Ivy House Farm
Some of the building is believed to date from the 16th Century but the first identified reference to Ivy House Farm, unnamed in the document, dates from 27/28 December 1764 with an indenture of lease between William Lloyd of The Hill, Monmouth, (nephew and heir at law and also devisee named in the last will and testament of John Lloyd) one part, and William Singelton of Norton of the other. Sold to William Singleton; “all that messuage or tenement farm and lands with all manner of advantages and appurtenances thereunto belonging situate lying and being in the parishes of Norton and Down Hatherley in the county of Gloucester and then in the tenure and occupation of Richard Proctor as tenant to the same William Lloyd”.
Richard Proctor died on 26 April 1765, aged 35, and at one time had a memorial in the churchyard at St Mary’s, Norton.
The Singleton family owned the Norton Court Estates at this time. Luke Singleton died and was buried at Norton on 30 August 1768 and in his Will of 1765 he makes bequests to each of his sisters and to sons Thomas and William. Luke’s wife Mary was buried on 9 May 1780, also at Norton, and the Norton Court estates passed to William Singleton. William Singleton was a "druggist" or chemist in London and married Ann Bird of Barton-on-the-Heath, daughter of John Bird MP. If he was living in London, William still kept close ties to Norton and Gloucester and was described as ‘of Norton’ in several leases from the 1760s and was appointed sheriff of Gloucestershire in 1769. William was declared bankrupt and was also somehow involved with the bankruptcy of Samuel Garbett the Birmingham chemist. William died and was buried at Norton on 6 January 1778 and his wife became named in the bankruptcy due to her being sole executor. Widow Ann was still being assessed for land tax at 4s 3d on property at Norton and Down Hatherley in 1779 when ‘Bliss’ was the tenant.
As a result of his bankruptcy and a chancery case, Singleton against Mitchell and others, William’s Norton estates were put up for sale on 27 June 1786. As part of Lot 2 the following description likely refers to Ivy House Farm; “A messuage or tenement, barns, stables and other outbuildings, farm and lands situated in the parishes of Norton and Down Hatherley, in the said County of Gloucester; consisting of 50 acres of arable land, 9 acres of pasture ground, partly inclosed and partly in the common fields and meadows, also 8 acres of meadow ground, and 10 cow pastures, in the common meadows, let to William Bliss, as tenant at Will, at per annum 47-0-0”.
There are several references to a family by the name of Bliss amongst Norton records. In 1779 a William Bliss was amongst those liable to do statute duty in Priors Norton for repairing and widening the roads. I could find no baptisms at Norton for the Bliss family but on 4 October 1748, a John Bliss was baptised at Churchdown to parents William and Elizabeth. An Elizabeth was buried at Norton on Christmas Day 1778. In 1789 there is a burial for Thomas, son of Esther Bliss, base born and in 1791 a burial for Elizabeth Bliss from The Leigh. William Bliss Snr was himself buried in 1793 and I can find no further reference to Bliss at Norton after this date. On 18 September 1796, however, we find documents from His Majesty’s 10th Regiment of Foot in respect of William Bliss, originally from Norton, and likely the son of the Ivy House tenant. The documents signed by the Regiment at Newport, Isle of Wight, read “These are to Certify, that the Bearer hereof Wm Bliss, private, in Lieut Colonel Jeffery Amhurst’s Company of the aforesaid Regiment, Born in the Parish of Norton in or near the Market Town of Norton in the County of Gloucester aged 26 years, and by Trade a Labourer, hath served honestly and faithfully in the said Regiment for three Years: But by reason of being Consumptive, having lost his health in the West Indies, is hereby discharged, and humbly recommended as a proper Object of His Majesty’s Royal Bounty of Chelsea Hospital. He having first received all just Demands of Pay, Clothing, &c. from his entry into the said Regiment, to the Date of his Discharge, as appears by his Receipt on the Back hereof”. A pencil written note at the foot of this certificate states that Thomas Bennion, Surgeon to the 10th Regiment of Foot, certifies that the above-mentioned man was unfit for service for the reason given.
The next owners of the farm were likely the Charter family. Thomas Charter, a woolcomber of St John the Baptist, Gloucester, had married Mary Savery in 1762 at Mary’s home parish of Withington, and in 1764 they had a son, Thomas. The Charters would have been an important family in Gloucester with an earlier Thomas Charter having married Mary Maisey at Gloucester Cathedral in 1737. Father Thomas died in 1783 leaving Mary a widow, and he was buried at St Aldates, Gloucester. In 1783 Thomas Charter held property at Norton with Henry Fox(?) as tenant and was assessed for £5 2s land tax. This was likely Ivy House Farm and whilst it appears to have passed to his widow upon Thomas’ death, Thomas Jnr later becomes associated with the farm.
Thomas Charter Snr wrote a Will, “I, Thomas Charter, Maltster in the Parish of St John the Baptist, in the City of Gloucester … I give and bequeath unto my dearly beloved wife Mary Charter my freehold estate at Norton and my house and malt house in the parish of St John the Baptist … and after my wife’s decease … I do hereby devise that my son Thomas Charter shall have my dwelling house and malthouse”.
