Handy Cross Farm History And Occupiers

Handy Cross Farm. Historically a mixed farm.

Existed 1741.

1781= for sale freehold (except a few copyhold acres). 366 acres, all but 11 acres within a ring fence. Meadow and arable land (Oxford Journal 03 February 1781).  Includes dwelling house, two tenements (cottages for farm workers etc)  and outbuildings. Let to Thomas Allen for £150 per annum. Also 67 acres woodland available with it. "Handicross". May be the same Thomas Allen at Pigeon House Farm 1784. 

1817= Bought by William James Atkinson (of whom lots more here).  Later owned by Lord Carrington.

1818 - tenant Richard Badcock is leaving the farm so there is a livestock etc sale on the premises. It includes 24 cows and heifers, 6 cart horses, 8 sheep and 20 pigs plus the usual selection of ploughs, dung carts etc. 

1843?= outgoing tenant Mr Stacey Rayment. 

1843-50= Daniel Carr. Had chickens and geese stolen from him in 1843. Subject to a serious rick fire one afternoon in 1844. Believed to be arson. (The Sun, 22 Jan 1844). Thankfully Lord Carrington the landowner had his own fire engine to help put it out. The wheat rick in which it started, containing 10 loads, could not be saved, but several standing nearby were undamaged. 

1851= 20 year old Ambrose Reddall Turney living with his sister Sarah and others in High Wycombe, then called Chepping Wycombe, described himself as a farmer of 320 acres employing 8 workers. There is a good chance that he, probably with his brothers, was working Handy Cross farm. See below.

1864= Mr Turney. Had no buildings on it then but by 1870 did at least have a barn and apparently also had a worker's cottage by 1875.

1866 - the Messrs Turney. 

1868= Ambrose Reddall Turney, John Turney and George Turney in partnership which was dissolved that year. These were brothers, the sons of John Turney. Ambrose was properly Alexander Ambrose Reddall Turney and also operated as the Parish Surveyor and Rate Collector for High Wycombe. He emigrated to the USA the next year. He and his brothers were mentioned in the will of their step grandmother Elizabeth Turney of Winslow which is transcribed on the Winslow history website. This also gives more background to the family. Link to this website here. The will of her husband can be downloaded from the National Archives.

1870= John Turney. Prosecuted his shepherd Mathew Clarke for refusing to work for him while injured. Mathew had hurt his arm trying to catch a sheep. John argued that the injury did not mean that Mathew was incapable of all work and that there were light duties he could perform on the farm. The court allowed Mathew to be released from his contract with John and ordered his employer to pay him £1 owed Michaelmas money out of which the court costs would be deducted.

1869= J and G Turney, presumably brothers John and George.

1871= John Turney. Poachers set traps for rabbits in his field that year.

1873= J Turney.

1877= J Turney. Seven of his heifers died in agony after workers from landlord Lord Carrington left open cans of lead paint where the animals could get at them and lick the poisonous paint. 

1878= J Turney sold off his stock of clover and hay etc as he was leaving the farm.

1881= whoever was at the farm sold off all stock and left.

1887-1894= William Morris, who also occupied nearby Hill Farm as well as farms in West Wycombe. The farmhouse was in 1894 put up to let and was then a 5 bedroom house with 2 sitting rooms and 2 kitchens (South Bucks Standard 22nd June 1894). It seems Edward Nuttall also occupied some of the land 1894-96 but the Morris family continued to farm most of the land even if they did not live in the farm house for a while.

1895= rooms and apartments in the farm house up to let. Bracing air is promised. By which was meant biting winds presumably as Handy Cross was renowned for suffering heavy snow, deep frosts, and harsh winds being in a slightly elevated position.

1901= W and T Morris.

1913= Morris family still farming there.

1920 - George Parker.

Ongoing research. This post will always be updated if new information arises. Gaps in the dates above represent gaps in my knowledge.

Related Content:

History and landlords of the Blue Flag pub Handy Cross here

And of the Blacksmith's Arms there in this post

More Handy Cross content indexed here

Other sources:

1833 parochial assessment Great Marlow, working notebooks of the assessors in my possession and transcribed by me.

"England and Wales Census, 1851," database with images, FamilySearch (https://familysearch.org/ark:/61903/1:1:SGBT-VMM : 11 September 2019), Ambrose Turney in household of Hannah Howlett, High Wycombe, Buckinghamshire, England; citing High Wycombe, Buckinghamshire, England, p. 1, from "1851 England, Scotland and Wales census," database and images, findmypast (http://www.findmypast.com : n.d.); citing PRO HO 107, The National Archives of the UK, Kew, Surrey.

