Waldegrave Tenants Lunch

The farming community used to form the core of the village since records were kept. The picture taken in the mid 1950s of the Waldegrave (farm) tenants describes the end of an era.This picture was taken outside of Chewton House where the lunch was held.

A considerable amount of consolidation had already occurred when compared with the 1794 and 1840 maps. Some of the Kingsmill properties were now incorporated into the Waldegrave estate and some farms were managed as a group, not by individual tenants.

The people shown in the back row from left to right are as follows.

Person	Comment	Farm(s)/Residence
Guy Beecham	Some members of the Beecham family had previously attended Chewton Mendip School.	Shooters Bottom
Tommy Thompson	Tommy Thompson was the farm manager for the Waldegrave’s estate. He lived at Manor Farm but also managed other farms.	Manor, Rookery and Chewton Field
Richard Dudden	The Duddens were frequently mentioned in the 18th century records in a number of roles other than farming.	Cuttlers Green
Arthur Green	Arthur Green was the last tenant at Dudwell farm and is one of the contributors to the website.	Dudwell
George Golledge	Golledge is a family with a long history in the area.	West End Farm
Dennis Carter	The Carter family had ben tenants of Sperrings Green farm for several generations.	Sperrings Green
Brian Green	Brian was Arthur’s brother and appears in several other photographs. Terry is his son and was the last person to farm East End Farm.	Cutlers Green, East End
Ken Bishop	Various branches of the Bishop family appear in the history of Chewton Mendip.	Eakers Hill
Malcom Pearson	Malcom Pearson took over from George Golledge at West End Farm.	West End Farm
? Weaver	It is beleived he was a member of the Weaver family.	?
Mervyn Speed	Mervyn Speed provided the copy of this photograph and was the last tenant at Grove farm	Grove Farm
Ernie Watts	Watts is a name with a long history in Chewton Mendip.	Quarrs

Front row, from left to right.

Person	Comment	Farm(s)
Millicent Moseley	Miss Millicent Moseley was the efficient and meticulous estate secretary who the tenants were in awe of.
Herbert Baber	The Babers moved to Barrow Farm in the early 20th century.	Barrow Farm
Alfie Oakes	Alfie Oakes was known for his card playing and other sporting skills.	Hippisley
Mrs Carter		Sperrings Green
12th Earl Waldegrave	The 12th Earl was the minister for agriculture and too a close interest in running of the farms. He was sympathetic to requests for improvement until the formidable Miss Moseley pointed out the costs.	Chewton House
Lady Waldegrave	Lady Waldegrave was the chairwoman of the Women’s Institute.	Chewton House
Harry Green	Harry Green was the father of Arthur and Brian shown in this picture and of  Claude who is shown in other pictures.	Cuttlers Green and Dudwell
Percy Watts	Watts are a local farming family.	Nedge Farm
John Thayer	The Thayers  involvement in Chewton  was based on their time at Everards Farm.	Everards
Major Roberts	He was the Estate Manager. It is unlikely that he was related to the other members of the Roberts family that appear in the records.
	The following farms are not listed.
Bathway	The ownership of this farm at this time is not known and it may not have been operating as a farm at the time.	Bathway
Coles	The ownership of this farm at this time is not known.	Coles Farm
Double Farm	This was probably acquired by the Habgood family in 1848.	Double Farm
Franklyns farm	The ownership of this farm at the time is not known.	Franklyns
Lower East End	This was divided into three cottages at the time.	Lower East End
Sages Farm	This was probably one of the farms managed by Tommy Thompson. It was a pig unit in the 1960s.	Sage
Veal	This was a Habgood property.	Veal