The Gloucester Journal newspaper of 16 June 1794 reported a forthcoming sale; “Together or in Lots, an Estate at Norton, near the city of Gloucester, in the occupation of Henry Cocks”. Unfortunately, this is all the advertisement says and there are no details of what this estate consisted of or whereabouts in Norton it was located. The Land Tax records for Norton tell us that in 1783 Henry Cox Snr was tenant of property belonging to Thomas Charter who was paying £5 2s, in 1789 of Thomas Charter and Charles Brent and in 1796 of Thomas Charter (£5 2s) and Samuel Selwyn (4s 4d). At no time during this period does Henry Cox pay any land tax on an estate at Norton that he owned so this would suggest that Henry was never the owner of the land. At some time after the sale in 1794 Henry and family appear to have left Norton with his wife Eleanour dying in 1813, ‘at Gloucester’, and Henry Snr in 1838 at ‘St Mary de Lode, Gloucester’; both are buried at St Mary’s, Norton.
Thomas Charter Jnr appears to have taken on the property at Ivy House Farm from his father. On 10 August 1802, Thomas Charter, a malster of St John the Baptist, Gloucester, married Hester/Esther Cotteril, by license, at Bishops Cleeve, Hester’s home, later having at least one child, Mary Ann, born at Norton in 1803. Between 1804 and 1830 Thomas was still in residence at his property at Norton paying £5 2s tax and he also had another property on which he paid 6s.
At the time the Inclosure Act reached Norton, in 1806, Ivy House Farm was Plot No 288, a homestead of just over an acre and owned by Mary Charter, so perhaps son Thomas was her tenant. In 1818 a Thomas Charter was still recorded as a malster in the city of Gloucester.
Thomas and Esther Charter’s daughter, Mary Ann, married Arthur White, a cabinet maker and later upholsterer of Cheltenham, at Norton in 1833, and they had at least two children; Mary Esther and Elizabeth.
On 15 February 1834, Thomas Charter wrote an extensive will outlining his desire to keep the estate in his family line through generations through the supervision of trustees. He left the contents of his estate to his wife; “I give and devise unto my dear wife Esther Charter all and singular my household goods and furniture, plate, linen, china, wines, liquors, casks, horses, cattle, corn, grain, and crops of corn and grain, hay, implements of husbandry and all others my live and dead farming stock … for her own absolute use and benefit”. Thomas then disposed of his estate; “I give, devise and bequeath unto my friends Thomas Smith, of the city of Gloucester, gentleman, and Richard Butt, of Wallsworth in the parish of Sandhurst, gentleman, all and singular my freehold and leasehold messuages or tenements lands and hereditaments situate in the said parish of Norton … upon trust that they … permit and suffer my said wife Esther Charter to receive and take the rents, issues and profits thereof … during the term of her natural life … and after her decease … apply the same to my daughter Mary Ann … for her own sole and separate use and benefit independent … of her present or any future husband … and after the decease of my said daughter Mary Ann White … in trust for such one or more child or children of … my said daughter Mary”.
Thomas was at Norton when he died in September 1838, aged 74, and he was buried at St Aldate, Gloucester. Daughter Mary Ann’s husband, Arthur White, was at Norton when he died “after a protracted illness” in September 1839, leaving both mother and daughter widows.
At the time of the 1841 census widow Esther Charter was living at Norton, a 65 year old farmer, and also in her household was widowed daughter Mary Ann White and her young daughter Elizabeth, aged 5. They were living at Priors Norton and likely at what became Ivy House Farm.
Dated 28 December 1841 is an indenture between Thomas Smith, gentleman, late of Gloucester, Richard Butt, gentleman of Wallsworth, Sandhurst, Esther Charter of Norton, relict and widow of Thomas Charter, gentleman, late of Norton, Mary Ann White of Norton, daughter of Thomas and Esther Charter, relict and widow of Arthur White, late of Cheltenham, cabinet maker, John Lewis of Cheltenham and Alfred Harford Hartland of Evesham, county of Worcester, banker. Unfortunately, the detail of the indenture is difficult to decipher.
Esther Charter was still at Norton when she died in 1851, aged 75, and was buried with her husband at St Aldate, Gloucester. In 1851 their widowed daughter Mary Ann White was a farmer of 91 acres employing 3 labourers living with her daughters Mary and Elizabeth at Ivy House Farm. Also listed at the farm were Sarah Powell, a visitor, Hannah Mealing and Hannah Howell, servants, and John Butt and Charles Lyes, agricultural labourers.
The farm is clearly identified by name on the OS, 25inch, 1st Edition, map dated 1844-1888.
The electoral list for Norton from 1852 records a Thomas Butt as occupier of a ‘farm near Worlds End’ with a Miss White and this must have been Ivy House. The same source in 1856 still records Thomas Butt, for the last time, but no longer Miss White. Around this time Mary Ann White left Norton to live at Coombe Hill with her only surviving child, Mary Esther.
