A Country Tale - Images of Rural Life

Looking at this week’s prompt it seems appropriate to write about dogs, shepherds, sheep, views, and/or gates. Why then have I chosen to write about countrymen with beards? Simply because the Sepia Saturday photograph (left) reminds me of my great-great grandfather Benjamin Stopps. The two men don’t look particularly alike. The similarity has more to do with them both being men of the land.

My father was also a 'man of the land', a farm worker through and through.  He judged the weather by the feel of the wind and the smell of the air. Clouds don’t only have silver linings they also have a myriad of different colours and hues, each with a different meaning. Did you know a yellow tinge to the clouds is a forewarning of snow?  It may not be true in other parts of the world, but it certainly is in England.   

Farming is a recurring theme in my family. My great-great grandfather Benjamin Stopps (1845-1928) lived and worked at Little Kimble in Buckinghamshire, England. According to the 1881 census, he farmed one hundred and thirty seven acres with the help of two men and a boy. An aunt of mine described him as a witty, handsome fellow with shining flashing eyes. I have to say he looks very dashing in this, the only photograph I have of him. Dressed in his best (or perhaps only) suit Benjamin is pictured at the wedding of his daughter Clara Ann Stopps to Edwin Thomas Bonham in the summer of 1906.

Images of rural life (the title of this post) suggests more than one photograph, not wishing to disappoint I'm going to share a few unrelated images of English country folk.  I hope you enjoy them.

This is James Minns c1901, reputed to be the oldest woodcutter in England. Born in Ditchingham, Norfolk in 1826, he was seventy-five when the photograph was taken. Suffering from failing eyesight the authorities decided James would be better of in the workhouse. James disagreed declaring he would sooner lie down and die by the side of the road. When the local squire heard this he offered him a free cottage and a shilling a week for the rest of his life.

Can you guess the occupation of 'Brusher' Mills?  In this photograph taken c1895 he is holding a two-pronged fork and has a large pair of tweezers hanging from the front of his waistcoat.  Both useful items when you spend your days catching snakes. Once caught the snakes were exhibited and sold at fairs and horse sales.

The falconer; Major C. Hawkins Fisher, of Stroud, Gloucestershire. November, 1901. 

This photograph taken in the North Riding of Yorkshire c1900 shows Kit Metcalfe knitting stockings. Kit knitted the fancy tops while his wife Betty did the rest.   

A forester on the South Ormsby estate, Lincolnshire enjoying a clay pipe after his midday meal. 

The following image shows a carter carrying the sign of his trade, a whip, he is wearing a carter’s smock and a crowned felt hat. The male 'smoke frock' or smock, evolved in the mid 1700s and continued to be worn until after the First World War. Roomy, long-sleeved and extending to the knees, smocks were worn to protect workers from the elements, and to keep their clothes clean.  

This fine looking chap with his flock of Hampshire Downs Sheep was photographed somewhere near Stonehenge, Wiltshire c1900. It's likely he and his sheep were on the way to the Marlborough sheep fair.

A report of the Marlborough Sheep Fair in the Swindon Advertiser August, 1902.

Thanks for visiting. Let me now guide you over to Sepia Saturday where you will be able to see what the rest of the flock are up to.

The Sepia Saturday photograph taken by Colonel Joseph Gale in 1890 is titled Ninety and Nine a Biblical reference to the parable of The Lost Sheep (A shepherd with one hundred sheep goes out to look for the missing one). 

With thanks to Alan Smith/Louise Janes-Stopps for the photograph of Benjamin Stopps
All other photographs Country Life, London.

High Holborn Farm - then and now.

High Holborn Farm is another of those names from the past; 

My dad (Denis William Flitney) and my grandmother (Daisy Clara Flitney nee Stopps) must have discussed the farm, but I don’t remember any of the stories. I just have a strong recollection of the name and the fact that it was close to a place called Little Kimble in Buckinghamshire. Terry and I visited Little Kimble several times during our holiday but the farm always eluded us. Then on the final day, we decided to have one last try. We drove around the area a few times and were on the point of giving up when we happened upon an elderly lady out for a walk.   A quick question to her and we were on our way. I can’t tell you how exciting it was to see the name. It’s somewhere I've ‘known’ for more than 60 years without knowing it at all.

William and Mary Stopps (via ancestry.com)

Research shows that my great grandfather William Benjamin Stopps (Jan 1866 - Feb 1940) and his wife, Mary Ann Stopps née Walker (1864 - 1935) were living at the farm at the time of the 1901 census. Prior to that William and Mary and four of their children lived at Barge Close Cottages, Main Road, Little Kimble. In the 1891 census, William was recorded as an agricultural labourer but by the time of his move to the farm his title had changed to farmer.   This appears to show a step up the social ladder but much more research needs to be done to find out if William owned the farm or was employed as a tenant farmer.   