1871 census, my transcription. Crown Copyright.

Researched and written by Charlotte Day.

©Marlow Ancestors

List Of Landlords Of The Hope, High Street

Updated by Charlotte June 2026

1859 - To let having undergone some renovations. Was probably less than a decade old. On the site of two much older, shabby shops that were pulled down. Previous occupants included the William Cock(s) shoemakers and grocers, and William Henry Brown, also a grocer (and baker / confectioner, later moved to other side of High Street). The stone casing around the windows in the image above was added later when it became the Capital and Counties Bank (1900) Fullers of Maidenhead the brewery.

1860 - Thomas Rackstraw. Fined 10 shillings for having his premises open after 11pm.

1861-66 Thomas Rackstraw (also cordwainer)  In 1866 he is fined 10s plus 9s costs for selling beer after 11pm on a Saturday. This was followed by a 40s fine for selling beer during prohibited hours on a Sunday later that year!

1869-70 William George Marks. Also a boot and shoe maker, fishmonger and tobacco dealer! William went bankrupt.

1870 - Daniel Walker. Also cabinet maker. He was the son of carpenter and parish constable Thomas Walker. See the role of Thomas in the 1847 riots here.

1875 - Daniel Walker has died at The Hope aged just 44. His widow Sarah takes over. 

1877- Sarah Walker

1881 - Sarah Walker (born Norfolk according to this year's census)

1884 - 1. Mrs Sarah Walker 2. William Cannon (holdover but subsequent permanent transfer to him refused by authorities due to a conviction for allowing drunkeness on the premises) 3. J.H Simpole / Simple. John was a former member of the police on the Great Western Railway but most recently had been working as an insurance agent in Shrewsbury.

1885 - John Horatio Simpole.

1886 - John Simpole. Sold business. 2. Alpheus Taylor. Alpheus had apparently been selling beer out of the premises illegally prior to gaining a licence. It seems the bench accepted an initial plea of confusion over paperwork but did not grant him more than a hold over in the end. Alpheus was also a carpenter. He had previously ran the Herne's Oak pub in Chinnor and later went to the White Hart in Money Row Green, Holyport, Berkshire.

1887 -1. A Taylor 2. James Tarrant

1888 - 1. James Tarrant. 2. Thomas Parker

1890 - Thomas Parker W. Harry Rockell?  3.Harry Roberts

1891 - Harry Roberts (born Kempsford, Glos)  "The Hope Beerhouse"

1892 - 1. John Roberts who  transfers to Henry Thomas. 2. Henry Thomas transfers premises on holdover to Thomas Richards. 3. Thomas  J  Richards transfers to Edward J Briggs. In August, the local press reported that puzzled drinkers had found the beer house was locked up and apparently unoccupied when they arrived on a Tuesday evening. This was when the holdover had been granted to Thomas Richards. A week later "no solution to the mystery is as yet forthcoming." It seems that there was trouble finding a permanent landlord acceptable to both the brewery and the magistrates who grant the premises licence. 

1896 - E J Briggs  2. George Hall

1897 George Hall transferred to George Howe/Howall/Howell. We know that the names of Hall and Howe / Howall but they are not the same person,this was a definite transfer. [George Hewett & William H Moore also tried unsuccessfully to get the licence] 2. Later in the year licence transferred as a holdover to Charles Lewis Gomm. A full transfer of the licence to Gomm was allowed the following year. 

1900 - Frederick Barber gave way to Charles Leopold Smith in January. It was noted at the annual licensing hearings in August that no application had been made to renew the licence of these premises. Instead the building was to be converted into the Capital and Counties Bank, after extensive remodelling. 

For similar posts see Pub Related on the menu.

SOURCES INCLUDED

Berkshire Chronicle - 01 December 1884, held at the British Library Archive and accessed via the BNA 

South Bucks Standard August 9 1892, 18 December 1896 as above

Bucks Herald, 01 September 1888, as above

Maidenhead Advertiser - 24 December 1884. 

Marlow Guide & Directory 1891

Marlow Guide 1905

Marlow "Almanack" 1907

Census records 1861,1881,1891

Kellys Directory 1864, 1877,1883, 1911

©MarlowAncestors. You are welcome to use this research for family or local history purposes but please credit this blog and link back here to ensure our original sources remain credited for the information provided. Thank you.