Dated 6 August 1859, there is an indenture between Mary Ann White, of Coombe Hill, widow, Mary Esther White, of Coombe Hill, spinster, only surviving child, John Raymond Pope, farmer of Abenhall, William Yeend, farmer of The Leigh, William Wood, gentleman of London Road, Gloucester. The indenture was brought about by an intended marriage between Mary Esther White and John Raymond Pope. Mary Ann and Mary Esther White; “Doth hereby grant all that messuage or farm house with the several closes occupied therewith containing 91 acres or thereabouts situate in the parish of Norton in the county of Gloucester, and in the occupation of Edward Herbert … Norton unto the use of William Yeend and William Wood as trustees”.
Mary Esther White, then of Coombe Hill, married John Raymond Pope of Abenhall at The Leigh on 11 August 1859 and in 1861 they were farming at Shapridge Farm, Abenhall. They were to have six children; Mary, John Arthur, Raymond Cotterill, Mary Elizabeth, Frank Winstanley and Thomas Harry. John Raymond Pope was born at Chaceley in 1825, son of John Pope and Ann nee Cotterill.
Edward Herbert is the next identified occupier of Ivy House Farm. Edward was born at Churchdown in 1786, married Elizabeth Smith in 1810, and they farmed at Elmbridge Court. The following advertisement suggests that in 1858 'Mr E Herbert' of Ivy House had recently died.
An Edward Herbert of Norton did die in 1858, aged 72 years, and was buried at Twigworth. This was likely the father of Edward Wrensford Herbert of Norton Farm who briefly took on Ivy House as well at this time.
In 1863 Edward Wrensford Herbert seems to have been leaving Norton altogether. The Gloucester Journal newspaper of 25 April 1863 advertised; “Ivy House Farm, Norton, four miles from Gloucester, grass keep and seeds. Bruton and Knowles have received instructions from Mr Herbert, who is giving up the farm, to sell by auction, at the King’s Head Inn, Norton, on Monday, the 27th day of April, 1838, at five o’clock in the evening; - the following seeds and grass keep, from the day of sale to the 29th of September next, free of payment:- Lot 1. Fore Meadow, grass, 12-2-18, Lot 2, the Hill Ground, grass, 5-0-0, Lot 3, The Brier, (seeds), to be mown once, and afterwards grazed with sheep. The hay to be spent upon the premises. The above lots are well watered and shaded”.
The Gloucester Journal newspaper of 25 July 1863 also advertised; “Alteration of day of sale. Ivy House and Norton Farms. Four miles from Gloucester. Sale of superior growing crops of corn, ricks of wheat, beans and hay, grass keep, fruit, wagon, horses, implements, harness, cider, casks, &c. Bruton and Knowles have received instructions from Mr E W Herbert, who is quitting the above farms, to sell by auction at Ivy House, on Wednesday, the 29th of July, 1863, (instead of Friday, the 31st), at two o’clock in the afternoon; - 47 acres of capital wheat, 24 ditto of beans and peas, and 7 ditto of barley and oats, ricks of well harvested wheat, beans and hay (part to go off, and convenient folds to spend the remainder), 6 acres of grass keep, promising crop of table and cider fruit, 5 wagon horses, broad-wheel wagon, 2 broad wheel carts, narrow wheel ditto, 550 gallons of best cider and perry, excellent casks and hogsheads, a few articles of furniture, &c”.
Edward moved to Slopers Farm, Hartpury, where he died shortly afterwards in November 1863 and was buried at Hartpury. Widowed Harriet died at Kingsholm, Gloucester, in 1870.
Mary Esther Pope died on 7 October 1868 in suspicious circumstances. Mary was still young and apparently healthy and her husband John had taken out a £1000 life insurance policy on her life with Norwich Life Office just the previous year requiring an inquest to be held at the family home of Shapridge House, Abenhall. The report of the inquest states that her mother Mary Ann White happened to be in residence with them at the time of her death. Both the coroner and the medical officer knew John and Mary and thought her to be in good health. John’s statement detailed the circumstances; “We went to bed between ten and eleven o’clock. The deceased was then perfectly well. In the morning, early, my wife awoke as usual, and asked me to give her the baby, which was in a cot. I did so and she suckled it. At about three o’clock, I think, she rose in bed and said ‘I am very ill, open the window’. This I did. She then got out of bed and I saw her sinking. I caught her in my arms, and then knocked at the bedroom wall, and shouted to Mrs White, deceased’s mother, who came immediately. I asked her to get some brandy, which she did. The deceased, I believe, did not drink any. Mrs White called up the boy, and hastened him off to Mitcheldean, for Dr Abell. The deceased died in a few minutes in my arms. Dr Abell was very soon present, and found the deceased still in my arms”. Dr John Richard Abell stated that “I have not made a post-mortem examination today. I consider the cause of death was some disease of the heart; perhaps fatty degeneration. Mrs Pope had been increasing in fat”. A post-mortem was later held by another doctor who reported to a later inquest that death resulted from fatty degeneration of the heart. At the time of her death Mary and John had six young children.
By an indenture dated 30 July 1870, William Yeend passed his trustee responsibilities to Rev Thomas Augustine Pope of Bredon Norton, Worcester, who was appointed by Mary Ann White and John Raymond Pope.
