet only he now has employees in the form of his son and daughter. Percy is working as a veterinary assistant to his father who incidentally I know also became a vet too. Eileen’s job description though tickled me and made me smile. Her job title is Secretary & Chauffeurs to veterinary surgeon & unpaid domestic duties!! How’s that for a job description.
Sadly though as with all stories we are coming to the end of our journey through time. And so now it’s time for the sad part……..The first to leave us in Cecil in 1966. By all accounts Cecil is truly a well respected man. He turns up several times in the news over the years in his capacity as a vet. He’s found treating wounded horse’s. Attesting to the cruelty of a dog shooting. And was often the duty vet at the local races and hunt. In fact he’s an owner himself of a racehorse at one point.
Eight years later in 1973 Annie sadly follows him. RIP. And Percy dies less than a decade later in 1983 in Worthing, Sussex. I’ve no idea how he comes to be there. Nor when he qualifies as a vet but I know he had a practice too in our village. Eileen (sigh) is the final piece in the jigsaw puzzle. We move into the house in 1997 and sadly she I’m guessing is in a nursing home. She dies, bless her in the year 2000, the year my middle son is born.
I worry about Eileen and Percy. Neither married. Did either ever find love? Eileen I know lived a very quiet life. And as she grew older she became more eccentric. She was seen scrubbing the front steps after dark. And rather than replace a Wedgewood style wallpaper that had become faded coloured it in!! She most certainly owned cats too! The house was jumping with fleas when we bought it. Her father would have turned in his grave.
After hours and hours of research I truly feel like I know my home like never before. In a way I feel even more deeply connected to it. Part of me especially wants to find where Eileen is buried to take her flowers. And sit for a while to tell her that the home she lived in for for 80 odd years is still as treasured and loved as when she lived here. I want to tell her about my boys too. And my love of horses. And of course that she’s not forgotten. She’s family in a way, connected not through blood, but bricks and mortar. I hope in a hundred years time that maybe the owner of these four walls circa 2122 might do the same and come and find me.
And there we have it My Homes Amazing History With Find My Past. On a lighter note it appears that although these walls don’t actually speak that you can indeed find out an awful lot about your homes history! Who lived in yours? Are there scandals yet to be uncovered? Honestly, taking the time to find out and document your homes journey is such a worthwhile pastime. Have you had a go? If not, why not? And have I inspired you to give it a go yourself. Apparently (and I did not know this) knowing the history of your home even adds value to it!!
NB. Although ‘My Homes Amazing History With Find My Past’ is a sponsored post all words and thoughts as well as all the research has been done by myself. I’ve absolutely loved every minute of this collaboration and hope it’s made you excited enough to trace your own homes history too. If you’ve enjoyed my story please take a mo to leave a comment below xx
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