Great Maplestead farm ownership

[megsnan]

I have a mystery surrounding Purls Hill, Great Maplestead.  I was told that land or a farm was given to my grandfather, and most likely in the 1950s.  He died in 1959, and there is no specific mention of it in his Will, and nor is it in the Will of the lady who was supposed to have given it to him.  I remember collecting rent in the 1960s, so my family must have owned the farm cottages at that time.  I wondered if the land/farm was given to my grandfather as a gift during the lady's lifetime, but I can't find any papers anywhere and am just fascinated about it.  There is nothing at Essex Archives.  Land Registry can only help if I have dates. Does anyone have any idea where I could find information relating to ownership? 

[Jolee]

Have you tried the local library, Sible Hedingham seems to be the closest at about 1 mile away, often a great source of info

[megsnan]

Thanks for your advice on this. I tried the library in Halstead (Sible Hedingham is a part time one) and they had no information. The plot thickens though because I checked my granddad's Will and it makes reference to "any farm I may own or rent". The Will was written in 1943 and he died in 1959. As far as any of us know, he only rented until a few months before he died and, I was told he gave up renting because he had been "left" Purls Hill and intended to farm it but died suddenly. He left £10,000 which included the house he lived in, the two cottages. If I knew the 1959 value of the house (sold in late 1970s for £30,000) and two cottages, I might have an idea whether there actually was a farm.

[Jolee]

If you google in Great Maplestead they have their own site, it is still a small village of about 355 people, if you contact them direct they may be able to help you as it is so small.

[hanes teulu]

list.english-heritage.org.uk/resultsingle.aspx?uid=1123058

Includes a map covering Purls Farm (click on pdf.version)

Found an item in The Essex Newsman, 28 March 1947, when a motor cycle "scramble" was held at "Purls Hill Farm, Great Maplestead by kind permission of Jack Hearn".

[hanes teulu]

problem with url on prev post - so google
purls hill farm great maplestead and click on "purls hill farm outbuilding approximately 25"

[David Jeggo]

Who was your Grand father. My family worked here for a while ,Dad might know.

[megsnan]

Hi David. I think he might remember. Grandad was Cecil Harrington. My Nan had the income from his estate and when I was a kid, and certainly up to the late 1960s, I used to go to Purls Hill with her or Mum to collect rent from the cottages - and at least one of them was rented by a family called Jeggo. I have no idea when the cottages were sold or why.

I was told by an elderly cousin that Grandad had retired from his tenant farm and was going to farm at Purls Hill which had been left to him, but I can't find anything about it.

I know that the farm was owned my two elderly ladies from Castle Hedingham, Beatrice and Sophia Harvey, and I think they had inherited it from their parents. Grandad had worked as a chauffeur for them in the 1920s and, even after he became a farmer, he was still at their beck and call when they needed to go anywhere. He also did handyman work for them.

I checked granddad's Will and I also sent for the wills of both Miss Harvey.  Sophia Harvey had died in 1937 and all her estate was left to her sister.  There was no mention of any bequest to anyone else.  Granddad died in December 1959 and left quite a lot of money, which would have included property, but there was nothing in the papers to specifiy exactly what he owned. The second Miss Harvey died in March 1960. I wondered whether she had not changed her Will and that maybe there was a bequest which had passed into Granddad's estate, but I checked and there was nothing specified for him - only an allotment for his brother.  The only other thing I can think of was that she gave him the cottages/farm while she was still alive.

If your family know anything, I am just fascinated to find out how we came about the cottages and whether there was ever a farm involved.

[amondg]

Have you checked the land registry office, try the one in Plymouth in Devon, I know they registered Norfolk properties, so possibly Essex as well.