Author: suzanneedwards161

Origins and early setting

Located on what is now Elms Dyke, Pear Tree Cottage was originally part of a large farm complex, with land stretching beyond it towards Kiln Lane. 

This early photograph above shows the house looking from Churchill Road with the trackway looping to its left. The boundary wall can just be seen on the left. 

The buildings behind are likely to have been part of the farm, as the current owners of property on the site have found buried foundations as well as a significant amount  of agricultural debris including animal bone and parts of farm equipment.

What looks like a pear tree can be seen growing in the front of the building. The current owners report that the remains of a very old pear tree was found in the front garden facing towards Churchill Road, though this has long since died. 

A second building remains standing to this day, once called Dairy Farm, known subsequently as Dalethorpe and currently named Churchill Cottage and was originally the dairy building for the farm. 

Brickwork at the top indicates that this property has been heightened in the past, probably once it became primarily a residential property. Prior to the rendering work on the southerly end of the building, the stonework indicated the presence of a doorway or window in the end wall. 

Residents in the early 20th century

The 1911 census shows William Joseph Emery (32), his wife Nellie (nee Wilson) (29) and sons William George, (9)  Jack (6) and Frank (2) living at Pear Tree Cottage.  

From a 1914 land survey and property valuation of Welton, we know the Pear Tree Cottage property was listed as house and garden, so evidently the farm had been gone some time, though the land did extend quite far back – see map on below (property no 119). 

At this time the property is listed as being occupied by W. Emery (William above) and owned by J. Emery (presumably a relative) of 3, Warwick Street, Daventry, who may have bought it in 1907 as this is the date given for the sale. It was described as a monthly tenancy, with the owner responsible for tithes and repairs and both parties paying rates and insurance. The property is described as follows: 

 “3 [rooms] down[stairs] and 3 up; closet (WC?), hovel, cowshed, pigsty and yard, small orchard (20 trees)”

It was given a gross value of £180.

The adjoining property – now Churchill Cottage – (plot 120) was by 1914 residential, owned and occupied by G Russell, with a living room, kitchen, scullery, 3 bedrooms, an attic and outside a shed, hen house, storehouse and small orchard or paddock, valued at £115.

The 1921 census records William Emery’s family living at entry 84 – we believe Dairy Farm. William J is listed as a dairy farmer. 

Mid‑century ownership

The next definitive information is we have on an owner is through classified adverts in the paper – Mr and Mrs Kemp who lived there at least between 1949 and 1951.  

Then Tony Hupfield purchased the cottage in the 1960s for £2150.  The receipt for the house still exists, shown below:

Tony was the son of Albert and Olive Hupfield who lived in Welton Manor (Churchill House) at this time.

Albert Hupfield was a successful businessman, who had established his own company in 1946 making precision engineering machinery, however, increasingly specialised in injection moulding machines. 

As part of his expansion plans, he and his brother took on the lease of land in Welton corresponding to the area of Elms Dyke today to build a plastics injection moulding factory which became known as Rugby Plastics.

The factory was designed to complement his existing base on the Edgware Road in London. (For more information on Albert Hupfield see Welton Manor history here).

Decline of original cottage and redevelopment

Tony quickly set about building a new house for his family. By the 1960s Pear Tree Cottage (green roof below) had become very dilapidated and so a new building was added to the far end of the existing cottage building and at right angles to it.

This was built by Frank Emery senior – the same 2 year old Frank who lived there in 1911.

The remains of this end wall remain within the current modern building within a small single storey extension.

The curve of the road into the area from Churchill Road was also changed, reducing the overall size of the original site, as seen in picture below. 

Eventually the rest of Pear Tree Cottage was demolished, and any footings remain buried in the front garden.

Modern layout and later history

The current owners of Pear Tree Cottage purchased the house directly from the Hupfield family in the 1980s. By this time Tony Hupfield was doing business from his home abroad.

The plastics factory was demolished, and the land sold to developers – giving rise to the development of Elms Dyke. One of Welton’s many streams flows out through the garden of Pear Tee Cottage. This may once have served the farm. 

Aerial photograph of current Pear Tree cottage showing modern layout of property, with Churchill Cottage to the right.

 Note layout of roads and development of bungalows on bottom of Churchill Road built during the early-mid 1970s. 

Roanoak, a building form a similar period, can just been seen on the left of Pear Tree Cottage, on land that was probably part of the original farm.

The Baptist Chapel on the corner of Ashby Road and Station Road began life as a blacksmith’s shop before being converted for worship around 1831. It was still operating as a chapel in 1914 according to Kelly’s Directory, offering 80 sittings, alongside St Martin’s Church (15th century) with 212 sittings and the red brick Wesleyan Chapel erected in 1858 with seats for 100.

The chapel building

The 1914 Welton land survey describes the chapel as occupying a fairly small site of about 35 square yards, with dimensions of 21 × 16 × 19 feet. A pencilled note suggests it was built of brick and stone, and the building was valued at £90. The chapel included rear accommodation and a gallery, with the church paying £4 rent and being responsible for repairs.

The interior was plain and modest. It is described as:

“quite plain inside, tile floor, small pulpit, coloured walls, plain deal box pews painted, [and] ceiling cracked badly”.

Photographs show box pews, a small pulpit, shuttered windows and half‑glazed upper windows.

There is evidence that in 1873 the chapel was put up for sale by auction, with the advertisement suggesting the building could be converted into a house (see Lot 3 on advert left). However, the 1914 land survey confirms that this did not happen as the plot remains listed as the Baptist chapel, and the 1911 census details confirm the continued use of the chapel as a place of worship. 

Ministers and congregational life

Whilst we don’t yet have a full list of preachers, the earliest known minister was Rev. Richard Robinson, listed in the 1849 Fawsley Hundred Directory. In the 1851 census he appears in Welton as a 57‑year‑old farmer of ten acres, born in Long Buckby, living in Welton with his wife Sarah. Their exact address is not recorded.

Later, Edwin Minor served as minister. A bricklayer by trade, he appears in the 1901 census at 67 Hill Street, aged 57, with his wife Sarah and daughter Heppy (short for Hepzibah) who was 20 at the time.

By 1911 he was living at Hope Cottage, now listed as Baptist Minister, with his wife and 11 year old grandson William Edwin Minor, born in Derby. We learn from the census records that Edwin and Sarah had six children, four still living, but we do not currently know which of Edwin’s children was the parent of William.

Hepzibah married George Smith in 1909 and lived at The Gables, and they went onto to become grandparents to Derek and Keith Smith. They had married on June 1^st , and took a house in Welton – as reported in the Welton Parish Magazine for that month!

According to the census, Hepzibah and George had one child born alive, though the child is not listed on the census.  We do, however, know this to be Roy, Derek and Keith’s father.

Edwin Minor, The Gables in background (photograph courtesy of Derek Smith)

Relationship between the chapel and Sunnyside

The current residents at Sunnyside understand that the chaplain for the chapel would have lived in the cottage originally. They believe that Sunnyside has been extended at least three times over its lifetime, adding a reception room and small kitchen onto an earlier smaller structure. 

There was a well at the back of the garden and an outside toilet in what is now the far corner. This toilet may relate to the chapel or the 3 adjoining cottages – see below.

Sunnyside was originally attached to cottages that extended along Station Road as far as the current Mill Cottage – as shown on map below for plots 190 and 221. Plot 190 accommodated 3 very small cottages and a yard (see*), whilst 221 includes a number of small, linked cottages as seen on old photographs from early in the 20^thcentury. 

Originally the chapel was a small separate structure close to the edge of Station Road. However, as the 1914 land survey below shows, it was bordered by the road and by the ground surrounding Sunnyside :

Sunnyside in the 19th and early 20th century

A land registry search by the current owners confirms that the house adjoining the chapel known today as Sunnyside existed by 1820, originally located to the right of the chapel further around Station Road. The chapel itself survived until sometime after 1914, later demolished with its footprint likely beneath Sunnyside’s garage.

The 1911 census records that a William Darby (58), a farmer and employer who was born and lived in Welton was resident in the village with his wife Mary (45) and their 15-year-old son Thomas William Darby along with Edith Stephens, an 18-year-old servant, born in Cubbington near Leamington Spa. Evidently Darby was a reasonably wealthy farmer and an employer. His own house is listed as having 7 rooms. Sunnyside Cottage was therefore a property rented out, but owned by his wife, Mary – see below.

According to the 1914 land survey this adjoining property extended some 546 square yards and was owned by Mrs M Darby of Welton (wife of farmer William Darby ) and occupied by Mrs Stock or Shockley: a Mary Stock (a woman of private means – i.e. her own wealth) does appear on the 1911 census living with her cousin, Annie Mason – but this is far from a definite link.

The house was rented for £12 quarterly, with the owner responsible for repairs. It was described as:

“brick and stone, 2 living rooms, a kitchen, 3 bedrooms, attic, hovel, closet, garden…” A pencilled note adds: “state of lathes bad at back”.

