Hawkins Farm Occupiers and Timeline

 Mixed farm on the road to Frieth. 1833= 93 acres. There was a long history of gypsy families pitching their tents on a piece of rough grassland next to the farm and its environs were also a magnet for blackberry pickers coming up from Marlow in the 1800s. Hares were once abundant in this vicinity.

Occupiers of Hawkins Farm (who are not normally the owners) Gaps in dates are gaps in my knowledge. I will endeavour to fill them all in as I wade through my old research notes or do new research=

1833= RH Russell. Owned by William Robert Clayton of Harleyford. 

1841= Richard Russell (census). His aunt Martha and sister Emma live with him. Note this is clearly the Henry Richard Russell mentioned below going just by "Richard".

1842= Henry Richard Russell. Henry seems to have owned the Coach and Horses pub in Marlow.

1851- Henry R Russell (census). Wife Susannah, aunt Martha Russell, sister Emma Russell and nephew Charles Russell also present and three live in servants.

1854- Henry Russell (Kelly's Directory).

1855-65. Richard Blackwell. Tenant. He may have given up Hawkins following the damaging fire at the farm which saw two horses burned to death in his stables and building damage. [Reading Mercury 23rd September 1865, British Library Archives, via the BNA]. Does not appear to have resided in the farmhouse.

1865-77 Thomas Elliot who went bankrupt. Tenant. Wife Mary. Grew corn, wheat. Raised cattle, pigs. In 1875 his 13 year old worker Stephen Higgs was killed by a runaway cart while gathering hay at the farm. 

1882-87 William Creswell / Cresswell tenant to Mr Crossman. William was a troublesome man himself and it seems that his workers weren't much better= William Swadling his carter was fined for being drunk in the Hand and Flowers, Thomas Bird his carter was warned for prolonged blocking of the road with his cart in Marefield and John Jones his general agricultural labourer was fined for working a horse with an open pressure wound under its collar. Full biography of William Cresswell / Creswell here.

1901-02 (probably by 1897). Henry Brown, a cattle dealer. Wife Mabel. They moved to Harleyford Farm by 1911.

1924= Miss Potts?

1939= Sidney Keene. The Keene family seem to have remained in possession till at least the 1950s but that is beyond the limit of our blog.

To find all mentions of any individual on this blog see the A-Z Person Index. Thousands are mentioned. Other Marlow and Little Marlow farm histories and occupier posts on this blog are indexed here.

Census information is my transcription or that of Jane Pullinger from microfilm. Census information remains Crown Copyright.

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