By 1871 Mary Ann White was at Stoke Orchard now describing herself as an annuitant. In 1871 John Pope was living with his children, still farming at Abenhall, and also in the household was a 16 year old governess, Mary Dyke. In 1881 we find John living in the household of Mary P Dyke at Pembroke Street, Gloucester, along with three of his children; John Arthur, Mary and Frank. In 1885 John Raymond Pope remarried Mary Poole Dyke at Norton, and they settled in the village at Elm House, Cold Elm, having two daughters here; Edith Mary and Eleanour (Nell) Dora Elizabeth.
William Cook was tenant at Ivy House between at least 1870 till 1879 and in the Gloucester Journal newspaper of 1 September 1877 there is a report of a fire here; “Fire – On Wednesday evening a rick of hay belonging to Mr Cook of Ivy House Farm, Norton, was destroyed by fire. The Norwich and Liverpool, London and Globe fire engines attended. The rick contained from 20 to 25 tons of hay, and it caught fire from over-heating”.
Trustee William Wood died 28 June 1878 and Rev Thomas Augustine Pope died 5 January 1881 at Brunswick Road, Gloucester.
In 1881 Mary Ann White was at 30 North Place, Cheltenham, and Ivy House was being farmed by a John Pinchin, 50 year old from Cranham, living with his wife and one daughter.
In 1885 a Samuel Parslow was farming at Ivy House as tenant. Samuel was born in 1841 at Slimbridge, son of John and Elizabeth Parslow. Samuel learnt farming whilst working on his uncle Cornelius Parslow’s Slimbridge Farm. In October 1882 Samuel married Hannah Cowley at Slimbridge and likely came to Norton shortly afterwards. Samuel and Hannah had two children during their brief time at Ivy House; Samuel John Cowley and William Alfred Harding.
The Gloucestershire Chronicle newspaper of 8 May 1886 advertised; “To Let, Ivy House Farm, Norton, near Gloucester, from Ladyday, 1887, about 45 acres Pasture and orcharding and 38 acres Arable; comfortable Farmhouse and Homestead. Apply, first, to Mr. Pope, Norton, near Gloucester. It is possible an arrangement may be made with the present tenant to give up at Michaelmas next”. The ‘Mr Pope’ would have been John Raymond Pope and Samuel Parslow must have been the tenant that was leaving. Samuel Parslow was admitted to the Barnwood Lunatic Asylum, Gloucester, around this time and this must have been the reason for the need to find a new tenant. In September 1886 his wife Hannah was selling off their livestock.
their livestock. Samuel Parslow, ‘late of Norton’, died at the asylum in October 1886 and by December his widow Hannah was living at High Street, Tredworth, Gloucester. Samuel was returned to his home of Slimbridge where he was buried.
In 1891 Robert Locke and his family were resident at Ivy House Farm. Robert was recorded as being a farm labourer rather than farmer so may have been working for someone else rather than being the tenant. Months earlier they had a son born at Bourton on the Water suggesting that they had only just arrived at Norton in 1891 so they hadn’t taken over directly from Samuel Parslow.
Robert and Lydia Locke
Robert Locke was born in 1865 at Bourton on the Water, son of Robert and Mary. He grew up at Bourton but in 1888 was living and working at Charlton Kings where he married Lydia Leach. Lydia was born in 1859 at Sherborne, daughter of William and Mary Ann Leach, and at the time of her marriage was a domestic servant to Daniel Pattinson and family, grocer and wine merchant, at Charlton Kings. Robert and Lydia were to have seven children; William Robert, Alice, Horace George, Oliver Lionel, Florence Elizabeth, Vera Kate and Bertie Henry, the last five born at Ivy House. The Locke’s last child, Bertie, was born at Norton in 1900 so the family were possibly still here then but by 1901 Robert was a cattleman on Barn Farm, Cowley. Robert died in November 1926 whilst working at Manor Farm, Syde, and was buried at Brimpsfield. Widowed Lydia went to live with married daughter Florence at Shoreham, Sussex, where she died in 1938.
Mary Ann White died on 18 March 1892. The Estate passed to John Arthur Pope, Raymond Cotterill Pope, Frank Wynstanley Pope and Mary Elizabeth Pope under an indenture dated 6 August 1859 made between Mary Ann White, Mary Esther White, John Raymond Pope, William Yeend and William Fluck derived from Mary Esther Pope (formerly White) delivered by Mary Elizabeth Pope of Elm House, Norton, and Joseph Mann of 31 Whaddon Street, Gloucester, trustees. “All that messuage or farm house with the cottages and outbuildings and the several close of land occupied therewith containing 74 acres or thereabouts situate in the parish of Norton in the county of Gloucester, now in the occupation of (with another 9 acres of land) William Henry Bishop at a yearly rent of £120 at 15 November 1892”. Valued at £2100 by Tayntons Solicitors and Sivetor when calculating death duties due.
William Henry Bishop was born at Lawn Side, Eldersfield, in 1838, son of William and Mary. By 1861 he had left home and was lodging at Hillend, Chaceley. In October 1863 he married Mary Paitref at St Mary de Lode, Gloucester, and they settled at Corse Lawn, farming 120 acres. By 1891, and the time he was associated with Ivy House, the family were living at Evington Hill Farm, The Leigh, where he was yearly tenant at £247 10s per annum. They later moved to Malt House Farm, Haw, Tirley, where William died in 1927.