The property is valued at £195 and, excitingly for this project is now referred to as “Sunnyside”!

To the right of Sunnyside, as you move along Station Road stood a very small house and garden extending 240 yards owned by a non-resident (J. Brown) living in Leyton, Essex. There seem to be 3 small cottages on the plot* constructed of brick and stone, with one room downstairs, 2 rooms upstairs, a closet and washhouse and small garden. 

Again, a pencil note tells us:

 “Poor at back, v v small yard for 3; 2 closets for 3”.

 The valuation of £105 is based on 3 cottages and yard. It is this sort of substandard housing that was widely demolished in Welton early in the 20^th century. 

These buildings can be seen on the image below – note the three front doors on the building behind the figure – along with the linked cottages referenced earlier:

Occupants of Sunnyside

From the 1911 census Charles Robert Ashby, a farmer, and his wife Beatrice and servant Elsie Akers lived in Sunnyside.

However by 1912 a Mr S E Turnock lived there, as can be seen from a newspaper clipping thanking the paper for prize he had won!

The 1921 census tells us that the occupants of Sunnyside were widower Walter Bland (59), a carpenter and wheelwright. He had been born in Yelden, Bedfordshire. He lived with his sister, Sarah Ann Tooth (69) who was single and had been born in Newport Pagnell. She worked as a housekeeper. Walter’s employment details reports that he is working “on [his] own account” – in other words he is working for himself and not employing others. His sister records her employment status as “private” suggesting she has some form of independent means, or unofficial employment as her brother’s housekeeper. 

By 1939 Thomas William and Sylvia (Hill) Darby lived there. He is likely the son of William Darby mentioned earlier.  There is also a census listing of Arthur Elstone, a retired bank manager, but the record for this person is closed so we cannot establish a connection to the family. Mr Darby was a prominent figure in the village, a farmer who was on the parish council and served as the church warden. He died at his home in 1951. 

In 1952 Sunnyside was occupied by Alexander Hermann Hill, a radio engineer, probably for the BBC. Many BBC employees were accommodated in the area during and beyond WWII with the women living in the BBC hostel at Churchill House / Welton Manor and men having B+B accommodation in the houses of Welton and nearby villages. Although it could be that, given he shares a surname with Sylvia Darby (nee Hill), there may have been a familial relationship.

The current owners have lived in the cottage since the 1990s.

Oakmoor House is a Grade II listed building and was listed as such on 11^th March 1987.

It is described as “mid 18^th century, built of ironstone and plastered, with a corrugated iron roof covering thatch, 3 brick ride and end stacks. Windows are mostly 19^th century with wood lintyels. The door frame is 18^th century with pilasters and a small entablature above. It is believed that the roof timbers beneath the thatch are original.” 

Documents held in relation to property in Welton

The owners of the property hold several fascinating documents linked to the history of the property and its owners, going back as far as 1740s. Many are on vellum and have original wax seals still attached. 

In some cases, the seal is accompanied by an X indicating that one of the signatories to the document was not literate. Collectively what they show is that the property, once part of a larger portfolio of land, has been the subject of inheritance over many generations and that, in some cases, legal documents were sought as proof of identity before the final settlement of a behest. 

For full list of archived documents, please refer to appendix 1 here.

It seems that Oakmoor House was a significant property with outbuildings, adjoining land and orchard. The records trace an almost complete history of the property between 1740s and 1920s. It has over time been mortgaged, sold, divided into lots which were then sold and used to pay off debts incurred by a bankrupted member of one of the owning families. 

It had passed down through parents to children, but also through siblings and nephews / nieces making the history of ownership very complicated. There are references both to Oakmoor House and Oakmoor Cottage (see appendix 1 here)

It seems as if those who inherited the property did not live there during the 18^th and 19^th centuries, so it is likely that Oakwood House was lived in by tenants. The 1851, 1871 and 1881 census record several members of the Robbins family who were farmers in Welton, but no address is given. 

There were 4 distinct families of farmers holding 13921 and an unspecified number of acres respectively, as well as Thomas Robbins and his wife Mary, their sons Olo and Harry – both of whom appear on school registers in the 1880s. 

Within the 1881 census a John Gregory (37) is recorded at Welton whose occupation is listed as carver and his wife Martha A, also 37, with 2 sons – Norman (8) and Claude (6).  (NB the Gregorys are ancestors of the Emery family on the maternal side, see later in article.)

Both these boys appear on Welton school registers for the period. In the 1891 census John Gregory (46) is listed as a carrier living at 3 Upper Road – which we believe to be the current Ashby Road – with his wife Martha A and sons Norman and Claude. 

Could this be a descendent of the widow Gregory referred to in the documents? Upper Road is also known as Bragborough Road in this period. Interestingly in 1976 a newspaper report referenced a Gregory Cottage on Ashby Road. Could there be a connection here? The householders were Gregor and Lynne Kostin – so maybe not! (see update below).

In September 1899 the occupiers of the house advertised in the Daily Telegraph “furnished apartments…for one or two gentlemen”. Some partridge shooting and fishing was also offered.

A 1914 register of properties in Welton includes an entry for Oakmoor House as follows:

In the 1921 census there is a property recorded as Oaklands, registered to John Bester (51), a farmer, and his wife Kate (43). 

An adjoining property is listed as being occupied by Claude S Gregory (46) (son of John and Martha mentioned earlier), a farmer and widower, living with his children Alma (10), Selina (7) both born in Welton and his sister-in-law, Alma B Adnitt (30) who was born in Cold Ashby.  We know that Claude’s wife (Selina senior) died in childbirth giving birth to her daughter Selina junior, hence the children’s aunt living with them.  Selina junior is the mother of Frank and John Emery.

It could be that the Gregorys were occupying property in or near to Oakmoor House as the census confirms these properties were on Ashby Road. 

UPDATE: we now know that Gregory Cottage is the L shaped cottage going out of the village on the left by the postbox. This was definitely lived in by the Gregory family, relatives of the Emery’s through Frank Emery senior’s wife Selina.

Below, the house as it looks today.

Churchill Court

Churchill Court is intrinsically linked to Welton Manor and so it is useful to read both histories at the same time. See Welton Manor’s history here.

As the picture above shows, the house now called Churchill Court was built as stables and coach housing for the owners of what was originally Churchill House, now known as Welton Manor.

It is believed that Edward Adams (1623-1653) may have been responsible for the building of the original house that was known as Churchill House (now Welton Manor). A later 17^th century map of the Daventry and Welton area (see opposite) shows that the house had remained in the family and was now occupied by John Adams Esq. 

Edward Adams had married Ann Berkeley, whose father was Henry Berkeley Esq of Daventry; her uncle Robert, in 1637 ruled in favour of Charles I’s unpopular ship tax which was a factor eventually in the Civil War. He was impeached and imprisoned by the Long Parliament as a consequence!

The Rev Simon Adams (1693-1731) was the son of John Adams, and was vicar of Welton (from 1721) alongside Thomas Dunncombe. He married Ann Clarke – the daughter of John Clarke, and it is likely that this is how Churchill House and the attached stables / coach house came into the Clarke family. A burial record for 3^rd January 1817 was for a Mary Clarke, aged 73, resident at Churchill House. 

A September 1883 sale advertisement for Churchill House confirms that the stables and coach house were still a part of the property, which was described as a “hunting box”, recording:

What is most interesting for the history of the whole property is that this newspaper article confirms that at this point in 1883 the “residence and pleasure grounds and some of the grass land are and have been for many years in the occupation of – Haig. Esq, whose term expires at Michaelmas…”  which suggests the property may have been subject to a long-term lease so may not have sold in 1863. (Source: The Times 13^thOctober 1883)

The stables and coach house remained intact and a part of the property until well into the 20^th century. The picture at the top shows finely shaped arched windows in a stone wall which may have been an earlier part of the structure that was later added to. 

The 1901 census records Church House Stables as a separate dwelling and suggests that it was used to accommodate staff attached to the house:

• William Taylor (16) a groom, born in Daventry
• Thomas Surridge (16) a stable helper born in Welton

A sale booklet for the auction of Churchill House on Thursday 28^th May 1936  confirms that the stables and coach house were still linked to the main house at this time as it promotes the property with the following description: “excellent range of stabling, garages for 4 cars, groom’s flat.” Click on the image below to read the full brochure.

In 1953 the BBC who had owned Churchill House (now Welton Manor) sold to the Hupfield family, who established the Rugby Plastics Company on what is now Elm’s Dyke.  Other parts of the estate had been sold off separately by the BBC. The conveyancing documents relating to the sale were signed by the then Director General of the BBC, Sir Ian Jacob.  The Hupfield family continued to own the property throughout the 1960s. 

During this period Churchill Court (the stables and coach house) was converted for residential use and lived in by one of the Hupfield’s sons. 

