Speed

This is Edgar Speed and his family sitting outside of Grove Farm. Nora, on his right,  only passed away recently, kindly contributed photographs used in this page, the page about farming and other subjects. Favol, or Fay, in the middle made her mark in cricket whist Maurice was named in honour of his uncle who was a soldier in World War One but died soon after. Ethel  (nee Payne) appears in the article about education.

There are two or three branches of the Speed family in the area of Chewton Mendip who can all be traced back to Stephen Speed from Ansford, Castle Cary, who lived in the early to middle 18th century. Speeds were also living in Shepton Mallet in the 1670s.

Stephen Speed married Mary Wilmott on 3rd April 1722 in North Cadbury, Somerset. They had a son, William, who was born c 1724. Stephen was buried on the 10th August 1766 in Ansford. Mary was also buried in Ansford on 10th October 1769.

William Speed married Sarah (her second name is not known) in Castle Carey on 9th June 1771. They had a son called Robert who was born c1763 in Castle Carey. The link between William and Stpehen Speed is not proven as the parish records are in a relativly poor condition.

Robert, the son of William and Sarah Speed was baptised in Castle Carey on 4/4/1763. He married Mary Jordan of  Farrington Gurney on 30/4/1787 in Farrington Gurney. She was born c 1765 in Farrington Gurney and died 6/1/1828 in Chewton Mendip. Robert died  20th March 1846 in Farrington Gurney but was buried in Ston Easton.

This is where the lines of the family may diverge. One of Robert’s sons started the line that lead to the Speeds in the Curtis family website maintained by Mike Matthews. This table follows another path to Edgar and his family but refers to the other branch of the family.

William, the son of Robert Speed and Mary Jordan, was born in 1789 in Farrington Gurney and baptised 13/9/1789 in Ston Easton. He married Alice Kingsman on 24/12/1809 in Farrington Gurney. She was born c 1787 and was buried in Chewton Mendip 1/6/1837. William was described as an agricultural labourer in the 1841 and 1851 census. He died 1869.

George, the son of William and Alice Speed was born in 1812 in Farrington Gurney.  He married Elizabeth (Reynolds?)  in 1834. She was born c 1812 and may have come from Priddy. He was buried in Chewton Mendip on 11/3/1884. Elizabeth died in 1896.

The first confirmed date of occupation by Speeds in Chewton Mendip is the 1832 voters list when a James Speed was living at West End Farm whilst  Robert speed was at Franklyns Farm. This was the Robert Speed who was married to Mary Jordan

It is beleived the James Speed living at West End Farm was one of Robert sons. James was born c1791 in Farrington Gurney. He married Ann Symes of Pilton in 1821. It is not known if Ann was related to the Symes of Chewton Mendip, she died 7/11/1854, probably in Priston where they were living. James was still living in Priston in 1881.

James Speed, the son of George and Elizabeth Speed, was born 27/1/1842 in Chewton Mendip and baptised on 20/2/1842. He married Harriet Perkins of Stratton on the Fosse in March 1864 in the Baptist Chapel in Wells. Harriet was born in 1847 and died September 1904. According to the school registers, they had at 13 children and lived in Honeywell Lane, probably in Honeywell Cottage. The  children were George, William, Alice, Frank, Louise, Minnie, Albert, Harry, Hannah, Fred, Stephen, Jacob and Theodosha.

The school registers also show that a George Speed was raising a more modest family of four at Ford whilst Francis Speed James was living in the Folly from 1879 to 1881 and Red Hill farm from 1884.

James Speed was described as an Agricultural Labourer in 1881 but was a tenant at Grove farm from at least 1897. One of his sons, Fred, is seen in the Handbell Ringers of 1904. The previous tenants at Grove farm were members of the Loxton family. James Speed died on 6/11/1914 in Grove Farm.

George (Grigg) was the son of the James and Harriet Speed. He was born 6/1/1864 in Chewton Mendip. He married Elizabeth Payne on 30/11/1891 in Litton. Elizabeth was born in 1862 and died 3/5/1959. It is believed they had moved to Wills Farm near Priddy around  1901.

This is Edgar and Ethel in later life. They were the parents of Maurice Speed, who died shortly after WW1, and Edgar who is shown  with his family in th featured photograph at the top of this page and is described  below.

Edgar, was the son of George (Grigg) And Elizabeth Payne. He was born in 1892 in Harptree Hill and was a farmer all of his life. He married Ethel May Payne 14/10/1915 in Wells. He can be seen in several photograph relating to farming. He died 5/2/1955 at Grove Farm. Ethel May was born 1890 and died 23/12/1959 in Chewton Mendip.

The Woman on the horse  was Gladys Prior nee Speed. She was the youngest  child of George and Elizabeth and Sister to Edgar. This was one of a series of Photographs with her on this horse for a pageant at Litton in about 1922. The man may have been Mr Bartlett. Gladys was born in 1902 when  they lived at Wills Farm near Priddy. She later married Gilbert Prior senior. Source Gilbert Prior II.

The picture on the left is Maurice Speed, Edgar’s brother as a child of three. The picture on the right shows him as a young man, probably just before he joined the army.

This is Favol (Fay)  Edgar and Ethel’s daughter aged six on the left and 21 on the right before she joined the army.She was the first female scorer at Lords Cricket Ground during the war and later moved to London. A member of another branch of the Speed family can be seen in the 1953 cricket eleven picture.

This is Norah Speed, Edgar and Elizabeth’s daughter aged four. She can be sen a few years older on the right with her brother, Maurice, who was named in honour of his uncle. The young girl in the front is Heather Durk who was the daughter of the Farm labourer who can be seen in the article about haymaking.