When Tayntons and Siveter calculated death duties due upon the death of Mary Ann White in 1892 it was stated that the properties under trust had passed to John Arthur Pope, North Texas National Bank, Dallas, Raymond Cotterill Pope, 202 Fourteenth Avenue East, Ashland, Wisconsin, Frank Wynstanley Pope, Texas Pacific Railway, Dallas, and Mary Elizabeth Pope, Elm House, Norton.
An indenture date 9 July 1892 appointed Mary Elizabeth Pope of Elm House, Norton, and Joseph Mann, carpenter of 31 Whaddon Street, Gloucester, as new trustees.
The following advertisement from February 1894 confirms that a Mr Bishop was then at Ivy House.
The next tenant was Abraham Newton Pratt who seems to have used the name Newton Pratt during his brief time here. Although Newton Pratt was the tenant he doesn’t appear to have ever lived at Norton. Born at Leamington Spa, Warks, in 1834, the son of Abraham and Harriett Pratt. He grew up at Whitnach, Warks, before the family moved to Beckley, Oxon, where they farmed. He married Emily Whitehouse at Warwick in 1872 at and by 1881 they had two daughters and were farming 150 acres at Butlers Marston, Warks.
On 12 February 1895 Newton Pratt, of Ivy House Farm, brought a case to Gloucester County Court. His account was that Messrs R B Bailey, brewers of Eastgate Street, Gloucester, owed him payment for some perry he had supplied them with as agreed. The issue seemed to be about the quality of the perry supplied not being up to bottling standard but Mr Pratt argued that this was never part of the agreement and that he was asked to supply pure perry without water and that is what he had done. Judgement was given in favour of Mr Pratt who received payment of 7d per gallon, in total £2 4s 6d, less 10s for the return of an empty barrel.
The Gloucester Journal newspaper of 20 April 1895 advertised; “Ivy House, Norton. Messrs Villar and Bellamy have been instructed by Mr Pratt to sell by auction, at the King’s Head, Norton, on Tuesday, May 7th, at 5 for 6 o'clock; - 39 acres of mowing grass and grass keep in convenient lots (part to go off)”.
The Gloucestershire Chronicle newspaper of 17 August 1895 advertised; "Bruton, Knowles and Priday are instructed by the trustees of the late Mrs Mary Ann White's marriage settlement, to sell by auction at the Spread Eagle Hotel, Gloucester, on Saturday, the 31st August, 1895, at three for four o'clock in the afternoon; a valuable freehold estate known as the Ivy House Farm in the following Lots; Lot 1, an excellent residence known as Ivy House, containing two sitting-rooms, five bedrooms, two attics, kitchen, back kitchen, dairy &c, set of agricultural buildings and 58a 1r 24p of pasture and arable land, including some good orcharding, lying in a ring fence". Other Lots were land and cottages that belonged to the property which were under the tenancy of Mr Newton Pratt which was due to expire at Michaelmas next.
Newton Pratt left Ivy House Farm at Michaelmas, September, 1895, having sold all of his stock with the exception of three horses. In April 1896 he was using his full name, Abraham Newton Pratt, and was living at 22 Goodyear Street, Gloucester. Abraham Newton Pratt was at Hooks Farm, Great Marlow, Bucks, in 1901-1906, and died in 1908 at Coventry.
In 1897 John Raymond Pope, who lived at Elm House, Cold Elm, was also recorded at Ivy House. Did he buy it or more likely just oversee the running of the farm ?
In 1897, John M Bevan was tenant and was still here the following year when the following advertisement appears. It still had two cottages associated with the farm at this date which may explain the apparent multiple tenants.
On 19th August 1898, Ivy House Farm, a messuage and farm, was sold by Mary Elizabeth Cook formerly of Widden Street, Gloucester and wife of Arthur Joseph Cook, farmer of Norton, and Joseph Mann, carpenter of Norton, to Edwin Taylor, butcher of Barton Street in the City of Gloucester. The Schedule of farm taken from the Deeds at that time described the property as follows :-
No on Map Description Area
250 Shepherds Close Pasture 7- 2-27
258 Pasture 4- 3-21
259 Apple Orchard - Pasture orchard 4- 0-11
261 Ivy House Farmyard, buildings etc 3-39
262 Pond 16
263 Pig Patch - Pasture orchard 3-17
317 The Briars - Arable 9- 2-30
318 Puppies Hill - Pasture 4- 1-31
319 Big Gravis - Arable 8- 3-15
321 The Riddings - Arable 11- 0- 9
323 Little Gravis - Arable 5- 3-24
58- 1-24
Shortly after the sale, on 22nd August 1898, a mortgage was taken on Ivy House Farm by Edwin Taylor to Mr Washbourne, solicitor of Gloucester. On 29th September 1898 a further mortgage was taken by Edwin Taylor for £700 to Mr Joseph Ellis of Water End, Longney, farmer.
John Bevan's tenancy appears to have come to an end in 1899. 
On 3rd August 1901 both of Edwin Taylors mortgages were paid off.