After the death of Albert Hupfield in 1968, his widow, Olive, required a smaller property so part of the kitchen garden was walled off and local builder, Frank Emery Senior, built what is now Churchill House opposite the stables and coach house property. See second part of article below.

On 16^th January 1969 the main house came back on the market and by this time was firmly established as Welton Manor. 

Churchill Court (the old stable block) and Churchill House (1968 building) remained separately owner occupied. However, the property may have been leased at that point as it was in August 1975 that the Hupfields finally sold Welton Manor to a Welton land owner. 

The current owners of Churchill Court purchased the property from a family who had lived in the property for some time. Sadly, their lives were struck by tragedy when their young son was left with brain injury after falling into one of the ponds on site. The property was adapted to meet the subsequent needs of the child and all the ponds, the indoor pool and outdoor fountain decommissioned.

The property has been developed since its days as a stable and coach house block by at least two separate builders, but interesting traces remain of its earlier use including possible access to the hayloft, a ceiling entrance leading to the clock mechanism and some original stone window frames and walling.

Churchill House (modern day)

The information below relates to the modern building Churchill House built in 1968 and not Welton Manor which was, confusingly, once called Churchill House!

As referenced above, the house was built in 1968 when the Hupfield family (who founded Rugby Plastics on what is now Elms Dyke in the late 1960s) sold the manor, following the death of Albert Hupfield. At this time his widow, Olive, wanted somewhere smaller to live. Her daughter, Eileen Tull, and sons continued to live in Welton, until the Plastics factory closed to relocate within Daventry early in the 1980s. .  

Churchill House was built by Frank and John Emery’s father. It bears a close resemblance to Danesthorpe, a house on Churchill Road, also built by the Emery family, although Churchill House has undergone significant additional work since its construction. 

In order to create a designated space for the house, the Hupfield family parcelled off a piece of land from the manor, facing the stable and coach house block, and built the house in the grounds, retaining access rights via the manor entrance. 

The current owners believe that Doreen and Peter Miles were the only other residents in Churchill House after the Hupfields finally left Welton which was at the end of the 1970s or 1980. They remained in the property until 2001.

The current owners of Churchill House have occupied the property since 2001. 

Located on the left-hand side as you travel northwards up Churchill Road towards the church, The Firs dates from at least the 18^th century. During its history it has been called The Firs and Welton Cottage. Its exterior has elements of Georgian design appropriate to construction at this time, although it may have been built around a smaller older property. 

The house was also a small holding with extensive land to the side and rear including paddocks – hence the name of the 20^th century road of bungalows: The Paddock.

The property was extensively refurbished by Carl Ponder in the early 2020s and during the work a 1797 George III “Cartwheel” penny was found under a backdoor sill. This iconic large copper coin, measuring 36-37mm and weighing 28.3g was designed by Conrad Heinrich Küchler and struck at the Soho Mint, featuring a distinctive broad raised rim with lettering to prevent stop counterfeiting.

The obverse shows the king facing right wearing a crown of laurels whilst the reverse depicts Britannia seated. Over 8 million of these coins were minted and its equivalent value today would be about £1.63, so it was not a costly item to bury. But nonetheless, it would have been for a reason now long forgotten: perhaps to mark the date of work or possibly as a good luck token to assure wealth in the household. 

It also suggests that the house may have been built around this time or may just have been having work done on it! 

18^th Century

In the late 1700s a George Ringrose lived in this house. He is listed on the Welton Militia List for 1777. At one time he was a prosperous weaver, using the upper floor of the property which let in plenty of light as his workshop.

However, he was declared bankrupt in 1802, at which point he absconded. It seems that he later recovered his wealth as by 1819 he had applied to “inclose a seat at Welton Church”. 

19^th century

The 1851 census records the following people living at The Firs:

• Sarah Ann Hill (nee Munnings) aged 35, born in the Bahamas
• Louisa Arabella Hill aged 11 – her daughter, also born in the Bahamas
• Annie Hill aged 6
• Emily Celestine Hill aged 4 – born in Nassau in the Bahamas
• Edmund Stephen Hill aged 1 month and born in Welton; his baptism is recorded in the Welton baptism records on April 13^th, 1851
• George Allinton aged 45, born in Ireland and her brother-in-law, a surgeon in the British Army. 
• Also 3 servants

This was the family of Major Stephen John Hill of the British army – very much a career soldier. Stephen John Hill, KCMG, CB was born on 10^th June 1809 and was, during his lifetime was governor of, in turn, four British colonial possessions.

He was born in St Lucia and began his colonial service in Africa becoming Governor of The Gold Coast (now Ghana) in 1851. In 1854 he moved to become Governor of Sierra Leone, a post he was reappointed to in 1860. In 1863 he took on the Governorship of the Leeward Islands and Antigua and in 1869 he became Governor of Newfoundland, a post he held until 1876. 

Stephen Hill was of Irish ancestry but was taken into the Munnings household in the Bahamas following the death of his parents from fever in Honduras. It was through this this that he met and later married Sarah Ann Munnings. 

He joined the army on November 10^th, 1825, aged just 16.  He was promoted to Lieutenant on February 13^th, 1828, then Captain on April 15^th, 1842. He commanded an expedition eighty miles up the Gambia in 1849 and was active in several attacks against pirates in the area, which was the primary objective of his mission. 

Consequently, he was promoted to the brevet rank of Major on February 15^th, 1850 – obtaining his majority in September 1851 when he was appointed “Governor and Commander in Chief in and over Her Majesty’s forces and settlements and their dependencies on the Gold Coast.”

Sarah Ann Munnings was the daughter of Chief Justice William Munnings, who came from an old Norfolk family. Her mother was a Bahamian, it was claimed, “of pirate blood” and who had a relative who sailed with the infamous pirate Blackbeard and was killed at sea. 

Sarah Ann and Stephen were married in Nassau, by the Rev Strachan in 1830 when he was 21 and she was 14. This was however on her father’s stipulation that they should not “live together” for six years. 

They seem to have honoured this as their first child, William, was born in 1836 and christened at St Andrew’s, Surrey in Jamaica. We also know that Rev Strachan was a friend of Rev Daniel Darnell of Welton and his son, William Strachan, was registered as one of Darnell’s pupils at his school in what is now The Stone House, Welton.

Tragically, two months after William was born, Sarah Ann’s parents were drowned at sea by pirates whilst on their way to visit their new grandson. This may explain Stephen’s ruthless pursuit of pirates off the Gold Coast, West Africa later in his life. 

At this point in his career Hill was a lieutenant in the West Indies Regiment.  The family appear to have moved to London in the late 1830s, living at 57 Baker Street in 1839 and, in 1840s, living at 64 George Street, London. 

We know that in addition to Louisa, Annie, Emily and Edmund the couple had at least 2 other children: William (born 1836, who came to Welton), and Mary (born 1841). In total the Hills had nine surviving children.

The Welton connection

It is believed that she came to Welton for several reasons: to recuperate from colonial living and childbirth, as well as to recover from the bereavement following the deaths of at least two of her children. In the late 1840s Stephen Hill was pursuing pirates in West Africa. It is believed that her choice of Welton was in part due to personal association (Rev Strachan) and the proximity of shared acquaintances (Rev Daniel Darnell). 

She wanted her son to be educated with other friends and associates from the West Indies and so moved into The Firs, Welton. Her son, William, lodged with Rev Darnell in The Cottage (now the Stone House).  Here he is on the 1851 census for the Stone House.

Stephen Hill almost certainly visited her here, as their son Edmund Stephen Hill was born and baptised in Welton. 

Hills’ career, his military and political successes, were widely reported in newspapers across the globe including the Worcester Journal, the Birmingham Gazette, the New York Times to name but three! On Oct 2^nd 1869 The Morning Post (Canada) reported from the London Gazette of the day before:

Sarah Ann’s life however was far from the pomp and circumstance of her husband’s. She may have spent time with him in his posting to Sierra Leone (between 1854-1863) as evidence suggests they both lived at Government House there. However, she returned to England at some point where, tragically, in 1869 she went prematurely senile and died shortly afterwards.

Hill’s life after Sarah

In Newfoundland, Hill supported confederation with Canada and was disappointed when in 1869 the election gave the anti-confederacy the majority in the assembly. This aside he was a popular governor and seems to have re-married on 17^th February 1873 to Louisa Gordon and gone on to father yet another child: on March 19^th, 1875, in St John’s Newfoundland, the birth was recorded of Florence Inez Hill, her father listed as Governor. 

Colonel Sir Stephen Hill retired to London in 1876 where he lived at 72 Sutherland Avenue, Maida Vale. His death on October 20^th, 1891, aged 82, was announced in The Times. Probate was granted to his widow, Dame Louisa Gordon Hill of the same address. His personal estate was £184 11S 6d (equivalent: £27- 30K today).

20^th Century

In the 20th century The Firs became a modest smallholding without mains water. 

Ernest Porter, a dairyman, lived there with his family from at least 1905 into the 1930s. Later owners included Sarah Mills and latterly Mill Ellison. 

