Continuing the story of Elliot Woolford, farmer at Hook Farm from 1899-1941. On Friday December 31, 1915, as the impact of the deprivations of the First World War tighten, Elliot writes about the Childrens’ Christmas Tree – a big event on the local Christmas calendar held at the school in Hook, usually a few days after Christmas. A particularly welcome event, especially in 1915.
Friday December 31, 1915.
I went to Swindon and sold butter 12/- 12 0
Bt Groceries 2/6 Meat 2/3 papers 1/- Cigarettes,
Soap & Diary 3/3 9 0
Dog Biscuits 2/8 Sauceges 7d Sundries 2/6 5 9
Paid Carter 17/- William 14/6 Walter 14/6 Frank 8/-
Clarence 5/6 2 19 6
3 14 3
Carter, William, & Walter, attending to Cows
Frank not at work
Clarence took the milk first time instead of Frank
Amy, & Dora Ody, & Babe, went up to the school tea. Amy was the sole means of they having a tea. She had no difficulty in Begging the money. Miss Dora & Dolly Ody Mrs Newth Mrs & Miss Hale Miss Habgood Mrs Webb Mrs Painter & Mrs W. Ody took their Children & assisted. About a 100 children attended. It was quite a success. Mr Leighton School master & his wife worked hard preparing the school etc.
Continuing the story of Elliot Woolford, tenant farmer. December 1899 and Elliot spent his first Christmas at Hook Farm with his brother Rowland.
Tuesday December 26, 1899 St Stephen. Bank Holiday
Got a Gun Licence out for Rowl. 10/- 10.0
Gave Mother 10/- for Household Exs. 10.0
Sent £13. 15/- to Bank.
Went up to Mr Owen Hales. “Creeches Farm” shooting
Rowl shot two sparrows all told. Could not find a rabbit
Started 2 Blackbirds these escaped unhurt with the exception of a little fright & palpitation.
We spent the evening with them viewing photos of the family and indulging in a few games with the childrens playthings the Party broke up at 11.15 pm all perfectly sober.
Weather Dull foggy & raining all the forenoon
Very quiet Xmas Generally No doubt owing to the War
Image of Creeches Farm taken 1880-1890 is published courtesy of the Friends of Lydiard Park.
In 2025 I shall continue my research into the life and times of Elliot Woolford (farmer at Hook Farm) and the parish of Lydiard Tregoze based on his diaries. Selected volumes of the diaries can be viewed on the Friends of Lydiard Park website.
In 1899 Elliot Woolford moved to the village of Hook where he took over the tenancy of Hook Farm, part of the Lydiard Park estate. Elliot kept a meticulous diary recording daily work on the farm from 1899-1940. In this unique archive we learn about changing practices in agriculture as he continued to modernise and develop the farm. He writes about family members, friends and neighbours, social and national events and life on the declining Lydiard Estate.
Read about the day before Christmas 1902. Work carried on as usual but Elliot also records his sorrow at the sudden death of his much loved mother.
Tuesday December 23, 1902
Mother Died to Day at 2.40 o.clock P.M.
Cut 425 Sprouts 17 Bags Savoys etc
I went to Swindon & delivered vegetables received Cash1 15 0
Bought fish 6d Butter 1/31 9
Paid Mobeys for their labour 9/- 9/- & 4/-1 2 0
Gave Ellen 20/- to get mourning 1 0 0
£2 13 9
2 3 9
Mother died this afternoon at 2.40 Rowl, Aunt Martha, Ellen, Fanny Matthews, & Father was there also Fred Woolford’s wife “Bessie” She died very happy & passed away without pain while in Rowls arms as he was trying to turn her over. We feel her loss to us we were so attached to her for she was most devoted to us all & ever studdying our well being & comfort and could never do enough for us. She asked to see Sam but he did not arrive till after she had been fallen asleep two hours.I went over in the Evening.
Weather Mild
Frances Ann and William Woolford are buried in St Mary’s churchyard, Purton. Image published courtesy of Duncan and Mandy Ball.
Pictured seated are Elliot and his wife Amy with their son Rowlie in the garden at Hook Farm.
Elliot died in 1941 and is buried in Hook Cemetery with his wife Amy who died in 1962. Hook Cemetery was laid out in 1891 in a field gifted by Viscount Bolingbroke. This field, formerly called Ables, was once part of Hook Farm.
Most of the time I am entrenched in Radnor Street Cemetery – but occasionally I venture out, sometimes to neighbouring churchyards and cemeteries. And sometimes my work with the Friends of Lydiard Park collides with Radnor Street Cemetery. I am presently transcribing the diaries of Hook farmer Elliot Woolford. On March 30, 1929 Elliot writes:
Saturday March 30, 1929
I went to James Henry Sadler Esq funeral at Lydiard Millicent this afternoon he was taken to Church on a farm wagon there was a lot followed he was much respected.
A short biography is published in the ‘Wilts Book’ discovered by Radnor Street Cemetery friend and colleague Mark Sutton.
Sadler. – James Henry Sadler, J.P., Lydiard House, near Swindon; son of the late Samuel Champernowne Sadler, J.P., F.R.C.S., of Purton Court, Wilts; born at Purton, August 17th, 1843; educated at Hoddesdon, Herts, and Royal Agricultural College, Cirencester. Landowner and agriculturist, farming some of his own property; Justice of the Peace for Wilts; member of the Wilts County Council since its formation, representing the Purton Division; Captain, Royal Wiltshire Yeomanry (retired); Chairman of the Cricklade and Wootton Bassett Board of Guardians, and Rural District Council; formerly, and for some years Chairman of the Purton and Lydiard Millicent Parish Councils, North Wilts Liberal Association, and Swindon Chamber of Agriculture. Recreations: hunting, and shooting. Married, in 1879, Ann Matilda, daughter of the late T.P.W. Butt, of Arle Court, Cheltenham.