In 1901 the tenant was recorded as John Moody Coleman, a 48 year old farmer from Hartbury who was living with his wife and one servant. Both John Bevan and John Coleman are listed in 1902 but by 1903 it had changed again to Charles Baker and by 1904 to Walter Teakle.
Walter James Teakle was born at Chalford in 1857, he married Esther Ann Newman at Sandhurst in 1886, and they were to have eight children. In 1901 Walter was employed as a farmer living with his wife and seven children at The Downs, Sapperton. By 1904 Walter was having financial difficulties that resulted in the farm owner, Edwin Taylor, seizing and selling his farm stock to cover the rent he was owed. The Gloucester Citizen newspaper of 28 May 1904 reported; “Sale Monday next. Ivy House Farm, Norton, 5 miles from Gloucester. Sandoe and Son will sell by auction, upon the above farm and premises, in the occupation of Walter James Teakle, on Monday next, May 30th 1904, at 2 o’clock prompt, - The live and dead farming stock, viz., 5 sows, 40 young pigs, 2 stores, grey pony, poultry, rick of hay, about 4 tons (to go off), 5 hog tubs, pig trough, sheep rack, chicken coop, wood feeding trough, water butt, bench, ladder, &c., seized under a distraint for rent”.
Walter James Teakle was still at Ivy House Farm as tenant to Edwin Taylor in 1905, at which time Edwin was a butcher of Barton Street, Gloucester, living at Knoyle, Denmark Road. In February 1905 Edwin Taylor started proceedings against Walter to have him declared bankrupt and they appeared at the bankruptcy court many times over the following eighteen months in very a drawn out affair. Walter was said to be “an illiterate man ... that did not understand the necessity for disclosing the goods mentioned ... had previously borne good character, was a tenant, under Earl Bathurst for 16 years before coming to Norton". It was August 1906 before the bankruptcy was finally completed.
By October 1905 Walter was living at Coombe Hill when there was a fire in the cottage where he was living after which only ‘the mere shell of the cottage remained’. In July 1906 Walter was at The Leigh when he was charged with assaulting Edwin Taylor and using obscene language. By 1911 Walter Teakle was back at Norton living with his family at No 1 Cold Elm. Walter was employed as a hedger, his two sons as cowmen and a daughter who was in service at Norton Court Farm. Walter died at Cheltenham in 1935.
Wife Mary died in 1904 leaving John Pope a widower again and he died in 1910 still at Elm House, Norton. He was buried at Norton and has a memorial in the churchyard; “In memory of John Raymond Pope who died December 2nd 1910 aged 85 years. ...also Mary Esther... Dear little Thomas Harry their youngest child died January 22nd 1872 in the 5th year of his life”.
It is not known when he arrived at Norton but by October 1907 Thomas Betterton was tenant with the farm still owned by Edwin Taylor; "Sale of hay, Gloucester Cattle Market. Bruton, Knowles and Co are instructed by Mr T Betterton to sell by auction, in the above market, on Monday next, October 7th, at 10:30, - a rick of prime 1907 meadow hay, standing in the rickyard at Ivy House Farm, Norton".
Thomas Betterton was born in 1872 at Awre, son of James and Jane Betterton, and he grew up there working as a farm labourer and later a farm bailiff. Thomas married Alice Whiting at All Saints, Gloucester, in 1903, and they had two children; Elsie Irene and Daisy Marguerite. Alice Pratt was born in 1871 at Sunninghill, Berkshire, and had previously married Evan William Whiting, a police sergeant in Gloucester, in 1888. The couple had five children but Evan died in 1896. In 1901 the children were mostly living with their widowed grandmother Esther Whiting at Bollow, near Westbury on Severn. Widowed Alice was living in Alvin Terrace, off London Road, Gloucester, employed as a laundress, with daughter Gwendoline also in residence. The Bettertons were still at Ivy House Farm in 1911 with their two daughters, stepson Evan Whiting and a grandaughter Violet; illegitimate daughter of Gwendoline. Their time here was brief and on 13 October 1911 the family left, emigrating to Australia, sailing to Brisbane, and settling at ‘Edgecombe’, Curzon Street, Toowoomba, Queensland.
Their early years in Australia were not all to be happy ones. Alice’s son, Archibald Evan Whiting, was born in Gloucester in 1889 and although he was not living at Norton with his mother and stepfather in 1911 he must have emigrated to Australia with them. Just a few years after leaving England the First World War began and it wasn’t long before he was heading back to Europe. Archibald, then employed as a seaman, enlisted on 12 June 1915 at Liverpool, New South Wales, as Private, No 2462, 13th Battalion, Australian Infantry. Archibald was 5ft 6¼ins tall, had a 33ins chest, weighed 138lbs, had a dark complexion, dark brown eyes and dark hair. Embarking from Sydney aboard HMAT Shropshire, on 23 October 1915, he joined the 13th Battalion at Mudros, Greece, sailing on to Alexandria, Egypt, aboard HMT Tunisian, disembarking on 3 January 1916 and joining his unit at Moascar. Between 13 and 16 January 1916 he was in hospital at Ismailia before transferring to the 45th Battalion, Tel-el-Kebir, on 3 March and joining a Lewis Gun section on 24 March at Serapeum. On 2 June he left Alexandria aboard HMT Kinfauns Castle disembarking at Marseilles on 8 June. On 11 June he went AWOL and forfeited two days’ pay whilst at Bailleul. On 27 June he received gunshot wounds to the buttocks, legs and right hand and on 28 September 1916 he died at 17th Casualty Clearing Section, Belgium, as a result of wounds received whilst fighting with 45th Battalion, Machine Gun Section, Australian Infantry. Archibald was buried at Lijssenthoek Military Cemetery, Belgium, where his headstone carries the inscription, at his mother’s request; “He gave his all for his country”.