Mill, as she preferred to be known, was born Millicent in 1930 in London. Her dad was a policeman there. She first came to Welton when she was evacuated, aged 9. She didn’t stay long the first time though as she was soon sent to join her sister Joan, who had been evacuated to Grantham. However, in about 1954 Mill returned to Welton. During her growing up she didn’t particularly enjoy school and always wanted to work on the land and to be with animals.

She met her first husband, Gordon Whitbread and lived in Great Houghton. Sadly, Gordon was killed in a motorcycle accident when he was on his way to work. At the time their son, Stephen was only two weeks old, having been born prematurely.  Life was very hard, but Mill was always a hard worker.

She met her second husband, Jack Ellison in Weedon. He was a plasterer and together they wanted to buy a house and some land of their own. Then one day they learned of The Firs, a smallholding in Churchill Road, Welton being for sale and with the generosity of an acquaintance who loaned them the money to purchase the house and land, they moved in; needless to say they both worked hard and managed quickly to repay the loan.

The house was in quite a state with a dangerous electricity supply and no running water, but they set about improving the house and cultivating the land. They had pigs, sheep and hens. Jack was always busy working on the house. Their land stretched across to where The Paddock housing is now.  Although there was a well in the garden most of their water came courtesy of a spring across the road on the land of Mrs Phillips in The Old House. Mrs Phillips supplied water to several others, and had a pond across from Mill’s, where she grew watercress. Most weeks Mrs Phillips would pack up a picnic basket, and she and Mill would spend the day following the hounds.

 Mill and Jack had a daughter, Penny. Penny was born just before Christmas, in the midst of Mill getting the chickens and turkeys plucked ready for villagers! Penny was ‘horse and animal mad’ and Mill and Jack built stables for her horses. Stephen, Mill’s first child became a professional photographer for Fleet Street and for many weddings as well as being a car salesman. Sadly, he died in 2018.

Mill has four grandchildren: Garry a local tree surgeon, Phillip who lives in Canada with his family and has a business there too, and Jack and Daisy who both live in Barnard Castle, and who visited their Grandma often. She also has three great grandchildren, Amber, Stella and Jack.

Mill lived at The Firs until 2020. When unable to manage on her own she moved to live with Penny, enjoying Penny’s garden full of flowers, and waving to folks as they passed by. Once she needed more nursing care she moved into Astley Hall on Middlemore, Daventry. 

Memories and thoughts of Mill from Weltonians past and present

During all those years, Mill was well known to most Weltonians, young and old. Several of the youngsters were ‘paper boys and girls’ for her. Many folks recall finding her entrance hall stacked with books and goods which she had collected for the Kalli Animal Sanctuary, a charity in Guilsborough which was dear to her heart. 

Others remember fondly chatting to Mill as she delivered papers around the village…the papers stacked into the pram she pushed, helping with the weight of the deliveries! Evidently, she used a succession of prams as villagers’ children had grown out of them. Doubtless ‘Silver Cross’ never expected their prams would have a second life in this way! Of course, Mill would usually have one or two of her beloved dogs attached to the pram.

Mill always stopped and had a friendly word…Mill had time for everyone. She also looked after several folks’ greenhouses and gardens whilst they were away…always a very safe pair of hands. When the children came past on their riding lessons she would come out with biscuits for them and polos for the ponies and was fondly referred to as ‘Biccy Mill’.

After Mill moved out, the property was bought by the Ponders, who renovated it extensively and lived in it for a while, before selling to the current owner.

Over the generations Welton has had several vicarages. The earliest reference we have so far relates to The Old House opposite the green on the corner of Kiln Lane. In the 18^th century, it housed vicar Richard Nicholls who may have been responsible for some development of the property – possibly the “N” from the date stone refers to him. Meanwhile his curate, somewhat miserably, resided in the original vicarage. Church records show that in 1802, John Plomer Clarke exchanged part of The Stone House estate for an old dilapidated vicarage and incorporated the 1/3 acre plot with vicarage and barn into his garden at Welton Place. The original vicarage was to the West of the Church and given the position of the priest’s door in chancel, probably where the bungalow on the corner of Welton Park sits today.

The succeeding vicar, Rev Simon Adams and Thomas Duncomb a sequestrator, also lived at the Old House, before it was bought by farmer Thomas Gibbons in 1846. 

It was probably at this point that The Stone House at the top of the village became the vicarage. This included the period during which Rev Daniel Darnell was vicar (1846-1894). When Darnell retired in 1894, he continued to live, until his death in 1897, in The Stone House. The Stone House then ceased to be the vicarage and was advertised in The London Guardian on Wed 1^st September 1897 as an unfurnished “cottage” for retired clergy and church workers, being let to the vicar of Ashby St Ledger. The Church had by 1884 (but possibly rather earlier) built a new vicarage adjoining and connecting to The Stone House and this is what is pictured above.  

It was here that Darnell’s successor, Rev Edward Liddle, lived during his tenure as vicar between 1894 and 1902. It continued to operate as the vicarage until some time shortly before 1955, when it was demolished and Harrington House was built as the “new” vicarage, when it probably accommodated Rev John Gordon Taylor Kinnersley-Taylor, who was vicar of Welton for just three years. 

When the photo was first received, we were not immediately certain this was a photograph of Welton’s “old” vicarage.

However closer scrutiny of the front door revealed that this door can now be found as a back door to its original partner property, The Stone House ! (opposite) Evidently at the time of demolition this door was salvaged and put to good use elsewhere. 

The current property was built largely on the footprint of the old vicarage; a survey completed by the current owners revealed that the far end of the house has subsided slightly as it was built on previously undeveloped land, whilst the main house stood clearly on the platform of an earlier property, although with a slightly different orientation

Photo above; aerial view of new vicarage showing proximity to The Stone House (top left)

The new vicarage of Welton closed around 2005/6, probably when the last resident vicar, Ann Slater left, at which point the property became privately owned by the Holt family, who undertook some further development of the property, converting the garage into a lounge and building a bedroom above it. A greenhouse was built over what had previously been chicken sheds. 

The original inn

The Red Lion is an historic property that served as a central village pub for over a century before transitioning in the 1960s into a private residence known as The Old Red Lion. The building we see today was originally constructed in the late 19^th / very early 20^th century

However it has a long history, appearing in records from the 1800s and offering beds and stabling, although it is believed to have been in existence since at least the 1700s. A 1750 license records an Edward Munday succeeding a John Thomas as publican of the Red Lion!  After many changes and a range of interesting inhabitants, the pub became quite dilapidated and finally closed in the late 1950s or early 1960s.

As an inn, it was a cornerstone of village life in Welton. It is featured prominently on historic maps of the area dating from 1842-1952, although as mentioned there are many references to it in the early 1800s and earlier. As the photograph above shows, for much of its life it was housed in a small, thatched cottage that would also have been the home of the resident innkeepers.

The next record we have for a publican or innkeeper of The Red Lion is in 1808 when a newspaper advertisement (below) for the auction of trees in Fowswell Spiney, adjoining the tunnel road and Grand Junction canal, which was due to be held on Thursday 28^th January 1808 at the house of Thomas Houghton, The Red Lion in Welton.

On 22^nd December 1825 the Red Lion was also used for the sale of timber (37 ash and sycamore trees) that may well have been owned by a George Bradshaw who was available to allow prospective purchasers to view the trees which stood in a close near Welton. This must have been something of an occasion as the advert below promoting it states that “Dinner on the Table precisely at 1o’clock and sale to commence at Two o’clock”. 

Tom Pearcey’s memories

We now know that Welton at one point had 3 pubs – the White Horse, The Red Lion and The Wheatsheaf.

 Read more about The Wheatsheaf here

Further to this an 1841 text referenced below by one Tom Pearcey, purporting to be a shepherd, references The Wheatsheaf Inn as being run by John Boys, who was married to Elizabeth who “sewed our clothes” saying “Where is the Wheatsheaf John – his name was Boys”. 

He also wonders in later years what had happened to “Jo Benjamin of Red Lion Inn – he used to build a bit”. Pearcey also refers to a Henry Harris who had a pub “up the hill…White Horse we called it…”

However much of Pearcey’s reminiscing references one Jane – who brewed beer – and John – who baked bread. He questioned “where is that cave with abundance of such water clear which Jane Fair did make her beer?” confirming that during the mid 1800s, in addition to three pubs there is also at least one woman who brewed her own beer which she sold from her home.

See the full document here.

This strange testimony seems to be born out in the records. The 1851 Welton census lists one Jane Farr – who is recorded on the census as a widow and a beer housekeeper, who had been born in Braunston. 

She is also recorded on the 1841 census as the wife of Isaac Farr, a baker. Also living there in 1841 is her son, John (35) who is listed as a baker and Mary (35) – possibly his wife, and William, aged 4 – probably their son. 