Wednesday January 3, and as promised I am working on my new book based on the diaries of Elliot Woolford, but as ever the residents of Radnor Street Cemetery continue to creep in.
Following the sudden death of his sister Ellen in 1905 Elliot was compelled to engage a housekeeper. He appointed Kate Romans who had plenty of experience of domestic service and had recently been employed as a housekeeper for widower James Harper and his three sons in Swindon.
Kate was baptised on January 12, 1870 the daughter of Methodists William and Maria Romans. William states his occupation as labourer and in 1871 the family were living at 5 Eastcott Hill. So, I had to check the Radnor Street Cemetery burial registers and of course several members of the family were buried there.
Both William and Maria were from Chiseldon and their first child, Alfred James Leonard was born there in 1864 and was buried there in 1867.
By 1870 the family had moved to Swindon. William died in 1894 and was buried in grave plot A928 which he shares with his daughter Ada who died two years later.
Maria died at The Institution, Stratton St. Margaret and was buried on April 13, 1916 in grave plot C711. Like William and Ada’s grave, this is a public plot and Maria is buried with 6 others, although two of them are her sons. Ernest Edward Romans who died aged 17 in 1896 and Thomas Webb Romans who died in 1898 aged 38. A note in the burial registers reads – ‘fell down dead at Railway Wks Stratford S.’
I was able to locate various other members of the family – George Romans who died in 1926 and Alfred Henry Romans who died in 1934. Elizabeth Passmore nee Romans died in 1951 and was buried in plot C4677 with her husband and son and Sarah Ann Robinson nee Romans who died in 1913 and was buried with her husband in grave plot D1290. Youngest daughter Florence Jane died in 1963 – in Australia and I can’t find William Romans jnr either who died in 1936, but he maybe buried in Whitworth Road Cemetery.
But what about Elliot’s housekeeper Kate Romans?
On June 14, 1911 Elliot married Amy Newth. Kate had already handed in her notice as Elliot had recorded in his diary entry Tuesday May 23.
With just a day left of their honeymoon, Elliot writes in his diary on Tuesday June 20:
Miss Kate Romans left my employ today after 6½ years service as housekeeper. Very good servant.
So what happened next to Kate. Well, she’s proving to be a bit elusive. In 1939 there is a Kate Romans resident at St. Margaret’s Institution, Stratton St. Margaret. Her occupation is stated as Domestic Duties – Retired. In 1953 there is a death registered in Swindon for Kate Romans aged 81, which is roughly the correct age. Could this be Elliot’s Miss Romans? If anyone has any information I’d love to know.
Now it’s back to Hook Farm and Elliot Woolford’s diary.
Image of Hook Farm published courtesy of the Woolford family and the Friends of Lydiard Park.
I recently took part in the hugely popular Cakes and Tales event at Hook Village Hall, Lydiard Tregoze. Held by the Friends of Lydiard Park this popular occasion has become an annual event as part of the Lydiard Tregoze Local History Project.
A general invitation was extended to all past and present residents of Hook village and the surrounding area to bring along their photos and share their memories. My involvement as a Friend of Lydiard Park is in transcribing the diaries of Hook farmer Elliot Woolford who kept a meticulous account of life on Hook Farm for more than 40 years.
I have a few ‘favourite’ families among the former residents of the Lydiards, most especially the Ody family. For me it began with discovering the grave of Noah and Sarah Ody in St. Mary’s churchyard.
Noah was baptised on November 14, 1790 at St Mary’s Church along with his sister Ann, the children of George and Mary Ody. He married Sarah Clark on November 25, 1811 at the parish church of Brinkworth.
Noah and Sarah raised a large family and along with their sons were tenants at Hayes Knoll and Bagbury Farms in Purton; Haxmoor in Purton Stoke; Braydon, Marsh, Flaxlands and Glebe Farms in Lydiard Tregoze and Lower Shaw Farm in the parish of Lydiard Millicent, at various times during the 19th century.
As Oaksey resident Harold Ody proudly told Elspeth Huxley when she was writing her book Gallipot Eyes – a Wiltshire Diary in 1975 – “There’ve been Odys farming in North Wilts for five hundred years,” – and I quite believe him.
At the recent Cakes and Tales event I was delighted to meet Liza and Marilyn who both trace their ancestry back to the three times married Richard Ody (1775-1840) one time gamekeeper to Lord Bolingbroke at Lydiard Park and the elder brother of my Noah (of course he’s not exactly ‘my’ Noah, but you know what I mean).
It was a busy afternoon with lots of people to talk to and not enough time to do it in – but I have Liza and Marilyn’s contact details and will be in touch.
Skip on another couple of weeks …
I received an enquiry on the Radnor Street Cemetery Facebook page concerning the death of Eliza Ody on April 9, 1921 who was buried in the cemetery.
Imagine my disappointment when I was unable to locate the burial! But wait – there had been an error. This was the lady’s maiden name and not the one she was buried with. It transpired that Eliza is buried in a public grave so sadly there will be no headstone to mark the spot, but I was determined to trace this member of the Ody family. And would you believe it – she was a descendant of the aforementioned Richard Ody and his 3rd wife Sarah Beasant.
Radnor Street Cemetery 