Lijssenthoek Military Cemetery and the 'Mother’s Badge' sent to Alice Betterton in 1922. She was also sent the memorial scroll and plaque then in 1929 she was sent a photograph of his grave.
Alice’s other son, Evan William, joined the railway at Cairns, Queensland, on 4 August 1916, and was employed as a locomotive fireman. On 25 November 1918, Evan was working on a light engine travelling between Kuranda and Cairns when something caused things to get out of control. The locomotive was seen travelling at great speed and when rounding a sharp bend, ‘five mile curve’, the tender left the rails. The locomotive dragged the tender behind it before it too was finally pulled over, crashing into a wall of rock at the head of the Barron Gorge. Had the locomotive not hit this embankment it would have fallen into the gorge and the Barron River. Whilst all three of the crew received injuries commensurate with the accident itself, the steam that had come from a severed boiler pipe had badly scolded the men. Evan put his hands in front of his face to protect himself but it appeared that his eyes had been gouged out. When help arrived he couldn’t stand or lie down, was in agony crying for water and a doctor, and died, along with the driver, shortly after arriving at Cairns hospital. Evan is buried in an unmarked grave at Martyn Street Cemetery, Cairns.
Thomas and Alice’s two daughters also emigrated to Australia with the family. Daughter Elsie married in Toowoomba, descendants are still in Australia, and in 2024 I was in contact with one of her grandaughters. It is not known what happened to her sister Daisy. Alice died on 29 May 1943 and Thomas on 6 June 1944 and both were buried at Drayton and Toowoomba Cemetery, Toowoomba, Queensland.
In 1911 James and Catherine Groves were farming at Northway Mill near Tewkesbury before moving to Church Farm and taking over at Ivy House in 1916. One of their daughters was Catherine Evelyn who I visited at Dursley in the late 1990s. The following piece was later written by Catherine's daughter Averil Riddick, of Dursley, based upon her mothers recollections of the farm :- “My mother lived at Ivy House Farm from 1916-1924, previously her family (Groves) lived at Church Farm . Ivy House belonged to someone called Taylor (my grandfather rented the farm), he lived in Cromwell Street, Gloucester. There was a pond opposite the cowsheds and a pump on the lawn to the left of the house but it never had any water. Water was brought by float from a house at the end of the lane owned by someone called Hopkins. Fields and orchards belonged to it, across the yard another pond with eels in it. There was a barn, cowsheds, stables and a cider mill in front. There was a large chestnut tree nearest Marlpit Lane. There was a dairy behind the cheeseroom, 4 bedrooms plus attics, a sitting room on the right hand side of the front door and a living room to the left, a lean-to kitchen behind the living room. The windows had large panes of glass. At the end of the house there was an outhouse, a fireplace and wash boiler. The building on the end was a separate cottage with its own front door”.
In the 1990s I was told by a Catherine Riddick (nee Groves) who had been at Ivy House Farm in 1920; "We had no running water at our farm, course in those days you didn’t, we had a pump but there was nothing forthcoming so we used to buy our water from them [Hopkins]".
In 1921 Ivy House was described as having 7 rooms and James and Catherine were still here along with their daughter Catherine, mother in law Mary Ann Ambury, and a general farm worker in their employ; Amos Taylor.
Louis Henry and Maud Gingell appear to have taken on the property after the Groves family left for Eldersfield and were in residence in 1924. In 1931 the tenant was recorded as Owen Randall and in 1935 as Louis Henry Gingell again. These last two seem to have swapped properties as in 1931 Louis Henry Gingell had been at Barn Farm and in 1935 that is where Owen Randall had moved to.
Edwin Taylor appears to have died in 1936 and the farm was put up for sale. The following is reproduced from the auction leaflet; “Bruton Knowles & Co are instructed by the executors of Mr Edwin Taylor, deceased, to sell this valuable freehold property by auction at The Bell Hotel, Gloucester, on Saturday 18th July, 1936 at 3 o’clock punctually. Particulars of sale of Ivy House Farm, an excellent small pasture farm occupying a convenient situation at Priors Norton within half a mile of the main Gloucester to Tewkesbury road about four miles from Gloucester and five from Tewkesbury. It comprises a farmhouse, buildings, pasture and pasture orcharding, containing an area of about 58a 1r 24p…. The farmhouse is placed conveniently near to the road at Priors Norton and is constructed of brick with tiled and slated roofs. It contains on the ground floor: hall, sitting room 16’3’’x12’ with cupboards, living room 16’3’’x13’ with cupboard and shelves, sitting room 10’8’’x10’3’’, cheese room, dairy, back kitchen with shelves and on the first floor are three bed rooms, small room that could be used as a bath room, and two store rooms. On the second floor are three attics. Adjoining the house is a wash house with furnace and baking oven. The water supply is obtained from a well in the garden. The buildings comprise a brick built cider mill house with mill and press and granary over, and adjoining are stables for four horses with loft over, timber and iron cow shed for eight cows with concrete floor, three-bay open cart shed of timber and iron, trolley shed and poultry houses and timber and iron shed with manger. The farm is compact, occupies a good position, and is entirely sound old pasture. The purchaser will be required to pay in addition to his purchase money the sum of £101 in respect of the growing timber. The farm is let to Mr L J Gingell on a Michaelmas tenancy at a rent of £100 a year. The property is subject to a right of way adjoining the boundary fence in the south east corner of No319 on the sale plan”.