By 1851 Jane is in her 70s, and she lives with a servant (Hannah Houghton) and her nephew (Thomas Brouth). She is still listed in the 1851 census as a Beer House Keeper! However, she is also living next door to her son, John Farr, aged 45 who is listed as a tea dealer and a baker – although his wife now appears to be called Elizabeth …and she is now older than him – so it may be a second marriage.

These may well be the characters referred to in the 1841 account referenced above by Tom Pearcey in the article attached which describes how: he was a passer-by and fancied a drink. The baker, John, was resting before baking a batch of bread not just for Tom but also for John Clarke who owned the Stone Pot (Pit) Field (which can be seen identified on the map here) and Richard “Trevo” Clarke of Welton Place. 

Tom tells us “whilst John did bake Jane passed upon my lips pleasure more than his just morning bread”. He tells us that “Jane did do me well” – evidently a fond memory of the beer provided by this 79-year-old widow! 

The 1851 census for Welton also records the following for the cottage we believe to be the Red Lion and confirms the Pearcey account that “Jo Benjamin” was both innkeeper and builder:

Catherine and George will go on to be listed in the 1871 census, with Catherine as the innkeeper of The Red Lion, along with her now grown up son George. The 1851 census also records that next door but one lived Charlotte Benjamin, aged 76 and a widow. She is listed as a retired servant. She may have been Joseph’s mother, as families often lived close by each other, especially where an aged relative was involved.

In 1851 the publicans within Welton were listed as John Atkins at The White Horse and Joseph Benjamin. In 1881 one J. Benjamin advertised his services as a butler describing himself as 44, 5ft 8in and “of good character”. There were many Benjamins living in the village during this period so this may not be the same Benjamin, but it is possible that he felt his role as a landlord would serve him well in this capacity.

Murder trial at the Red Lion

The pub was used to hold Manor Courts during the early 19th century. This was common practice before purpose built courts became more common later that century. 

In 1852 a village scandal occurred when a servant of Mr T.S. Perkins of Welton was tried and found guilty of the “wilful murder” of her newborn son. The inquest was held at The Red Lion by a P.E. Hicks Esq (the “coroner”). The matter related to Mary Potter aged 40, and with an illegitimate10 year old child, employed by Mr Perkins.

Perkins’ wife had received a letter one Sunday advising her that the servant was pregnant. Clearly a matter of some disgrace and risk for the servant who, if discovered, may well have lost her position.

 Mrs Perkins showed Mary Potter the letter, however she vigorously denied the accusation. A doctor was sent for, to examine the girl, who concluded she had recently given birth. She continued to deny the charge, but the search of an outhouse revealed the body of a fully grown male newborn that, a postmortem confirmed, had been born alive.  See the press report below.

Subsequent publicans

In 1871 Catherine Benjamin and George, her adult son – also a bricklayer – were running the Red Lion. The Police made a complaint about her holding the license due to her having been “twice convicted”. It seems that in 1870 she was fined for having “unjust quart jugs” and in 1871 was convicted of selling beer during prohibited hours – she blamed in inaccuracy of the church clock.

In 1884 Wright’s Directory for Northamptonshire records one George Benjamin as “cottager and publican of the Red Lion”. A Mrs Eliza Benjamin was also listed as a dress maker and a Caleb Benjamin as a shopkeeper.

In 1891 Elizabeth Brown was the keeper at the Red Lion, living with her much older siblings Sarah and William. The image at the top of this article would have been taken around this time – so it is possible that the woman in the foreground is Elizabeth Brown – possibly with the drayman making the delivery! In fact we can just make out her name above the door.

In 1897 the then landlord, Thomas Corbett was fined £1 and costs for watering down the whisky!

By 1900 the landlord was Frederick Fletcher.  And by 1906 John Henry Dench had the pub and was there until at least 1910. It would have been sometime around then that the old cottage, that had been the home of the Red Lion for probably over a century, was demolished and the current building erected. 

The Old Red Lion as it is called now, was built to a set plan by a group – possibly a brewery, who also built The Red Lion at Kilsby at the same time and using the same footprint and design. It is believed to have been rebuilt in 1908, with a full license, serving as a local hub with a strong Quoits team! This photo was taken very early 20th century and shows the new building in the top left corner.

In 1911 Frederick Green and his wife, Amy Rose, were in charge, living there with their children Frederick, Arthur and Clara. They had a long tenure and were listed in 1939, with their now grown-up son Frederick working as a railway clerk. Indeed, Frederick ran the pub for 45 years, dying in 1951. The license was then passed to Amy.

Strange memorabilia

 The current owners of The Old Red Lion discovered a strange collection of memorabilia from a recent owner at the back of the loft. Whilst there are no definite names associated with these as yet in relation to property ownership, they do point to occupation at some time post 1948 of a family who had travelled in or from India and may have had a French or Belgian connection as some art work by a child, included in the list below, clearly has a surname suggestive of these countries.

A possible explanation

A Find My Past record lists a Marguerite Augier born on 28^th October 1905 in Northamptonshire. She died in Daventry in 1996. This is the name written on one of the documents listed above and found in the Red Lion attic. 

We also have a marriage record for a Stella Marie de Delanougere in 1928 lodged with the British India Offices (Marriage) in Calcutta. She married Claude Stanislaus Augier – Marguerite’s father. Stella was the sister of Maud Adeliade Augier, who was Marguerite’s mother! For full details – see below. 

Further to the items linked to Felix, we found a May 1949 newspaper clipping found describes a quite horrid end to one Felix Augier on Saturday February 26^th, 1949. The newspaper report begins with a report that hidden stores of bomb making equipment were found in British run engineering works in Calcutta, which was at that time being intimidated by anonymous figures. 

Letters were being sent to executives, technicians and foremen at the company. This was building on ongoing attacks on British subjects working in India, believed to be the work of the outlawed Revolutionary Communism Party which was at that time approximately 30 000 strong. However, it goes on to link this discovery with an earlier horrendous attack at another factory, Jessops, at Dum Dum the previous February.

Three months previously three Britons were reportedly battered to death and their bodies thrown into furnaces at Jessops Ironworks at Dum Dum near Calcutta. Two further massacres had been foiled by police action. “Remember Jessops” had been scrawled onto  factory walls as part of this programme of intimidation.

The Dum Dum massacre as it became known received much publicity and was raised in Parliament. In summary the factory was attacked at around 11m on Saturday 26^th February 1949.  Indian and Anglo-Indian workers were quietly warned by whisper to “make [themselves] scarce” and shortly afterwards men were seen picking up crowbars, shovels and spanners. The British foreman saw a labourer toss a bomb through the office door before he was “levelled with a crowbar.”  

Further home-made bombs were thrown and whilst the British employees made a dash for safety, the Indian workers, with ladders, were setting up machine guns on the roof of the office. The report details further ferocity and goes on to describe how outside the works three foremen scrambled for their lives, one of whom, Felix Augier, was repeatedly battered as he fought his way to the relative safety of an office. He sustained severe head injuries and gashes to his arms. The newspaper reports that “he fell, gasping his last words ‘They have finished me’ before he died. 

Could this have been the Felix who drew and wrote the documents found in The Red Lion?

There is a record for the birth of a Felix Reginald Augier in India, on November 27^th 1906 at Cossipore, Bengal in India to parents Clarence Stanislaus Augier and Maud Adelaide Augier.  

Clarence and Maud married in 1905 in Calcutta. Maud Adeliade (nee DeLaNougerede) died in 1927. They had 8 children: Marguerite Muriel, Felix Reginald, Claire Maud, Charlotte Ann, Isabelle Marie, Estelle, Joan Bernadette and Andre Leo. The last, Andre, was born in 1927, the year his mother died. Her death certificate tells us that she died from post-partum haemorrhage. 

The Augier and DeLaNougerede families had a long history in India as well as an established pattern of intermarriage between cousins. Their family tree shows that Clarence and Maud, as well as Stella, shared common grandparents. 

Why did members of the family find their way to England?

As yet, we cannot be sure why England was chosen as a place to make a home, however history gives us a very clear reason as to why. In 1947 India secured its independence from Britain, however times were turbulent due to the partition which divided India into a Hindu majority land (India) and Muslim majority (Pakistan), which led to horrific racial conflict, mass migrations and the brutal deaths of up to 2 million people. The tensions remain a factor in the sub-continent to this day. This and strong anti-British feeling also led to many ex-pat families or long resident British and European families in India, to return to Europe. 

On 16^th August 1948, the passenger manifest for the Ormonde (see above) confirms the arrival in Tilbury of: Mrs A Augier (aged 65), Mr E E Augier (aged 31), Mrs M Augier (42) – this is Marguerite, and Miss M Augier (aged 3) –their daughter. (Mary Ann Geneivieve Augier).  The document tells us that England will be their permanent residence. Mrs A Augier’s address is given as 4 Sunnyside House, Cricklewood Lane, NW2 and the others 27 Meadow Road, Southall. All are listed as British passengers.

