Hard To Find Farm, Little Marlow

Updated December 2024

Farm existed by 1826. Closer to High Wycombe than anywhere but was officially in Little Marlow parish. Description: 1873= 240 acres sheep farm (but was clearly also arable at that point).

Historic Occupiers:

Note that for farms these were rarely the same as the owners of the property in the past.

1752 - Robert Kitson of Hard to Find Farm buried.

1784 - William Curtis (from Oxfordshire).

1853 - farm to let. Possibly was in use by  William Wethered just before this date but he was a non-residential farmer there if so.

1860 - circa 1868 Thomas Dorrell. Wife Ann as below. Brother Abel a partner in the business. They farmed together at Coleshill 1849-1853 (at least). Not to be confused with Thomas Dorrell farmer of Bockmer End near Medmenham.

1869 - Ann Dorrell, widow of Thomas above. Her employee William Burt was in 1869 convicted of stealing eggs from her but she told the court she would take the young man back if he promised to be good in future. He received a formal reprimand but no further punishment.

Ann was in a less forgiving mood two years later when her 16 year old shepherd George Burt / Birt, probably a relative of the William above, was convicted of embezzlement after he failed to hand over the true amount of money paid to him by a fellmonger for sheep skins from Mrs Dorrell's farm. George was sentenced to 2 weeks in jail. He had spent the money on beer. By this time William Burt was not still working on the farm. The Dorrells left the farm in 1873. 

1893 -1911 John Stallwood. Moved to Hard To Find from a farm in Totteridge Bucks 1893. Had a farm Bradenham in 1887. Census says born 1856 Bledlow Ridge. Wife Ann born Downley 1854. Kids at home 1871= Albert, Annie, Frederick, George, Harry, James, Lily, Rolphe, William. Employee George Thorne convicted of beating Thomas's horse with an iron bar in 1893. In 1902 John's father William who ran the Beech Tree beer house in Littleworth Common, Bucks went for the day to Hard To Find to help his son on the farm. Later that evening he took a wrong turn in his horse and cart which plunged into the Thames killing him. It was thought by some that tiredness from his farm work earlier in the day (William was 71) may have been partly to blame. In the same year Emma Beaver of Great Marlow fined for taking turnip tops from the fields of Hard To Find. This was a common offence for poor women to be convicted of. They cooked the turnip greens as vegetables.

In 1905 John was summoned for employing his underage son Harry on the farm. Did not appear and was fined in his absence. Another fine came his way for "furiously driving" his horse and trap as a danger to others in 1906 and 1910. The term "furiously" refers to high reckless speed and is nothing to do with him being in a temper!

John went bankrupt in 1911. He was a litigious man in money matters both suing and being sued numerous times over business deals gone sour.

1912 Harold Secker. Describes his business then as a dairy and poultry farm when advertises for a live in farm boy.

1920 - H F Secker. Must be mistake for H.G Secker.

1932 - Farm used for military training exercises by the Bucks Battalion. Machine gun companies and others simulated an attack on the farm. I hope someone told the sheep it was only a drill.

1933 - H Gordon "Seeker" 

1939 - Harry Gordon Secker. This year he advertised for a Carter who could also milk. Cottage provided.

For more farm occupier posts for Little Marlow and Great Marlow see the Specific Shops, Streets Etc option on the menu. You will also see a Person Index option on the menu to help you find every mention of a person on this blog. For more Little Marlow content in general see Other Places on the menu.

Farm occupancies calculated from wills, adverts, trade journals, censuses, property records, court cases etc.

©Marlow Ancestors. You are welcome to use this content for family or local history purposes with credit to this blog.

My census transcriptions from microfilm. Census information remains Crown Copyright.

See:

Reading Mercury 24th April 1869, Windsor and Eton Express 11th March 1826 and Bucks Herald 22nd February 1873. British Library Archives.