On 24th September 1936 a land search was requested by Madge, Lloyd & Gibson of 20 Bell Lane, Gloucester. The named owners of the farm were on the Deeds as; Edwin Taylor, retired butcher, of 27 Cromwell Street, Gloucester, Edwin Taylor (the younger), butcher, of 50 St James Street, Gloucester, Annie Kate Shatford, wife of William Henry Shatford of ‘Morningside’, Upton St Leonards, Gloucester, (on 19 August 1964 she was noted to be living at 37a London Road, Gloucester). On 26th September 1936 the farm was sold by Annie Kate Shatford to Sidney Herbert Smith of Hurst Farm, Lydney (also from Duncombe House, Bulley, Churcham, Glos) for the sum of £1800. On these Deeds, Edwin Taylor (the younger) was noted as deceased on 18 February 1931. Later Sidney Smith entered into an agreement with Arthur George Dix, engineer, of 20 Hauman Road, Gloucester, and Jessica Edith Elliot and Maurice Frederick Elliott also both of 20 Hauman Road, Gloucester, to make all four equal sharing tenants in trust for sale.
A Ministry of Agriculture farm survey dated 1941-3 recorded that Ivy House was owned by Mr H Smith and farmed by Louis Gingell. It was a mixed farm and rated ‘Class B’ due to lack of capital. Louis Henry and Maud Elizabeth Gingell were still at Ivy House Farm in 1955.
In 1959 the farm was in the hands of Maurice F and Jessica E Elliott. On 16th November 1963, Maurice Elliott, now at Cranford Farm, Pucklechurch, Jessica Elliot and Arthur G Dix, paid off £3500 to Sidney Smith for his share to become three equal owners and on 18th November 1963 part of the farm was sold in equal parts by Arthur Dix and the Elliotts to Richard Eric Beale of Benges Farm, Priors Norton, for £11500.
On 24th August 1964 the farmhouse was sold to Richard Abdiel Chorley of 61 Church Street, Tewkesbury, for £2900 and on 22nd January 1972 Richard Abdiel Chorley and Kathleen Joanna Chorley became co-owners. After retiring from his job at Smiths Instruments they went to live in the Abbey Precinct, Tewkesbury, where Dick was organist and steward at Tewkesbury Abbey.
On 18th October 1983 the farmhouse was sold again to Dr Peter Fairbairn Griffiths and Lindsay Jane Griffiths.
In 1985 Ivy House Farm was listed as Grade II and described; “Former farmhouse now house. C16, early C18, C19 and C20. Main body brick, concealing remnants of former close-studded timber-framing, extension in brick, red tile and concrete pantile and slate roofing, brick stacks. Rectangular plan to main body with narrow C19 extension on to left gable-end, C19 wash house at right gable end. C20 lean-tos at rear of main body not of special interest. Main body: 2 storeys and attic with garret lights. Three-windowed facade; 2-light casements with glazing bars to first floor, 3-light casement with glazing bars to ground floor left, 16-pane sash right. Central C20 part-glazed door in deep reveal. Two-light casement with glazing bars lighting Cl9 extension left. All openings on ground floor with gauged brick heads. Twelve-pane sashes lighting-- gable-end of C19 extension left. Interior of main body: three-roomed with parallel, deep-chamfered spine beams-and run out stops in rooms at either end, tie beam in central room. Two open fireplaces with bressumers (one blocked)”.
[Thanks to Lindsay Griffiths, who lived at the farm from 1983-2000, for sharing details from the surviving Deeds].
The Griffiths’ remained at Ivy House Farm for nearly 20 years until December 2000 when they moved to Dorset. The property was put on the market with Hamptons International and was described as follows; "... a family home of great character and charm that began its life as a long house farmhouse. History notes that the requirement for longhouses were that they were at least 16' in depth which was the minimum size required to stall two oxen ! The property has been carefully looked after throughout the years and much care has been taken to retain and restore the wealth of period features that are prominent throughout the three floors of the accommodation. On entering the property, the reception hall which forms the oldest section of the house, has a flagged stone floor, exposed wall and ceiling timbers, and the original cheese press. Handsome exposed timbers are throughout the property along with a fine inglenook fireplace in the sitting room and many original timber doors with period wrought iron furniture. Outside the gardens are arranged to both the front and rear, with a driveway to the front and a second driveway giving access to a large parking area to the rear. Also to the rear are three large open stores and access to a stone store/workshop with power and light".