On 10^th June 1952, the passenger manifest records the arrival of Clarence S Augier (aged 71), Stella M Augier (aged 64) and Charlotte A Augier (aged 39). All have the given address as 44 Somerset Waye, Heston, Hounslow. Later electoral roll registers confirm that the family continued to live in the West London area right through to the 1970s and beyond.

We have found a record that confirms that on 5^th August 1949 after Felix’s death, his widow – Ernestine Renee Augier – sailed to England on the MV Caledonia. She travelled with Miss Noreen Augier (a teacher), Brian Felix Augier, Clarence B Augier, Adrian and Gordon Reginald (all school boys and her sons) as well as Rosemary Blossom Augier – a school girl, possibly her daughter. The family settled at 44 Somerset Waye, Heston… with Clarence and Stella! Ernestine died in May 1988 living in St Albans. She too shared the same surname as her husband before they were married, suggesting that Felix and Ernestine were related, as cousins, possibly through their grandparents: Francis Augier (1836-1894) and his wife Mary Emma Grant (1976-1917). 

On November 1^st 1934 Marguerite Muriel Augier married Reginald Cecil Ignatius DeLaNougerede in Calcutta. He was 27, she was 28 and they were cousins. However, it seems that she later married another cousin, Emile Eugene Augier.   Marguerite Augier died in Daventry in November 1996. Emile also died in Daventry, in 1996. It looks like for both it was a second marriage. We believe Emile was previously married to Marguerite’s younger sister, Isabelle Marie Augier .

It is likely therefore that at some point probably after 1950 and before the 1960s, Marguerite Augier and possibly her husband and daughter lived in or visited The Red Lion in Welton, leaving their memories behind in a box in the attic. 

Delicensing and becoming a residential home

 Meanwhile, back in Welton, the Greens were the last family to hold a license for the Red Lion as in 1960 the pub finally called last orders for the last time and the property was delicensed and became the private residence now known as The Old Red Lion when it was sold – the asking price being £1,200,  and included 3 reception rooms, 4 bedrooms, kitchen as well as “out offices”.

It was in the 1960s that Frank Emery senior converted the building into two separate dwellings. Sheila and Tony Conopo lived in the front part and Jean and Alan Gautrey in the back part, set at a right angle to the road and now known as 35 Churchill Road.

The Gautreys bought their part of the property from Tony Hupfield in 1962, whilst the Conopos were already resident at that point. 

In 2000 the property was purchased by the current owners although it remains divided into two separate properties.

Welton has had several properties bearing the name Manor House or Welton Manor at different points in its history. 

The building now known as Welton Manor almost certainly occupies the site of an early manor at the foot of the village, though another manorial residence likely stood higher up Churchill Road when the first settlement clustered around the hilltop.

The lower site—variously named Welton Manor, Church Hill House, and Churchill Manor—has a long, complex history stretching back nearly a millennium. Its shifting names have caused understandable confusion, especially because Welton Manor Court was also, at times, referred to as Welton Manor.

Early history

The story begins in the 1070s, when Osbern de Neufmarche arrived in Welton shortly after the Norman Conquest. He and his soldiers are said to have “violently seized” the local chapel. Osbern was granted land in Welton and established his principal residence there. The earliest manor house was probably located at the top of the hill, where the recreation ground now stands. This first building was likely a fortified manor house, possibly resembling a small castle, reflecting the unsettled nature of the period.

Welton passed to Osbern’s granddaughter Agnes when she married Richard Mallory of Kirby Mallory in Leicestershire, the estate forming part of her dowry. The Mallory family would retain connections to Welton for several centuries.

During the 13th century, the manor house appears to have been relocated from the hilltop to the bottom of the hill, possibly becoming a moated site. This move coincided with the growing fashion among wealthy landowners for moated manor houses set slightly apart from the homes of ordinary villagers, symbolising both status and security. 

The Mallory family had remained Lords of the Manor until the 15th century. In 1427, John Mallory held the estate. It later passed through his daughter Eleanor and granddaughter Margaret, who married Thomas Peyton. Around 1484, their son Thomas sold Welton Manor to William Catesby of Ashby St Ledger. Catesby was a prominent supporter of Richard III, and following the king’s death in 1485, Catesby was captured and executed. The estate was subsequently seized by Henry VII, who granted it to his relative David Owen. Owen and his successors were largely absentee landlords.

By the reign of Elizabeth I (1558 – 1603) the manor was owned by Richard Knightley of Norton and Fawsley. The Knightley family sold the estate to the Adams family in the 1650s. By this time the early medieval manor of the 1200s had long fallen into disrepair and had been abandoned. The remains of this silted up moated structure have been recorded on archaeological maps of the site.

The start of the current building

The Adams family built a new house on the site, the older predecessor of the current building which was significantly remodelled in the 1800s.

It is believed that Edward Adams (1623-1653), the son of William Adams (1595-1664 and born in Welton, but later moved to Charlwelton, (who built the original Churchill House), was responsible for the building of an additional stone Manor House, now part of Old Manor Court, on part of the estate at the bottom of Churchill Road, across what is now Welton Lane.

This building has a date stone of 1650 and 1667 with the initials EA (a reference to Edward Adams), indicating construction in 1650 and extension after the Restoration of the Monarchy in 1667 following the Civil War and “Commonwealth” of Oliver Cromwell. 

A 1770 map of the Daventry and Welton area below shows that at that time John Clarke was living at Welton Place and a John Adams Esquire at Churchill House. 

John may have been a descendent of Edward Adams, securing the Esquire through Edward’s marriage to Ann Berkeley, whose father was Henry Berkeley Esq. of Daventry and her Uncle, Robert, who in 1637 ruled in favour of Charles I’s Ship Tax. This lead to his eventual impeachment and imprisonment by the Long Parliament, in events leading up to the Civil war.  

The location of the second property made sense. During the late medieval period the route between Daventry and Welton still broadly followed the high ground of Ryehill and Monksmoor, and though there was evidently a trackway between the old and new manor sites, the land was still broadly one site. (For more information see History of The Manor House / Old Manor Court). 

So, for Edward Adams to build a new manor / farmhouse in 1650 north of the older moated manor and recent build on the Churchill House, probably to accommodate his own anticipated family, close to woodland and water, was wholly plausible.

During the 18^th and 19^th centuries, the Clarke family was rising in prominence locally, acquiring over time substantial property holdings including Drayton Manor in Daventry, several farms, and building Welton Place, halfway up what is now Churchill Road, as the map above indicates. 

Rev Simon Adams (1693-1731), son of John Adams and also Vicar of Welton, married Ann Clarke (daughter of John Clarke) – thus it is likely that Welton Manor passed into the Clarke family through marriage. The Clarke family may however have purchased the wider Churchill Manor from the Adams family as they also purchased Micklewell Farm, which was the name given to The Manor built by Adams, now Old Manor Court, during later years. 

19^th Century 

During  the 19^th century, the Clarkes faced mounting debts, leading to partial auctions in the 1820s. A burial record for 3^rd January 1817 records the burial of Mary Clarke of Churchill House, aged 73, indicating that may have been the start of the century that members of the Clarke family were in residence there. But that was soon to change!

In July 1828, following an Order from The High Court of Chancery in relation to a case identified as Phillips V Clarke, in relation to the estate of the recently deceased John Plomer Clarke, the Manor of Welton had to be sold. 

This sale included Churchill House, other cottages and houses and 550 acres of land, so clearly Churchill House was at this time just a small part of the Clarke’s extensive holdings.

In 1828, Edmund Burton from his offices at the Moot Hall in Daventry managed the letting of Welton Place on behalf of the Clarke family. Perhaps he then took on the lease or purchased the property, as by 1844, the property was owned by Edmund Singer Burton, the same Daventry solicitor.  

That year, newspapers reported an attempted arson attack on the house. Burton’s wife, Anna Maria, spotted flames and an intruder who had entered, it seems, through a larder window. 

The family, which included ten children and ten servants, escaped unharmed.  The 1851 census records that Church Hill House was occupied by: Edmund Burton (59), a solicitor, his wife Anna Maria, their 14 children, Burton’s brother-in-law Clarke Grey Watkins as well as 5 servants. 

The Burtons remained in residence for many years and ultimately had twenty children, eighteen of whom survived to adulthood. Several achieved distinctions in their lifetimes including:

Edmund Burton the elder is also reputed to have been responsible for the planting of many Cypress trees on London Road. It is said that he had one tree planted for each of his children, but now only two remain. He was also, reportedly, a good steeplechase rider and raced at Aintree. 

A sales brochure for 1863 confirms that the house was to be sold by auction in London.

By 1871, the manor was occupied by Richard Throckmorton and his family of two sons, Courtenay and Basil, his mother-in-law, Sophia Moore and 6 servants, although other documentation, specifically press cuttings, suggest that the Burton family were resident on the site still beyond this date. But by 1883 it would again be up for sale!