According to paperwork kindly passed on to me by my cousin John (Flitney) William was set up on the farm by his father who gave him two cows and his wife’s great Aunt (Hilsden) who gave him a pig. At the time of the 1881 census, Benjamin (William’s father) was living at Lower Farm, Little Kimble employing two men and a boy to work his 137 acres. There will be more about Benjamin in a later post, but for now I want to concentrate on William, Mary and their children.

High Holborn Farm in the 1920s.

The 1901 census records five children living at High Holborn Farm;

Annie Edith aged 16 (1885-1931) mothers’ help.

Albert William aged 15 (1886-1945) farmer's son.

Henry Owen aged 13 (1887- 1947) farmer's son.

Florence Elizabeth aged 12 (1891-1977) scholar.

Daisy Clara aged 9 (1892-1981) scholar.  (Daisy Clare is my grandmother later married to Arthur Denis Flitney)

The 1911 census also records another daughter Violet May (1904-1932)  

William and Mary had one other son - Arthur Ernest born 5th December 1902 - died 13th March 1903.

It’s strange to think I have so many aunts and uncles I know nothing about. I do recall stories about Auntie Flo (Florence Elizabeth), so will be exploring those stories and seeing what else I can discover to share in later posts.

While searching through old newspaper looking for anything concerning the family, I came across this little snippet from the Bucks Herald, 12th March, 1921.

Ermine in Bucks;
On Feb 20th Mr. F. H. Parrott sent to the Bucks County Museum at Aylesbury a stoat killed at Kimble by Mr. Wm. Stopps that had assumed the completely white colour, which is unusual with these animals every winter in very cold climates. In this state, their skins are the fur known as ermine. In England, this change of colour is a comparatively rare occurrence, and one would not have expected to find such a fine example after the mild winter that we have experienced this year. It may be noted that the black tip to the tail never changes colour even in the coldest climates.

I contacted the Bucks County Museum to see if the stoat was still in their collection and received a very helpful reply from Mike Palmer (Keeper of Natural History).  The following is a précis of that reply.

We do have a record for the stoat in the museum register which reads “Stoat, female killed at Kimble after a long spell of mild weather, 20th Feb 1921 (quite white except for small space round each eye). Obtained from Mr. F. H. Parrott”.  Mr. Parrott and his brother donated a large number of geological specimens to the museum. Both are from a well-known family of Aylesbury solicitors (Parrott and Coales Solicitors still have an office in Aylesbury today).

In 1968, a major audit of the Museum’s collection was undertaken, and this specimen was unfortunately not found. Strangely, there are three more white/yellowish white stoats in the collection, two from Marsh near Kimble collected by a Mr. Franklin in February 1911 and again in 1912 along with another from nearby Aylesbury collected by a Mr. Batson in February 1922.

Mike ends his reply by saying, “it’s a pity we couldn't come up with the stoat or Mr. Stopps”.   

Thanks for trying Mike!

So back to trawling newspapers I came across another cutting this one concerning the death of Mary.

Bucks Herald 8th February 1935.

Stopps  - on February 3rd, Mary Ann Stopps, of High Holborn Farm, Little Kimble, passed peacefully away, aged 71 years.

A week later, the same newspaper carried this report of the funeral;

The funeral of Mrs. Mary Ann Stopps, wife of Mr. Wm. Stopps of High Holborn Farm, Little Kimble, took place at Princes Risborough Baptist Church on Thursday week. A service was held at Little Kimble Free Church, conducted by the Rev. H. C. Shaddick, prior to the interment.

Mrs. Stopps died on the previous Sunday. She had been in failing health for some time, but was actually confined to bed only a few weeks, ever since her 71st birthday. She was a native of Wendover, and had lived with her husband at High Holborn Farm for 44 years. They celebrated their golden wedding last November.

Both Mr. and Mrs. Stopps were regular attendants at the Kimble Free Church, and a number of fellow members of the congregation were present at the funeral.  

I'm curious to find out more about the family and what happened to the farm. William died in 1940 so presumably his tenancy (if that was what it was) ended with his death but what of his sons and daughters, did none of them want to work on the land? Had they all married and moved away by then? How did two World Wars touch their lives?

High Holborn Farm July, 2014.

The idea for this blog came about in July 2014 after a visit to Buckinghamshire. At that time, I had no intention of finding out more, and was certainly not interested in researching back through the generations. Initially, the blog was a way to share the photographs from the holiday. Since then it's become an all-consuming habit! I knew nothing of genealogy or family history research three months ago so this is a very steep learning curve. I hope you will bear with me as I stumble around looking for clues.  

Until next time, Barbara.