In September 1883 Churchill House was advertised for sale, the advert detailing the estate at that time:

• 40 acres of land including carriage drive and pleasure grounds

• A good hall, 3 reception rooms, bathrooms and a servants’ hall

• 17 bed and dressing rooms including servants’ rooms

• Coach house for 5 coaches and stabling, with coachman and grooms’ rooms and 10 loose boxes

• Small lake, walled kitchen garden

• Wharf with double cottage adjoining the Grand Union Canal (still visible at bridge on Daventry Road) 

20^th Century

The 1901 census records the following occupants at Churchill House:

• Alice Gifford – aged 29, wife – born in Edinburgh
• Violet M Gifford – 3 – daughter – born Mayfair
• Lydia Saunders – 29 – servant: cook – born Bedfordshire
• Annie Trim – 28 – nurse – born Lambeth
• Carolina Woods – 23 – housemaid – born Daventry
• Ellen M Webb – 18 – kitchen maid – born Althorp
• William H Rouse – 31 – Butler – born Leamington

We know that Violet Margaret had been born in Mayfair, London in 1897, but other than that we currently have no further knowledge of the family or what brought them to Welton. 

In the 1901 census Churchill House stables (now Churchill Court) was separately listed as it provided accommodation for servants linked to the house, in this case William Taylor (16) a groom, born in Daventry and Thomas Surridge (16) – a stable helper born in Welton. Records also exist for a sale in 1902 of 3 lots, to Isabella Seymour, Robert Marston and Robert Francis Burton, which would explain why in 1914 the Burtons are again listed as residents, as Kelley’s Directory for 1914 records that Mrs R.F. Burton (wife of Robert Francis above) and Mr R.W Westbrooke Burton are living at Churchill House, so clearly early 20^th century occupancy is challenging to establish! 

The 1911 census details tell us that the residents of Churchill House at this time were: 

• Fredericka Caroline Burton – Head – aged 55, widow, born Tunbridge Wells
• Robert Wiliam W Burton – her son, aged 29, single, born Weeting, Norfolk
• Elizabeth Collard – Housekeeper, aged 42, single, born Swansea
• Ellen Frost – Housemaid, aged 23, single, born Battersea
• Adie Grey – Parlourmaid, aged 22, single, born Wye, Kent
• Gertrude Horace – Kitchen maid, aged 16, single, born Burford, Oxfordshire

Also, in 1911 we read in the Birmingham Evening Mail on Wednesday March 15^th that Robert Burton is up in front of the Rugby Magistrates for dangerous driving. 

The Police subsequently tracked the car (Reg No BD 1046) and went to defendant’s house but the car was not there, but “they found it at a garage at Daventry. It was damaged and on the bracket, there were horsehairs and a piece of skin.”

Incredibly Burton denied the charge saying the damage to his car was caused by a milk float in Leicester. However, he did not escape justice but was fined £5 and his licence endorsed!

The Russian boy

Between 1923 and 1927 Churchill House/Welton Manor House was owned by Dame Sybil Edith Mary Romilly Nicolson (8 Oct 1880-14 July 1965). According to the deeds she held the property in her own name, rather than it being in her husband’s name as was customary. He was Admiral Sir Douglas Romilly Lothian Nicholson, who commanded the naval reserve Fleet until he retired in 1926. She extremely wealthy in her own right. 

Dame Sybil took over lease of Bude Castle in 1930.  She was related through her marriage to both Clementine Churchill and Lord Wimborne (Ivor Churchill Guest), Winston Churchill’s cousin and political ally. Lord Wimborne owned Ashby St Ledger Manor, becoming Baron Ashby St Ledger in 1910, which may explain her move to this area. The family were known supporters of white Russian emigres fleeing the revolution. Bude Castle’s records mention visits from Russian princes and members of the Tolstoy family.

Though she had no children she adopted Maria Pavlovna Tolstaya-Miloslavskyaya, a member of the Tolstoy family, whose father had been Chamberlain to Tsar Nicholas II. She and Maria are listed together on the 1921 census, staying at the Balmer Lawn Hotel near Brockenhurst in the New Forest, a prestigious, privately owned country house hotel frequented by George V and Winston Churchill, which exists to this day! 

It seems likely that Lady Nicholson’s connections both with senior government officers, Royalty and the Russian Royal Family may explain the story long held by Weltonians that a Russian boy, rumoured to have been a Romanov, spent time at Churchill House / Welton Manor. It seems likely that the young boy seen in several photographs taken in the grounds of Churchill House was not a Romanov boy, as local stories suggested, but a child of the Tolstoy family.

The archivist at Bude Castle confirmed that Count Dmitri Tolstoy, Maria’s nephew, had definitely lived with the Nicholsons between 1920 and 1926. We know also that for three of those years the Nicholsons were resident in Welton at Churchill House / Welton Manor. 

Dmitri’s early life had been disrupted by danger and displacement, fleeing Russia with his English nanny, Lucy Stark, for fear of being murdered had he not left the country. Dmitri’s father had been missing for two years, and his mother had died in childbirth in 1916. 

Lucy managed to convince an English chaplain in Moscow to write a false birth certificate for Dmitri, identifying him as her “illegitimate son”. 

They boarded a train to Finland where Lucy warned her charge that, when interrogated, it was vital that he did not reveal his true name. Despite being only seven years of age, Dmitri played his part and they miraculously got past border guards and into Finland from where they took a boat to England. 

It is astonishing to realise that a descendent of the man who wrote Anna Karenina as well as War and Peace amongst other great works, spent several of his formative years in Welton!

Read our blog on how we uncovered this story here.

The current owner holds a 1936 Sale booklet for Welton Manor – click the image below to see the details:

The house was advertised to be sold by auction on Thursday 28^th May 1936 and is promoted as a William and Mary House which would date its build to approximately 1689-1702.  This may be the right date for the core of the building which was heavily “restored” during the early Victorian period. Certainly, the stone built stabling and coach houses, now Churchill Court, from local stone and including a fine 17^th century stone triple lancet window, would reinforce an earlier build from this period.

The sale booklet promotes Welton Manor as follows:

• Entrance Hall, Billiard Room, 3 reception rooms, usual offices, 12 bedrooms, 3 bathrooms
• Fine 16^th century staircase [as removed from Moot Hall, possibly in lieu of a gambling debt]
• Excellent range of stabling, garages for 4 cars, Grom’s flat
• Magnificent timbered gardens with tennis lawn, Monk’s Walk, walled kitchen garden and small park 
• 33 acres of land

In the details of the house, we learn that the Italian Wrought Iron gates were excluded from the sale and that the vendor reserved the right to remove them from the property prior to completion, replacing them with a “substantial oak gate”. As there is currently no wooden gate but wrought iron gates in place, could it be that these are the originals and that either the auction did not result in a sale or that the decision was taken to leave them in place? 

The house is described as being on the site of an “old Monastery” which is not yet evident on maps of the area and will require further future investigation to determine.  

The house also had 2 access drives at this point. Interior photographs show some fine wood carved panels around a hall door frame. The normal “offices” included a Servants’ Hall (16ft 6in x 13ft 6in), kitchen, scullery, Butler’s pantry, serving room, larder and a covered way leading to the Servants’ Bathroom and separate WC. There were also wine cellars, a paved yard, coal and wood stores, an oil house, boot hole, woodshed. We also learn there were three wells on the property, central heating and the telephone number was Daventry 75!

In April 1927 the house was bought by Nellie Isabel Reid (a spinster) for £6 400. This same Nellie Reid was still resident in 1929.  She was reported in the London newspapers for her fine pigmy Shetland pony Starlight shown at Olympia in 1929.  Starlight was shorter than 10.5 hands.

She was clearly a regular at the annual horse show having also appeared in June 1928 when Starlight was celebrated under the headline “The Midget of Olympia’. Maybe he was housed in the stables! (See cutting opposite: Daily Telegraph – 20^th June 1929)

In 1939 Welton Manor came back on the market and was advertised on 9^th November 1939 in the Birmingham Post as follows: Welton Manor – 33 ½ acres, freehold, for sale for £4000. 

The BBC went on to purchase the house in 1941 to replace a hostel they had previously set up at Murcott. It provided sufficient rooms and accommodation for its shift workers employed at the communications station on Borough Hill, which was a vital part of the war effort, and as such was seen as a better alternative to sourcing numerous bed and breakfast accommodations.

The BBC retained Welton Manor throughout the war years and into the 1950s. Its closure was announced on Oct 3^rd 1953 in the press.

In 1953 the BBC sold Churchill House to the Hupfield family, who established the Rugby Plastics Company on what is now Elm’s Dyke.  Other parts of the estate had been sold off separately by the BBC. The conveyancing documents relating to the sale were signed by the then Director General of the BBC, Sir Ian Jacob.  The Hupfield family continued to own the property throughout the 1960s. During this period Churchill Court (the stables and coach house) was converted for residential use and lived in by one of the Hupfield’s sons.

After the death of Albert Hupfield in 1968, his widow, Olive, required a smaller property so part of the kitchen garden was walled off and local builder, Frank Emery Senior, built what is now Churchill House opposite the stables and coach house property. 

(For more information on the Hupfields  see details on Pear Tree Cottage.)

In 1968, Welton Manor was recorded as a mid-18^th century house that had been extended in the 19^th century, constructed of red brick, Flemish bond, with two storeys and an attic, an early 19^th century Doric entrance porch and a fine 18^th century oak staircase that had originally been in the old Moot Hall, Daventry. 

It was registered as a Grade II listed building in January 1968.

The property came on the market again on January 16^th, 1969, after Albert Hupfield died. By this time the land had reduced to 8 acres. The house was advertised as to let or lease and included 6 reception rooms, domestic offices, 8 principal bedrooms, 4 bathrooms and a swimming pool!

Home for retired gentlefolk

From 1970 Churchill House operated as a residential home for the elderly under the name of Welton Manor.

A conveyance document held by the current owner confirms that on 16^th August 1975 the Hupfields (Eileen Tull, Roy, Brian and Anthony) were the vendors in the sale of the property called Welton Manor to a Welton resident.

The purchase price is listed as £3,300, however by this time the plot of land tied to the house had been reduced to 4 acres, so evidently land had been sold in lots over time. 

We do know that in 1863, a sale of 3 lots was offered: lot 1 being 50 acres, lot 2 was Green Close meadow at 11.5 acres and lot 3 was an agricultural village called Moulton. 

The press cutting below from February 1994 makes for disturbing reading, telling how all 17 elderly residents were unexpectedly moved out and all staff lost their jobs at Welton Manor as it closed down, and receivers were called in. 

Harry Harding is named as its owner in the press, which is confusing as legal documents and verbal accounts confirm that a different owner held the property between 1975 and 1996. 

Perhaps he was the tenant or care home manager. It seems that subsequent plans to convert the house into apartments had not been approved, leading to the 1996 sale.

Many wealthy elderly people spent their final years in this house, and the newspapers reported many deaths and details of the estate of those individuals.

The cutting, left, from the Northampton Herald and Post of March 14^th, 1996, shows us that the large house that had stood on the site, was developed into a large and rambling Victorian property, was no longer to function as a residential home. Having been a BBC hostel for several years and then a residential home for nearly 20 years, it is likely that the house would have needed quite a lot of work on it! 

The house was purchased by the Berry family in 1996, who sold it in 2001 to the present owners. 

The current owner, who has connections to the previous owner, confirmed that much work was needed to put the house right. Many of the larger rooms had been subdivided, so partition walls had to be removed. The old swimming pool had been filled in, so that was later replaced.

Although English Heritage has examined the site, no trace of the much earlier medieval manor has been detected. 

What stories those walls could tell us of the hundreds of people who, over a considerable period of time, called Welton Manor / Churchill House their home. 

The picture below is of the entrance of the house with the porch painted white as it is now, so is post 1936.

Charlotte Cottage, at 5 Well Lane, has had many names including Chapel Cottage and, for about 90 years, was the Wesleyan Chapel. However, the land has had a complex chain of ownership over time as 2 extant archive documents from the 1850s show.

An Indentures dated 5^th June 1855 seems to be a deed of conveyance relating to several cottages on the plot being leased and released between Mr William Harrison (the blacksmith) and Mr Thomas Smith, although the text is both complex and hard to decipher, making the precise nature of the transaction hard to establish. 

The document is signed and sealed by both of the above as well as Thomas Harrison and refers to a payment of £160. It seems that the Harrisons are being paid by Thomas Smith for the property.  The transaction is witnessed by a Daventry solicitor. 

An additional part of the document details what looks like transactions relating to the site:

• 29 May 1822: Message between William Roberts of Welton (baker) and George Bird & Samuel Underwood
• 20^th January 1825: George Bird and Samuel Underwood, William Roberts now of Kilsby, John Plomer Clarke of Welton (Welton Place) and Edmund Singer Burton of Daventry (who we know lived in Churchill House / Welton Manor)

Being at the top of the hill, close to the church and close to field and orchards with cottages suitable for tenements for farm workers, this probably would have been a sought-after area to hold.

Owners and Tenants

What is interesting about this document that gives us a clear indication of the people who owned land or occupied cottages as tenants at this point in time.

This plan shows that in 1855:

House A:  grey block on corner of Street and The Lane, now The Old Post Office, was tenanted by George Cooper

Site B: grey block below Orchard Close now the chapel, was previously tenanted by Thomas Chamberlaine

There is a clear gap leading up to the chapel now set back where cottages previously may have stood, with the yard and outbuildings leading to the chapel set back from Well Lane. 

Five cottages (dark red strip) remain backed by gardens, which were tenanted as follows:

1. William Dunkley
2. W. Crisp
3. S. Haynes
4. J. Blundell
5. Thomas Line

Surrounding landowners included Richard Trevor Clarke, Thomas Lomas, John Farr and Thomas Pearey. At present these remain names in our history of the village, but overtime closer analysis of parish and census records may give us more information.

Establishing as a chapel

The second document is the original vellum Indenture for the transaction relating to the Wesleyan Chapel. In April 1859 Elizabeth Reeve, the widow of Braunston farmer William Reeve, paid £1 14s 6d for the conveyance to be registered at the High Court of Chancery to establish a Wesleyan Chapel.

They were also supported in this, according to a transcript of the Indenture, by farmers, Henry and William Bowers of Braunston. The chapel building was of red brick and built to accommodate 100 worshippers. It was set back from Well Lane and fronted by fine iron railings.  You can just see the railings mid-way up on the left, with the eaves of the chapel behind them on the image below

The Conveyance of the Welton Wesleyan Chapel to the Trustees was enrolled in the High Court of Chancery on June 28^th 1859.

The Welton Wesleyan Chapel of 1859, the conveyance shows us, was purchased by and thereafter supported through several local figures including Joseph Emery the elder (farmer from Middlemore), Thomas Smith(shoemaker in Welton) and Clement Clarke (tailor and draper of Daventry) who were all trustees of the chapel.

Other contributors included: Joseph Sheasby (shoe maker) of Daventry, John Upton (baker of Daventry), John Wright (baker from Newnham), Jabez Willoughby (farmer of Preston Capes), Philip Owens Hillman (draper of Daventry), Martin Smith (coal dealer of Welton) and James Watson (farmer of Priors Marston) as well as Lorenzo Smith (tailor of Priors Marsden). 

The indenture also references a Bernard Samuel Smith at the top; possibly he was theholder of the land at 5 Well Lane, however this is not clear. 

The memorandum to confirm the Trustees (who had been confirmed by April 1859) was signed on 18^th June 1859 at a meeting with all  Trustees which was held in the chapel, so we know the building had been completed by this date. 

The Revd. James Thomas Jeffery of Daventry, Wesleyan Minister,  was the Superintendent Preacher of the Circuit, and was present at this meeting. He is listed in the Indenture. We do not yet have a list of preachers nor photographs of the chapel.

Two cottages on the site which belonged to the parish, which had been tenanted by William Russell and William Earl had been demolished to accommodate the chapel building which was set back from the road behind iron railings, however two semi-derelict alms houses remained at the front of the building, possibly until 1940s. 

From the 1921 census we know that these alms houses were occupied:

• Mary Robbins – 82 – widow – address recorded as “alms-house, Welton”
• Sarah Houghton – 54 – single – “not occupied for a living” – at “alms-house, Welton”.

The alms-houses were next door to Rose Tree Cottage, which had an oven to which residents in those times sometimes took their food to be cooked.

Conversion to a dwelling

Over time and as attendance figures diminished and newer, larger chapels were established elsewhere in Daventry, it was decided that the Wesleyan circuit no longer required the chapel on Well Lane for Methodist trust purposes (see opposite). 

In November 1949 the Wesleyan Conference in Liverpool agreed to the sale of the Welton Plot of 138 sq yards and building.

In 1952 Daventry Rural Council granted permission to Mrs F M E Wilson of 5 Ashby Road to convert the chapel building to a dwelling (see below).  £60 was payable to secure permission for this conversion. 

Chapel Cottage was developed from the existing chapel structure; however, this building has been much modified over time. The original chapel windows remained for some time and were the best indicator of its previous use as a chapel, although these are no longer evident. 

The cottage has been extended and where the dining room currently stands there was once an old lean-to structure, which was part of the original chapel.

The cottage for sale in 1961

It was still known as Chapel Cottage in the 1980s – we have evidence of Mr Wulfric George and Mrs Rosemary Beatrice Lloyd living there for a number of years.

The current owners purchased the property from the Lloyds, and it may be at this point that the name changed.

Charlotte Cottage left: previously Chapel Cottage, after conversion back to a residence from being the Wesleyan Chapel.

Archive documents for reference